Trivia

Once taught acting at Juilliard.

Is an ordained minister and officiated at the wedding of actor Tim Hopper and his wife.

Was the original choice to play Lisa Miller on As the World Turns (1956), but was unavailable due to pregnancy. At the time, she shared the same agent with Eileen Fulton, who sent her, instead. Fulton played the character from 1960 until 2010.

Has twice been nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play); in 1990 for portraying Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath", a part she recreated in the television version, The Grapes of Wrath (1991); and in 1996 for Sam Shepard's "Buried Child", which was directed by her "Grapes of Wrath" co-star Gary Sinise.

Gave birth to her only child at age 27, a daughter Moon Elizabeth Smith on February 8, 1958. Child's father is her ex-husband, Wesley Smith.

Studied acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio.

Longtime companion of David Margulies.

Is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Became the oldest competitive Tony acting winner at the 2021 awards, winning featured actress in a play for "The Inheritance".

Currently lives on the Upper West Side of New York City. (April 2012)

Inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.

Attended and graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Returned to work 9 months after giving birth to her daughter Moon to begin performing in the Broadway play "Edwin Booth".

She was nominated for a 1989 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "The Grapes of Wrath" at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Has five older siblings.

She was awarded the 2008 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "The Trip to Bountiful" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Parents are William Oren and Carrie Davis Humbert.

She is a lifelong liberal Democrat.