Elaine Dundy (1 August 1921 – 1 May 2008) was an American novelist, biographer, journalist, actress and playwright. Her sister, Shirley Clarke, was a leading independent filmmaker and a professor of film at UCLA.
Born Elaine Rita Brimberg in New York City, of Latvian maternal descent, her Polish father was an office furniture manufacturer and a violent bully. Dundy grew up in a Park Avenue home where she was educated by a governess, though she ev...
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Elaine Dundy (1 August 1921 – 1 May 2008) was an American novelist, biographer, journalist, actress and playwright. Her sister, Shirley Clarke, was a leading independent filmmaker and a professor of film at UCLA.
Born Elaine Rita Brimberg in New York City, of Latvian maternal descent, her Polish father was an office furniture manufacturer and a violent bully. Dundy grew up in a Park Avenue home where she was educated by a governess, though she eventually attended high school, where her boyfriend Terry was the son of playwright Maxwell Anderson. Later, they met again and almost married. A habituée of New York nightclubs from the age of 15, she met the exiled Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, who wished to be taught how to jitterbug. Dundy also rode in taxis at dawn about this time, apparently topless, with her head through the roof. An honors graduate from Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia, she studied acting at the Jarvis Theatre School in Washington with future star actors Rod...
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