Eileen Brennan's gravelly voice was well suited to a reprimand, but severity was only part of her appeal. We rate her most highly in ensembles that let her supporting characters matter as much as the stars.
Fi1m perspective
Eileen Brennan's gravelly voice is particularly good at conveying impatience. It makes her sharp-tongued characters sound as though they have had plenty of practice dealing with fools. In Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), however, her Genevieve belongs to an ensemble treated with unusual kindness. Brennan brings the part a credibility that suits a film willing to spend time with people behaving badly. This is where we value her most: given room within a group, without having to make every appearance a comic interruption.
George Roy Hill's The Sting (1973) makes particularly good use of her ability to hold our attention in company. As Billie, Brennan helps make the supporting cast worth watching independently of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. We enjoyed the time away from the stars, because Brennan and Harold Gould's Kid Twist made those smaller encounters worth our attention. The con-game plotting occasionally dawdles, but these performances make the delay easy to forgive. Brennan gives us someone else to watch without leaving us waiting for the principal actors to return.
The broader comedies made her severity more conspicuous. In Private Benjamin (1980), she plays Captain Doreen Lewis, the tough drill instructor opposite Goldie Hawn. Her skill as a comic foil makes that pairing work, and the role brought wider recognition before she reprised it in the television series (1981–83). Tess Skeffington in Murder by Death (1976), alongside Peter Falk, and her role in Clue (1985) also belong to this broad comic side of her work. These parts explain why comedies kept finding employment for that voice, though the early ensembles give us more reason to appreciate the actor using it.
The later work could confine her to eccentric or lightweight supporting parts, with Jeepers Creepers (2001) among the examples. We need not pretend that every small role gave her much to do. A recognisable voice can make casting too easy: the performer arrives, supplies the expected manner and has little opportunity to surprise us. Brennan's work in the earlier films gives us reason to regret those restrictions. Start with The Sting, and allow a little of your attention to wander away from the stars.
Biography
Eileen Brennan was an American actress. Born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen in Los Angeles on 3 September 1932, she died in Burbank, California, on 28 July 2013.
She began her career in theatre, making her Broadway debut in the musical Little Mary Sunshine (1963) after studying at Georgetown University and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her film roles included Genevieve in The Last Picture Show (1971) and Billie in The Sting (1973). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Captain Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin (1980) and won a Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe for reprising the role in the television series.
Brennan also appeared in Murder by Death (1976), Clue (1985) as Mrs Peacock, and Jeepers Creepers (2001), as well as guest roles in series including Will & Grace.
