Nora Dunfee (25 December 1915 â€" 23 December 1994) was an American
Broadway and film actress and acting coach.Born in Belmont, Ohio,
Dunfee began her professional acting career at the Ogunquit Playhouse
in Ogunquit, Maine, starring in Sinclair Lewis's production of "Our
Town". Her stage credits on- and off-broadway include "Madam, Will You
Walk?" (1953), "The Midnight Caller" (1958), "The Visit" (1960), "The
Last Days of Lincoln" (1961) and "Crowbar" (1990). She also appeared
in several films, most notably as the elderly lady at the bus stop who
gives Tom Hanks advice in Forrest Gump.Dunfee studied speech and voice
under Margaret Prendergast McLean and taught for many years in the
graduate acting program of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York
University. She also taught privately in New York and California and
coached many actors over the years, including Julie Haydon, James Earl
Jones, Raul Julia, Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves. In
theater, she was a vocal consultant for "The Real Thing". "Two
Gentlemen of Verona" and "A Lie of the Mind", and cinematically, she
served as dialect coach for such films as Witness, Crimes of the
Heart, and The Serpent and the Rainbow.Dunfee met her future husband,
David Clarke, in an acting class and the two married in 1946. The
couple appeared together in a number of stage productions, including
"Portrait of a Lady", "The Visit" and "The Gin Game". Clarke and
Dunfee had two daughters together, K.C. and Susan.
Broadway and film actress and acting coach.Born in Belmont, Ohio,
Dunfee began her professional acting career at the Ogunquit Playhouse
in Ogunquit, Maine, starring in Sinclair Lewis's production of "Our
Town". Her stage credits on- and off-broadway include "Madam, Will You
Walk?" (1953), "The Midnight Caller" (1958), "The Visit" (1960), "The
Last Days of Lincoln" (1961) and "Crowbar" (1990). She also appeared
in several films, most notably as the elderly lady at the bus stop who
gives Tom Hanks advice in Forrest Gump.Dunfee studied speech and voice
under Margaret Prendergast McLean and taught for many years in the
graduate acting program of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York
University. She also taught privately in New York and California and
coached many actors over the years, including Julie Haydon, James Earl
Jones, Raul Julia, Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves. In
theater, she was a vocal consultant for "The Real Thing". "Two
Gentlemen of Verona" and "A Lie of the Mind", and cinematically, she
served as dialect coach for such films as Witness, Crimes of the
Heart, and The Serpent and the Rainbow.Dunfee met her future husband,
David Clarke, in an acting class and the two married in 1946. The
couple appeared together in a number of stage productions, including
"Portrait of a Lady", "The Visit" and "The Gin Game". Clarke and
Dunfee had two daughters together, K.C. and Susan.
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