Una Merkel est une actrice américaine née le 10 décembre 1903 à Covington (Kentucky), morte le 2 janvier 1986 à Los Angeles.

Venue du théâtre, elle remporte le Tony Award de la meilleure comédienne 1956 pour le rôle principal dans The Pounder Heart, adaptation pour la scène d'un roman de Eudora Welty. En 1962, elle est nommée pour l'Oscar de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle pour son interprétation de Mrs. Winemiller dans Été et Fumées (1961) de Peter Glenville, d'après la pièce homonyme de Tennessee Williams.

Biographie

On March 5, 1945, Merkel was nearly killed when her mother Bess, with whom she was sharing an apartment in New York City, committed suicide by gassing herself. Merkel was overcome by the five gas jets her mother had turned on in their kitchen and was found unconscious in her bedroom.

On March 4, 1952, nearly seven years to the day that Merkel's mother Bess committed suicide, Merkel overdosed on sleeping pills. She was found unconscious by a nurse who was caring for her at the time and remained in a coma for a day.

Merkel was a lifelong practicing Methodist.


Marriage
Merkel was married once and had no children. She married North American Aviation executive Ronald L. Burla in 1932. They separated in April 1944. Merkel filed for divorce on December 19, 1946 in Miami.

Ses meilleurs films