Patricia Neal, actress, stroke recovery advocate, has died

Tue, 08/10/2010 - 11:20am by sernabad

Patricia Neal, whose remarkable acting career started early and segued into an equally public role as advocate for stroke victims, died Sunday.

In 1947, before her 21st birthday, she received a Tony for her Broadway performance in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest.

Ms. Neal won her Oscar for best actress in 1964 for Hud, in which she played one of the few onscreen women to resist Paul Newman's charms.

Ms. Neal's personal life was defined by relentless catastrophes. Her infant son Theo was crushed between two vehicles and suffered a horrific brain injury in 1960. Two years later, her seven year old daughter, Olivia, died from measles. In 1965, Ms. Neal, pregnant at 39 with her fifth child, suffered three devastating strokes that left her paralyzed and unable to speak.

Her then-husband, children's author Roald Dahl pushed her ruthlessly toward a recovery that the medical profession thought was impossible. Their joint efforts were so successful that Ms. Neal was able to return to her beloved profession for many more years.

Ms. Neal, who was 84, died of lung cancer.