Catherine Josephine Van Fleet (December , , despite a reference to
December , â€" June , ) was an American stage, film, and television
actress. During her long career, which spanned over four decades, she
often played characters much older than her actual age. Van Fleet won
a Tony Award in for her performance in the Broadway production The
Trip to Bountiful, and the next year she won an Oscar for her
supporting role in East of Eden.Josephine was born in in Oakland,
California, the younger of two daughters of Indiana and Michigan
natives Roy H. Van Fleet and Elizabeth "Bessie" Catherine (née
Gardner). Her father Roy worked for the railroads, but died of a
streptococcus throat infection which was lanced, inadvertently
spreading the disease throughout his body. Federal census records show
that by age five Josephine, her -year-old sister Corinne, and their
mother were living in Oakland with Bessie's relatives, Ralph and Mary
Gardner. To help support herself and her two daughters at her parents'
home, Bessie, who had been widowed by , worked as a "sales lady" in an
Oakland dry goods store.While she had an early interest in stage
productions, "Jo" graduated from the University of California,
Berkeley in , focusing on a variety of subjects, and then spent
several years as a high school teacher in Moro Bay, California. She
continued her theatrical training in a graduate program at the College
of the Pacific in Stockton, California. She moved after her graduation
from her masters program to New York City, where she continued her
training with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
December , â€" June , ) was an American stage, film, and television
actress. During her long career, which spanned over four decades, she
often played characters much older than her actual age. Van Fleet won
a Tony Award in for her performance in the Broadway production The
Trip to Bountiful, and the next year she won an Oscar for her
supporting role in East of Eden.Josephine was born in in Oakland,
California, the younger of two daughters of Indiana and Michigan
natives Roy H. Van Fleet and Elizabeth "Bessie" Catherine (née
Gardner). Her father Roy worked for the railroads, but died of a
streptococcus throat infection which was lanced, inadvertently
spreading the disease throughout his body. Federal census records show
that by age five Josephine, her -year-old sister Corinne, and their
mother were living in Oakland with Bessie's relatives, Ralph and Mary
Gardner. To help support herself and her two daughters at her parents'
home, Bessie, who had been widowed by , worked as a "sales lady" in an
Oakland dry goods store.While she had an early interest in stage
productions, "Jo" graduated from the University of California,
Berkeley in , focusing on a variety of subjects, and then spent
several years as a high school teacher in Moro Bay, California. She
continued her theatrical training in a graduate program at the College
of the Pacific in Stockton, California. She moved after her graduation
from her masters program to New York City, where she continued her
training with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
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