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51-397: Three Mothers may refer to: The Three Mothers , a trilogy of supernatural horror films Three Mothers (2006 film) , an Israeli drama film Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Three Mothers . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

102-467: A 1978 Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress . Bennett and retired publisher/movie critic David Wilde were married on February 14, 1978, 13 days before her 68th birthday, in White Plains, New York. Their marriage lasted until her death in 1990. Celebrated for not taking herself too seriously, Bennett said in a 1986 interview, "I don't think much of most of the films I made, but being

153-631: A charge which she adamantly denied. She married four times. For her final film role, as Madame Blanc in Dario Argento 's cult horror film Suspiria (1977), she received a Saturn Award nomination. Joan Geraldine Bennett was born in the Palisade section of Fort Lee, New Jersey , on February 27, 1910, the youngest of three daughters of actor Richard Bennett and actress/literary agent Adrienne Morrison . Her elder sisters were actress Constance Bennett and actress/dancer Barbara Bennett , who

204-780: A glamorous, seductive femme fatale. She played the role of Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) opposite Louis Hayward , and the role of the Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg in The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) opposite Hayward. During the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind , Bennett was given a screen test and impressed producer David O. Selznick to such an extent that she

255-525: A grandmother at age 39. Combined with her sultry eyes and husky voice, Bennett's new brunette look gave her an earthier, more arresting persona. She won praise for her performances as Brenda Bentley in The House Across the Bay (1940), also featuring George Raft , and as Carol Hoffman in the anti- Nazi drama The Man I Married , a film in which Francis Lederer also starred. She then appeared in

306-517: A mirror and bursts out moments later as the skeletal incarnation of Death. Elliot flees the room by breaking down the door. Tenebrarum is last seen in her skeletal form, screaming as burning debris of her home collapses around her, apparently perishing in the flames. Mater Lachrymarum , the Mother of Tears , is the most beautiful and powerful of the Three Mothers. Like Tenebrarum, her true name

357-560: A pert sister competing with Katharine Hepburn 's Jo in Little Women (1933), which was directed by George Cukor for RKO . This movie brought Bennett to the attention of independent film producer Walter Wanger , who signed her to a contract and began managing her career. She played the role of Sally MacGregor, a psychiatrist's young wife slipping into insanity, in Private Worlds (1935) with Joel McCrea . Bennett starred in

408-715: A sequence of highly regarded film noir thrillers directed by Fritz Lang , with whom she and Wanger formed their own production company. Bennett appeared in four movies under Lang's direction, including as Cockney Jerry Stokes in Man Hunt (1941) opposite Walter Pidgeon , as mysterious model Alice Reed in The Woman in the Window (1944) with Edward G. Robinson , and as vulgar blackmailer Katharine "Kitty" March in Scarlet Street (1945), another film with Robinson. Bennett

459-472: A series of successful films. Meanwhile, Bennett went to Chicago to appear on the stage in the role as the young witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book, and Candle , then went on national tour with the production. She made only five movies in the decade that followed the 1951 shooting incident, and only two films in the 1970s, for the incident was a stain on her career and she became virtually blacklisted. Blaming

510-513: A show-business family. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 films from the era of silent films , well into the sound era . She is best remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz Lang 's films—including Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945)—and for her television role as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (and ancestors Naomi Collins, Judith Collins Trask, and Flora Collins in various timelines) in

561-923: A silent movie as a child with her parents and sisters in her father's drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he adapted for the screen. She attended Miss Hopkins School for Girls in Manhattan, then St. Margaret's, a boarding school in Waterbury, Connecticut, and L'Hermitage, a finishing school in Versailles, France. On September 15, 1926, 16-year-old Bennett married John M. Fox in London. They divorced in Los Angeles on July 30, 1928, based on charges of his alcoholism. They had one child, Adrienne Ralston Fox (born February 20, 1928), for whom Bennett fought successfully in court to rename Diana Bennett Markey when

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612-581: A variety of arcane subjects. In 1895, she founded the Tanz Akademie ("Dance Academy" in German ), a school for dance and the occult sciences, in the Black Forest outside Freiburg, Germany . The locals feared her, having intuited that she was a witch. As Markos' wealth grew, so did suspicion about her true nature. To avert this unwanted scrutiny, she faked her own death in a fire in 1905. Control of

663-507: Is Helena Markos . She is also known as The Black Queen ; any mention of Helena Markos as one of the Three Mothers would not be made until Inferno three years later. Lela Svasta, who portrayed Markos in Suspiria , was uncredited. According to Jessica Harper , "The witch was a ninety-year-old ex-hooker Dario had found on the streets of Rome." Markos, a Greek émigré, was exiled from many European countries and had written several books on

714-566: Is a direct translation of her name from Latin ("mater" being the Latin word for "mother"). Suspiria may derive its title from the woman delineated in de Quincey's work. Inferno' s title does not reference Mater Tenebrarum, but the Italian for Hell is both Inferno or Tenebre. Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress, one of three acting sisters from

765-554: Is portrayed by Israeli actress Moran Atias in The Mother of Tears . After the deaths of her sisters, the witch has been hibernating, and is awakened when Sarah Mandy ( Asia Argento ) opens the urn in which her most powerful relic, a red tunic, is stored. As her minions wreak havoc on the city above, Lachrymarum hides below ground in the catacombs of her Palazzo, regaining her strength. She is defeated when Sarah Mandy discovers her subterranean lair and rips and burns her tunic, causing

816-499: Is revealed in the climax that Markos is a fraud and Susie Bannion ( Dakota Johnson ) is the real Mater Suspiriorum. Mater Tenebrarum , the Mother of Darkness , is the youngest and cruelest of the Three Mothers. Her true name is not given; her home is located in New York City and was christened in 1910. The house's number is 49 and bears a plaque that states that Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff once resided there. In Inferno ,

867-512: Is revealed that before the events of Suspiria , Elisa Mandy ( Daria Nicolodi ), a white witch , sought to challenge Markos' evil might. The two battled in Freiburg, and Markos slew both Elisa and her husband. According to Father Johannes ( Udo Kier ) in the third film, the battle left Suspiriorum "a shell of her former self". Elisa's daughter Sarah would later defeat Mater Lachrymarum in Rome. In

918-751: Is unknown. Inferno suggests that her home in Rome , Italy may be located near No. 49 Via Dei Bagni - the Abertny Foundation's Biblioteca Filosofica - when Sara ( Eleonora Giorgi ) notices a strange sweet smell in the air. In The Mother of Tears , Lachrymarum's home is revealed to be the Palazzo Varelli. In Inferno, Lachrymarum attempted to spellbind Mark Elliot during a music lecture in Rome. According to Argento, Ania Pieroni did not return to reprise her role as Lachrymarum in The Mother of Tears because "she now has five kids!" Lachrymarum

969-494: Is wrong," she declared. She blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The following day Wanger, out on bond, returned to their Holmby Hills home, collected his belongings and moved out. Bennett, however, said there would not be a divorce. On December 14, Bennett issued a statement in which she said she hoped her husband "will not be blamed too much" for wounding her agent. She read

1020-435: The 2018 remake of Suspiria , the roles of both Madame Blanc and Helena Markos, referred throughout as Mother Markos, are played by Tilda Swinton . Markos is depicted as an ancient, disfigured, centuries-old crone maintaining control over the coven and seeking to acquire a new, younger body as her current one is riddled in leprous sores, tumorous growths and immobile infants' limbs growing out of her own. In this version, it

1071-495: The 1930s. Bennett appeared as a blonde (her natural hair color) for several years. She starred in the role of Dolores Fenton in the United Artists musical Puttin' On The Ritz (1930) opposite Harry Richman and as Faith Mapple, his beloved, opposite John Barrymore in an early sound version of Moby Dick (1930) at Warner Brothers . Under contract to Fox Film Corporation , she appeared in several movies. She played

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1122-549: The Civil Rights Movement) and political candidates (including Franklin D. Roosevelt , Henry A. Wallace , Adlai Stevenson II , John F. Kennedy , Robert F. Kennedy , and Jimmy Carter ) during her lifetime. For 12 years Bennett was represented by agent Jennings Lang , the onetime vice-president of the Sam Jaffe Agency , who then headed MCA 's West Coast television operations. She and Lang met on

1173-646: The Palazzo to collapse. Lachrymarum is killed when an ornamental obelisk from the top of the building crashes into the ceremonial chamber, impaling her. The idea of "Three Mothers" comes from " Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow", a section of Thomas de Quincey 's Suspiria de Profundis . The piece asserts that just as there are three Fates and Graces , there are also three Sorrows. They include Mater Lachrymarum (Our Lady of Tears), Mater Suspiriorum (Our Lady of Sighs), and Mater Tenebrarum (Our Lady of Darkness). The attribute of each woman (tears, sighs, shadows/darkness)

1224-553: The academy, which transitioned to a ballet school, subsequently passed to Markos' prize pupil (who was Markos herself). As the original Freiburg building "Haus zum Walfisch" the Akademie bears a plaque stating that Desiderius Erasmus once lived there. In Suspiria , Markos is the Directress whose presence is concealed by her coven, headed by Madame Blanc ( Joan Bennett ). A young American, Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), discovers

1275-643: The afternoon of December 13, 1951, to talk over an upcoming TV show. Bennett parked her Cadillac convertible in the lot at the back of the MCA offices, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford Drive, across the street from the Beverly Hills Police Department, and she and Lang drove off in his car. Meanwhile, her husband Walter Wanger drove past about 2:30 p.m. and noticed his wife's car parked there. Half an hour later, he again saw her car there and stopped to wait. Bennett and Lang drove into

1326-504: The anthology series Lux Radio Theater and Screen Guild Theater . With the increasing popularity of television, Bennett made five guest appearances in 1951, including an episode of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca 's Your Show of Shows . She was a very active member of both the Hollywood Democratic Committee and The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and donated her time and money to many liberal causes (such as

1377-405: The architect learned too late of the women's evil nature. (At least six copies of the book are known to have existed. Four may have been destroyed at the end of Inferno .) The residences he designed will become so corrupted that eventually, the land they were built on will become pestilential. Mater Suspiriorum , the Mother of Sighs , is the oldest and wisest of the Three Mothers, her given name

1428-400: The character is portrayed by Veronica Lazar . She masquerades as Professor Arnold's nurse for much of the film. At the climax, Mark Elliot ( Leigh McCloskey ) descends into the bowels of her home to confront her. He learns that Arnold is, in fact, the architect Varelli, and essentially Tenebrarum's slave. Tenebrarum's bloodlust would ultimately be her own undoing, as one of her victims, a maid,

1479-733: The child was eight years old. Her name changed to Diana Bennett Wanger in 1944. Bennett's stage debut was at age 18, acting with her father in Jarnegan (1928), which ran on Broadway for 136 performances and for which she received good reviews. By the time she turned 20 she had become a movie star through such roles as Phyllis Benton in Bulldog Drummond starring Ronald Colman , which was her first important role, and Lady Clarissa Pevensey opposite George Arliss in Disraeli (both 1929). She moved quickly from movie to movie throughout

1530-520: The film Vogues of 1938 (1937), including the title sequence, in which she donned a diamond-and-platinum bracelet set with the Star of Burma ruby. Wanger and director Tay Garnett persuaded her to change her hair from blonde to brunette as part of the plot for her role as Kay Kerrigan in the scenic Trade Winds (1938) opposite Fredric March . With her change in appearance, Bennett began an entirely new screen career as her persona evolved into that of

1581-567: The gothic 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows , for which she received an Emmy nomination in 1968. Bennett's career had three distinct phases: first as a winsome blonde ingenue, then as a sensuous brunette femme fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of Hedy Lamarr ), and finally as a warmhearted wife-and-mother figure. In 1951, Bennett's screen career was marred by scandal after her third husband, film producer Walter Wanger , shot and injured her agent Jennings Lang . Wanger suspected that she and Lang were having an affair,

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1632-400: The ground. As soon as she recognized who had fired the shots, she told Wanger, "Get away and leave us alone." He tossed the pistol into his wife's car. She and the parking lot's service station manager took Lang to the agent's doctor. He was then taken to a hospital, where he recovered. The police station was located across the lot, officers had heard the shots, and came to the scene and found

1683-509: The gun in Bennett's car when they took Wanger into custody. Wanger was booked and fingerprinted, and underwent lengthy questioning. "I shot him because I thought he was breaking up my home," Wanger told the police chief of Beverly Hills. He was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder. Bennett denied a romance. "But if Walter thinks the relationships between Mr. Lang and myself are romantic or anything but strictly business, he

1734-438: The hidden chambers beneath the school after several pupils are killed by Markos' proxies. The aged witch attempts to use her magic to kill the girl, but her powers — including those of invisibility , illusion casting, and telekinesis — prove insufficient due to her feeble state. Bannion defeats Markos by stabbing her in the neck. The witch's death causes the foundations of her home and coven to fail. In The Mother of Tears , it

1785-462: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_Mothers&oldid=933208925 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Three Mothers During the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival , Argento stated he had not ruled out

1836-535: The parking lot a few hours later and he walked her to her convertible. As she started the engine, turned on the headlights, and prepared to drive away, Lang leaned on the car, with both hands raised to his shoulders, and talked to her. In a fit of jealousy, Wanger walked up and twice shot and wounded the unsuspecting agent. One bullet hit Jennings in the right thigh, near the hip, and the other penetrated his groin. Bennett said she did not see Wanger at first. She said she suddenly saw two vivid flashes, then Lang slumped to

1887-482: The possibility of shooting a fourth film dealing with the Three Mothers. His daughter Asia has suggested that there might be a prequel . The story of the Three Mothers opens at the beginning of the 11th century, when the origin of witchcraft is depicted as three sisters on the coast of the black sea. In the years that followed, they wandered the world and amassed great personal wealth and power, leaving death in their wake. The sisters are known as, "The Mothers", hence

1938-517: The prepared statement in the bedroom of her home to a group of newspapermen while TV cameras recorded the scene. Wanger's attorney Jerry Giesler mounted a " temporary insanity " defense. He then decided to waive his right to a jury, and threw himself on the mercy of the court. Wanger served a four-month sentence in the County Honor Farm at Castaic, California, 39 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles, quickly returning to his career to make

1989-467: The role of Ellie Banks, the wife of Spencer Tracy and mother of Elizabeth Taylor , Bennett appeared in both Father of the Bride (1950) and Father's Little Dividend (1951). She made a number of radio appearances from the 1930s to the 1950s, performing on such programs as The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show , Duffy's Tavern , The Jack Benny Program , Ford Theater , Suspense and

2040-622: The role of Jane Miller opposite Spencer Tracy in She Wanted a Millionaire (1932), receiving top billing. She was billed second, after Tracy, for her role as Helen Riley, a personable waitress who trades wisecracks, in Me and My Gal (1932). On March 16, 1932, she married screenwriter/film producer Gene Markey in Los Angeles, but the couple divorced in Los Angeles on June 3, 1937. They had one child, Melinda Markey (born February 27, 1934, on Bennett's 24th birthday). Bennett left Fox to play Amy,

2091-614: The scandal that occurred for destroying her career in the motion picture industry, Bennett once said, "I might as well have pulled the trigger myself." Although Humphrey Bogart , a longtime friend, pleaded with Paramount Pictures on her behalf to keep her after her role as Amelie Ducotel in We're No Angels (1955), the studio refused. As the movie offers dwindled after the scandal, Bennett continued touring in stage successes, such as Susan and God , Once More, with Feeling , The Pleasure of His Company and Never Too Late . Her next TV appearance

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2142-425: The scandal, in a 1981 interview, Bennett contrasted the judgmental 1950s with the sensation-crazed 1970s and 1980s. "It would never happen that way today," she said, laughing. "If it happened today, I'd be a sensation. I'd be wanted by all studios for all pictures." Despite the shooting scandal and the damage it caused Bennett's film career, she and Wanger remained married until 1965. She continued to work steadily on

2193-460: The show described its alternate reality), Flora Collins, and Flora Collins PT. In 1970, she appeared as Elizabeth in House of Dark Shadows , the feature film adaptation of the series. However, she declined to appear in the sequel Night of Dark Shadows , and her character Elizabeth was mentioned therein as being recently deceased. Her autobiography The Bennett Playbill , written with Lois Kibbee ,

2244-563: The stage and in television, including a guest role as Denise Mitchell in an episode of TV's Burke's Law (1965). Bennett received star billing in the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows for its entire five-year run, 1966 to 1971, receiving an Emmy Award nomination in 1968 for her performance as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard , mistress of the haunted Collinwood Mansion . Her other roles in Dark Shadows were Naomi Collins, Judith Collins Trask, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard PT (parallel time, as

2295-545: The title of the trilogy. Both Mater Suspiriorum and Tenebrarum have claimed that the Mothers are Death personified . In the late 19th century the women commissioned E. Varelli, an Italian architect based in London , to design and construct three stately buildings. From these enchanted, bastion-like homes, the Three Mothers "rule the world". According to Varelli's memoirs, entitled The Three Mothers by an anonymous colleague,

2346-614: Was in the role of Bettina Blane in an episode of General Electric Theater in 1954. Other roles included Honora in Climax! (1955) and Vickie Maxwell in Playhouse 90 (1957). In 1958, she appeared as the mother in the short-lived television comedy/drama Too Young to Go Steady to teenagers played by Brigid Bazlen and Martin Huston. She starred on Broadway in the comedy Love Me Little (1958), which ran for only eight performances. Of

2397-479: Was inadvertently responsible for the house catching fire in the midst of her death throes. When Elliot comes across her, Tenebrarum laments cryptically that "It's all going to burn down... just like before." Tenebrarum is perhaps referring to Suspiria' s finale, during which Mater Suspiriorum is killed and her home eventually burns to the ground. After sealing the room, she laughs psychotically, makes an ambiguous speech, and disappears. However, her reflection remains in

2448-581: Was one of the final four actresses, along with Jean Arthur , Vivien Leigh , and Paulette Goddard . On January 12, 1940, Bennett and producer Walter Wanger were married in Phoenix, Arizona. They were divorced in September 1965 in Mexico. The couple had two children together, Stephanie Wanger (born June 26, 1943) and Shelley Wanger (born July 4, 1948). The following year, on March 13, 1949, Bennett became

2499-433: Was published in 1970. Her other TV guest appearances include Bennett's roles as Joan Darlene Delaney in an episode of The Governor & J.J. (1970) and as Edith in an episode of Love, American Style (1971). She starred in five made-for-TV movies between 1972 and 1982. Bennett also appeared in one more feature film, as Madame Blanc in director Dario Argento 's horror film Suspiria (1977), for which she received

2550-420: Was the first wife of singer Morton Downey and the mother of Morton Downey Jr. Part of a famous theatrical family, Bennett's maternal grandfather was Jamaica-born Shakespearean actor Lewis Morrison , who embarked on a stage career in the late 1860s. On the side of her maternal grandmother, actress Rose Wood, the profession dated back to traveling minstrels in 18th-century England. Bennett first appeared in

2601-807: Was the shrewish, cuckolding wife, Margaret Macomber, in Zoltan Korda 's The Macomber Affair (1947) opposite Gregory Peck , as deceitful wife Peggy, in Jean Renoir 's The Woman on the Beach (also 1947) opposite Robert Ryan and Charles Bickford , and as tormented Lucia Harper in Max Ophüls ' The Reckless Moment (1949) as the victim of a blackmailer played by James Mason . Then, easily shifting images again, she changed her screen persona to that of an elegant, witty and nurturing wife and mother in two comedies directed by Vincente Minnelli . Playing

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