Zoe Caldwell, one of the most acclaimed stage performers of her generation, who won four Tony Awards for playing complex female characters ranging from Medea in classical Greek tragedy to the powerful yet vulnerable Maria Callas in "Master Class," died Feb. 16 at her home in Pound Ridge, New York. She was 86.
She had complications from Parkinson's disease, said her son Charlie Whitehead.
Caldwell, whose first name was pronounced with one syllable, "Zoh," was born in Australia and was acting professionally at age 9.. She made her Broadway debut in 1965 as a disturbed nun in John Whiting's "The Devils."
A year later, Caldwell was cast in Tennessee Williams's "Slapstick Tragedy," which ran for less than a week. Still, her performance as a Southern society columnist earned her the Tony Award for best supporting actress.
In 1968, she appeared in the title role of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," portraying a charismatic but domineering teacher at a Scottish girls' school in the 1930s. At first, the play's producer, Robert Whitehead, did not think the diminutive Caldwell was right for the role, but he was persuaded by Jay Presson Allen, who had adapted the play from Muriel Spark's novel.
Caldwell's performance inspired rapturous reviews and she received the Tony Award for best actress in a play, She and Whitehead were married during the play's almost year-long Broadway run.
She continued to act periodically and, after several failed plays, triumphed again on Broadway in "Medea," by classical Greek dramatist Euripides and directed by her husband.
"People talk about the things I do with my body," she told the Times. "We studied so many Greek paintings and sculptures, and that's how it evolved."
She won a Tony Award for the role.