Madeleine Sherwood (born November 13, 1922) is a Canadian actress of stage, film and television. She may be best known as Mae/Sister Woman and Miss Lucy in both the Broadway and film versions of Tennessee Williams' Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. She starred or featured in 18 original Broadway productions including Arturo Ui with Christopher Plummer, Do I Hear A Waltz? and Invitation to a March with Richard Rodgers, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. She appeared in dozens of TV dramas and series of which she is probably best remembered for her role as Mother Superior Plaseato to Sally Field's The Flying Nun from 1967-1970.
Sherwood was born Madeleine Louise Hélène Thornton in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the granddaughter of the Dean of Dentistry at McGill University in Montreal. Sherwood made her first stage appearance at the age of four in a church passion play. She started her professional career in Montreal when Rupert Kaplan cast her in CBC dramas and soap operas.
Sherwood moved to New York City in 1950 and made her first Broadway appearance in Horton Foote’s, The Chase, replacing Kim Stanley. In 1953 she originated the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. Elia Kazan cast her as Mae in Tennessee Williams Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in 1954 and later in Sweet Bird of Youth as Miss Lucy. She reprised both her roles in the film versions. She became a member of the Actors Studio in 1957 working with Lee Strasberg and is now a life member of the Studio.
Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. During the Civil Rights Movement she met and worked with Martin Luther King in the late 50’s and 60’s and went south to join CORE (Congress on Racial Equality). She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed and sentenced to six months hard labor. for "Endangering the Customs and Mores of the People of Alabama". Her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African-American lawyer to represent a white woman south of the Mason Dixon line. It was during this period that she lost most of her hearing.
During the 1980s she received a grant from A.F.I. as one of the first women to direct short films for the A.F.I. (along with Cicely Tyson, Joanne Woodward, and others). She wrote, directed and acted in her film, Good Night Sweet Prince, which received excellent notices.
In the 1970s she met Gloria Steinem, Betty Dodson and other activists at the First Women’s Sexual Conference at Barnard College in New York City. From there she started consciousness raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and INCEST.
In the early 1990s she returned to Canada. Although she was a long time resident of the United States, she has remained a Canadian citizen all her life. She has one daughter, two grandchildren and six great-grand children.
