Trish Van Devere (born Patricia Louise Dressel; March 9, 1941)[a] is a
retired American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for the film One Is a Lonely Number (1972), and won a Genie Award for
the film The Changeling (1980). She is the widow of actor George C.
Scott, with whom she appeared in multiple films.Van Devere was born
March 9, 1941[a] Patricia Louise Dressel in Tenafly, New Jersey. Her
father owned a Pontiac dealership and real estate business, which was
taken over by her mother after her father's death when Van Devere was
9 years old. After attending Tenafly High School, she graduated in
1958 from Northern Valley High School before attending the Ohio
Wesleyan University, where she met and married fellow student Grant
Van Devere. The marriage lasted only 8 months, though she retained Van
Devere as her stage name.In 1966, Van Devere moved to New York City
and began pursuing a career in acting, studying at the Actors Studio.
She co-founded the Free Southern Theater with Scott Cunningham, an
African American fellow actor, staging plays in fields and at churches
in the Southern United States for indigent African Americans who had
never seen live theater before. Two years later, Van Devere and
Cunningham founded an offshoot theater company, the Poor People's
Theater in New York City, headquartered in the basement of Manhattan's
Riverside Church, which held similar theatrical productions in
churches, schools, and streets.
retired American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for the film One Is a Lonely Number (1972), and won a Genie Award for
the film The Changeling (1980). She is the widow of actor George C.
Scott, with whom she appeared in multiple films.Van Devere was born
March 9, 1941[a] Patricia Louise Dressel in Tenafly, New Jersey. Her
father owned a Pontiac dealership and real estate business, which was
taken over by her mother after her father's death when Van Devere was
9 years old. After attending Tenafly High School, she graduated in
1958 from Northern Valley High School before attending the Ohio
Wesleyan University, where she met and married fellow student Grant
Van Devere. The marriage lasted only 8 months, though she retained Van
Devere as her stage name.In 1966, Van Devere moved to New York City
and began pursuing a career in acting, studying at the Actors Studio.
She co-founded the Free Southern Theater with Scott Cunningham, an
African American fellow actor, staging plays in fields and at churches
in the Southern United States for indigent African Americans who had
never seen live theater before. Two years later, Van Devere and
Cunningham founded an offshoot theater company, the Poor People's
Theater in New York City, headquartered in the basement of Manhattan's
Riverside Church, which held similar theatrical productions in
churches, schools, and streets.
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