With no prior acting experience, Mary Badham won the role of Gregory Peck’s tomboy daughter Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) over 2000 other applicants. The novice thespian won praise and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her naturalistic, unaffected performance. Since then, she has promoted the book and film’s message about social injustice across the US (including for the National Endowment of the Arts and at two White House appearances) and received a US Speaker and Specialist Grant to participate in programs about To Kill a Mockingbird in Russia.
Badham only appeared in two other films, as the narrator who recalls the romantic exploits of her older sister (Natalie Wood) in This Property Is Condemned and as a girl who assists an heir outwit his murderous relative in William Castle’s Let’s Kill Uncle (both 1966). After a few appearances on TV episodes of shows like Dr. Kildare and Twilight Zone (The Bewitchin’ Pool), she retired from acting and moved to a Virginia farm. In 2023, she joined the national touring company of the hit Broadway revival of To Kill A Mockingbird as Mrs. Dubose. Her older brother is film director John Badham.
Welcome to Monsterama and Serlingbration 100, Mary!
