Polly Bergen

Nellie Paulina Burgin (July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014), better known by her stage name Polly Bergen, was an American actress, singer, television host, and businesswoman.

Biography
In 1958, Bergen won an Emmy Award for her role as Helen Morgan in the Playhouse 90 drama series The Helen Morgan Story. She also was awarded with a Tony Award in 2001 for her role as Carlotta Campion in Follies. In the early 1960s, she was nominated with two Golden Globe Award for Cape Fear (1962) and The Caretakers (1963). From 1957 to 1958, she hosted The Polly Bergen Show, an NBC comedy/variety show for 18 episodes. She also had an Emmy-nominated guest role in the television series Desperate Housewives as Stella Wingfield from 2007 until 2011.

Bergen was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to a Southern Baptist family. She was married three times, all ending in divorce. She was first married to Jeffrey Endervelt from 1950 until 1955. She then married theatrical agent/movie producer Freddie Fields from 1956 until 1973. They had three children, two of which her adopted. She was later married to Jeffrey Endervelt from 1982 until 1990. During her marriage to Fields, she became Jewish.

Bergen died from heart failure on September 20, 2014 in Southbury, Connecticut. She was 84. She had emphysema since the 1990s, caused by fifty years of smoking.