The Member of the Wedding
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The Member of the Wedding is a novel and play by Carson McCullers. It tells the story of a young tomboy who feels that her family is ignoring her while her older brother is preparing to marry. The family's African American maid and the neighbor boy are the only two people who will listen to her. She has a plan of leaving her town and follow her brother and his wife to Alaska, thus the title of the novel.
It was made into a movie in 1952, starring Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Arthur Franz, Nancy Gates and Dickie Moore. It was adapted by Edna and Edward Anhalt and directed by Fred Zinnemann.
It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (Julie Harris).
There have been two television versions of The Member of the Wedding:
- 1982 - starring Pearl Bailey, Dana Hill and Howard E. Rollins Jr. and directed by Delbert Mann.
- 1997 - starring Anna Paquin, Alfre Woodard, Corey Dunn and Enrico Colantoni, adapted by David W. Rintels and directed by Fielder Cook. Rintels adapted this version from the original novel and did not use the play as his model.