Elizabeth Wilson talked about her movie career with film critic John Douglas in 2000

Elizabeth Wilson, a Grand Rapids native, had a long career in film before her death at age 94 on May 9.

Related: 'The Graduate' actress Elizabeth Wilson remembered for her love of theater and Grand Rapids

John Douglas, former film critic for The Grand Rapids Press, died six days later at age 76 on May 15.

Related: A tribute to John Douglas: Former Grand Rapids Press film critic died at 76

Douglas interviewed the actress and reviewed many of Wilson's films over the years.

Her first film was an uncredited role in the 1946 film "Notorious." Her final film was as Franklin D. Roosevelt's mother, Sarah, in the 2012 film, "Hyde Park on Hudson" starring Bill Murray as FDR.

The Tony Award-winning actress's best-known film roles include the 1967 film, "The Graduate" as Dustin Hoffman's mother; as the office snitch, Roz, in the 1980 film "9 to 5" with Jane Fonda, Lilly Tomlin and Dolly Parton; and as Abigail Craven in the 1991 film "The Addams Family" with Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia.

Related: Remember Elizabeth Wilson with special screening of 'The Graduate' at Celebration! Cinema on May 20

Douglas talked with Wilson and wrote this article, which was published in The Grand Rapids Press in January 2000. - Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Elizabeth Wilson has proven to be one of the most reliable of supporting actresses in film. One summer afternoon a few years ago we sat down to talk of her screen career, and this is what she had to say about her films - some of which are now classics.

Most are available on video.

• PICNIC (1955), directed by Josh Logan, with William Holden, Kim Novak. Wilson plays Christine Schoenwalder, a town busybody.

"'Picnic' was my first Broadway play. I have great feelings of sentiment about that. It's not a great movie, but there are some wonderful things in it. One of Josh Logan's great gifts was being able to make people identify so with the characters. They were all a little overdrawn, if you will, but it was mid-America. It was so sentimental in a way."

• PATTERNS (1956), directed by Fielder Cook, with Van Heflin, Ed Begley. Wilson plays Marge Fleming.

"We did that as a television show. It was so well received that they repeated it with the same cast live a month later. Nobody wanted to do the movie, and finally a great theater producer, Jed Harris, pulled it together. This time it was Van Heflin (replacing Richard Kiley), and he was a real gentleman."

• TUNNEL OF LOVE (1958), directed by Gene Kelly, with Doris Day, Richard Widmark. Wilson plays Miss MacCracken.

"It was from Peter DeVries, a Grand Rapids fellow. It was a real Hollywood movie, and it was a thrill to work with Gene Kelly. I did the play, also. It was cute."

• THE GODDESS (1958), directed by John Cromwell, with Kim Stanley, Lloyd Bridges. Wilson plays a secretary.

"John Cromwell was a wonderful director. He asked me to play this lesbian. I think it was one of the very first (film) characters who was obviously that. It was thrilling because of Kim Stanley, who I always thought was the premier actress of my generation."

• HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (1959), directed by David Miller, with David Niven, Mitzi Gaynor. Wilson plays Millie the maid.

"It was a pretty chintzy piece of . . . you know. The maid in the story was black, and we're talking the early '50s, and they (principal characters) were quite abusive to her. So, apparently Joe Fields, who was the producer, decided that they really couldn't have a black woman play the part because it might cause some problems, so they invited me to do it. I remember getting telephone calls from black friends of mine saying, 'You're taking work away from us.' It wasn't so good, but it was a silly movie."

• THE BIRDS (1963), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren. Wilson is Helen Carter and is in the cafe scene.

"Thrilling. Mr. Hitchcock was a great, great director . . . knew absolutely what he wanted. He could be pretty mean. He was kind of cruel to Tippi. He was very nice to all of us. But I have to tell you the truth -- the film was a disappointment. I had read the original screenplay; the film isn't as good as it should have been, and I know it's a classic."

• A CHILD IS WAITING (1963), directed by John Cassavetes, with Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland.

"Divine Judy. It was thrilling to have scenes with her. Interesting, interesting script. I didn't like Burt Lancaster. He was an impossible, unpleasant man. It was a heartbreaking experience to work with retarded kids. Johnny (Cassavetes) had some difficult people to work with, but he handled it pretty well."

• THE GRADUATE (1967), directed by Mike Nichols, with Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft. Wilson plays the mother of Dustin Hoffman.

"I liked the script, and I had just done a play with Dustin. We're great friends. I told Mike (Nichols) I was a little disappointed in the size of the mother's part and he said, 'Well, maybe you don't want to do it. I don't want to have someone around the set who is unhappy . . . Think about it for 48 hours.' I almost lost the part because of my need to be honest. When I got to California, there was a plant in my apartment . . . and the note said, 'Did you know Julie Harris wanted this part?' "

• CATCH 22 (1970), directed by Mike Nichols, with Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam. Wilson plays the mother.

"The script was five inches thick. I said (to Nichols), 'Why are you doing this, Mike?' and he said because he wanted to see if it could be done. The scene that I did was filmed in California, and by that time they had been filming for about a year."

• LITTLE MURDERS (1971), directed by Alan Arkin, with Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd. Wilson plays Mrs. Newquist, the mother of the female lead.

"That was a labor of love. I did the play off-Broadway and it was a huge success, but nobody wanted to do the movie. He finally got somebody to put up a few bucks and, believe me, it was catch-as-catch-can in New York one hot summer. It was mainly Elliott Gould who drew it together. I think the film misses in lots of ways. But I think there are some very good things in it."

• THE HAPPY HOOKER (1975), directed by Nicholas Sgarro, with Lynn Redgrave, Jean-Pierre Aumont. Wilson plays Mrs. Gordon, a psychiatrist.

"I played an interesting woman -- sort of far-fetched for me. This woman was a crazy psychiatrist. They put me all in leather and a red wig. She was a far-out babe. It was fun, what can I say?"

• NINE TO FIVE (1980), directed by Colin Higgins, with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin. Wilson plays Roz, office manager.

"It's a great, great shame Colin Higgins is no longer with us. He was a talented, talented man. The film was extremely well done, I thought. It made a big statement . . . It was a happy experience, and I got to know Jane Fonda, who is a fascinating woman."

• THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN (1981), directed by Joel Schumacher, with Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty. Wilson plays Dr. Ruth Ruth.

"The great Lily Tomlin. She actually called me on the phone, as she had seen me in some things, and she asked me to do this -- and I, of course, was thrilled. It has some good things in it. But it didn't work."

• GRACE QUIGLEY (1985), directed by Anthony Harvey, with Katharine Hepburn, Nick Nolte. Wilson plays Emily Watkins.

"Very disappointing. The thrilling part about this was that Katharine Hepburn came to see me in 'You Can't Take It With You' and she came backstage to see me. We became friends, which was thrilling."

• REGARDING HENRY (1991), directed by Mike Nichols, with Harrison Ford, Annette Bening. Wilson plays Jessica, Harrison Ford's secretary.

"I ran into Mike Nichols and he said the casting people were sending me a script but there were no lines. He said that if I was interested in doing it, he'd have the part given lines. I thought, 'I'd be a fool not to take a chance, ' so he did."

• THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991), directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, with Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia. Wilson plays Abigail Craven, the bad guy.

"I really had a good part in that. It was thrilling to work with Anjelica Huston, who's a doll, and Raul Julia, who was an old friend (we had done 'The Threepenny Opera' together), and Christopher Lloyd, who is a great actor."

Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk covers arts and entertainment for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

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