Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Gale Sondergaard holds a place in film history that can never be taken from her: she was the very first winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and she won it for her screen debut. That detail fascinates me. To arrive from the stage and immediately define a new category at the highest level speaks to a theatrical discipline that modern stardom rarely cultivates. I find figures from this 1930s golden age genuinely moving, because their reputations rest entirely on the work itself rather than on a media machine. Sondergaard earned her permanence the old-fashioned way, through sheer craft.
Overview
Gale Sondergaard (born Edith Holm Sondergaard; February 15, 1899 – August 14, 1985) was an American actress. Sondergaard began her acting career in theater and progressed to films in 1936. She was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Anthony Adverse (1936).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Gale Sondergaard
- Name (Japanese)
- ゲイル・ソンダガード
- Reading
- げいる・そんだがーど
- Born
- February 15, 1899 – August 14, 1985
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Boar
- Origin
- Litchfield, Minnesota, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / stage actor / television actor / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1937 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Stage actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.