Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role 1976
Lee Grant Shampoo 1976
SEX WORKER ROLE
Carmen in The Balcony 1963
Suzy In Terror In The City 1964
Lizzie in The Respectful Prostitute 1964
All Three Characters Are Prostitutes
Lee Grant in The Balcony 1963, Terror In The City 1964, and The Respectful Prostitute 1964
“The Balcony” was based on a play written by Jean Genet. This film stars Shelley Winters as Madame Irma. Her character runs a bordello that offers men a chance to act out their S&M fantasies. Lee Grant plays Carmen, the head prostitute, now relegated to the administrative side of the business. Despite her standing within the organization, Carmen wants to go back to being just one of the girls.
Watch clip of the film “The Balcony” with fellow Oscar winner Shelley Winters
But before “The Balcony,” Lee Grant had the lead role in “Terror in the City” (originally titled “Pie in the Sky”). Though filmed in 1962, it sat on the shelf until 1964. Here she plays a hooker who keeps an eye out for a nine-year-old runaway. This movie is not available on DVD.
Lee Grant and Richard Bray in Terror in the City (1964)
One year later, Lee would play another hooker in “The Respectful Prostitute.” The play aired as a segment of the BBC drama anthology series “The Festival.” Lee Grant plays the title character of Lizzie. She is a prostitute who agrees to pin the blame for attempted rape on a black man despite the perpetrator being white. No clips are available online of her portrayal.
Watch scene from the movie version with Barbara Laage in the role of Lizzie.
To read more about this prostitute role & other Oscar actresses playing a hooker pick up
If you know of this actress playing more than one prostitute role, please comment below and let me know! I’ll gladly add it to the page here. If the video gets removed, please leave a comment below to let me know.
She also played a prostitute in Terror in the City (1964) directed by Allen Baron who gave us Blast Of Silence (1961)