Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pro-Life Actress Patricia Neal of Hud Fame Dies, Regretted Her Abortion
LifeNews.com ^ | August 9, 2010 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on 08/09/2010 2:32:07 PM PDT by julieee

Pro-Life Actress Patricia Neal of Hud Fame Dies, Regretted Her Abortion

Washington, DC -- Pro-life actress, Patricia Neal, died at age 84 on Sunday. She had been suffering from lung cancer and was surrounded by her family at her home in Massachusetts. Neal is best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of a housekeeper in the 1963 movie, Hud, with Paul Newman.

http://LifeNews.com/nat6619.html

(Excerpt) Read more at LifeNews.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: patricianeal
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041 next last

1 posted on 08/09/2010 2:32:13 PM PDT by julieee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: julieee

Prayers to her soul!

I can’t imagine how you can be pro-life after having an abortion. But I do pray that she confessed her sins in confession so she has a fighting chance at getting into Heaven.


2 posted on 08/09/2010 2:33:57 PM PDT by napscoordinator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: julieee
Never knew about Gary Cooper.

He just went down a couple pegs on my chart.

Sad

3 posted on 08/09/2010 2:34:53 PM PDT by mware (F-R-E-E, that spells free, Free Republic.com baby.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator
nap actually quite a few women come to regret their abortions.

That is what Rachel's Children is all about.

Their testimony to expecting mothers has saved many a baby.

4 posted on 08/09/2010 2:36:40 PM PDT by mware (F-R-E-E, that spells free, Free Republic.com baby.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: julieee

Gad, I had no idea she was still alive - I know she had a stroke decades back.


5 posted on 08/09/2010 2:36:48 PM PDT by skeeter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mware

These guys were actors, you don’t know anything about them.


6 posted on 08/09/2010 2:37:35 PM PDT by wtc911 ("How you gonna get down that hill?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: julieee

Farewell to a very stylish girl.


7 posted on 08/09/2010 2:39:11 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator
I can’t imagine how you can be pro-life after having an abortion.

It's called repentance and conversion, and it's a wonderful gift from Our Lord Jesus Christ. You would probably be amazed how many ladies are in this category. Come to Washington, DC next January for the March for Life, and you can meet and talk with some of them.

8 posted on 08/09/2010 2:39:43 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: mware
Cooper had affairs with many actresses. Later in life his wife converted him to Catholicism and it was his daughter who later befriended and converted Neal.
9 posted on 08/09/2010 2:41:37 PM PDT by colorado tanker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator
It's not that hard to figure out.
The anguish, guilt, horror, and emptiness she felt afterwards clued her in as to what she had lost.
It's very common actually.
Some turn to bitterness, anger, and denial.
Others search for healing and forgiveness.
When they realize they have lost a human child, all that that means and could have been. Those that have courage speak out about it. Some become pro-life activists because they don't want others to go through that trauma.
10 posted on 08/09/2010 2:44:14 PM PDT by HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: julieee

Hud was good, but Sometimes a Great Notion better.


11 posted on 08/09/2010 2:46:25 PM PDT by equalitybeforethelaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mware

Mine too. Go ahead Patricia...murder that baby so my wife and daughter don’t find out I dishonored them both.

Kudos to coopers wife and especially his daughter for HER courage to forgive. She did better than her father that’s for sure.


12 posted on 08/09/2010 2:49:11 PM PDT by cubreporter ( Trust Rush and you won't go wrong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator
I can’t imagine how you can be pro-life after having an abortion

Repentance, forgiveness, abandoning those sins forever more.

13 posted on 08/09/2010 2:49:59 PM PDT by Domandred (Fdisk, format, and reinstall the entire .gov system.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: B-Chan

yes indeed and...she was GREAT with John Wayne. They were quite a pair.


14 posted on 08/09/2010 2:50:28 PM PDT by cubreporter ( Trust Rush and you won't go wrong.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: julieee

Hud fame? I remember her from “The Day the Earth Stood Still”.


15 posted on 08/09/2010 2:55:05 PM PDT by Sparky1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: onyx; woofie; NYer; Salvation; ELS; Miss Marple; Miss Didi; penelopesire; hoosiermama; ...

Oh, wow ... sniff

~~~~~~~~

Her lover (and co-star) Gary Cooper had persuaded her to have the abortion, as he was still married and had a daughter with his wife. That daughter, Maria Cooper, famously spat on Neal to show her displeasure that Neal had interfered with the marriage of the Coopers. However, later, the wife and daughter reconciled with Neal.

Maria Cooper is credited with helping Neal return to Catholicism. And, despite her hatred of the affair, Maria Cooper is said to have complained to Neal that the aborted child was the only sibling Maria Cooper would ever have and that she wished that the child had been given life.

Patricia Neal openly admired fellow actress Ingrid Bergman, who gave birth out of wedlock to a son by Roberto Rossellini, and was therefore denounced by the United States Senate.

Neal said that Bergman had “guts” and that Neal wished that she had had the guts also to carry her baby to birth.

Joshua Mercer of Catholic Vote Action, noted Neal’s death and her pro-life views in later life.

“Neal stood out against the grain of Hollywood by calling for the defense of unborn life. It was learned from her own mistakes,” he said.

“Neal appeared as a guest on The View and spoke gently about how abortion creates anguish and sorrow. She often said simply but powerfully: ‘Don’t make my mistake. Let your baby live.’”

“I had the chance to hear her speak about six or seven years ago and I can say without any hesitation that everyone in the room was moved by her testimony,” Mercer continued.

Even the New York Times noted her abortion regrets in its obituary:

During her affair with Cooper, she became pregnant. She had an abortion and according to her 1988 autobiography, “As I Am,” (written with Richard DeNeut), she cried herself to sleep for 30 years afterward.

“If I had only one thing to do over in my life,” she wrote, “I would have that baby.”

“Never underestimate the power of forgiveness! Maria Cooper understood that Jesus forgives, so she found the strength to do so as well. I believe that Patricia is eternally grateful,” Mercer said.

The courage that eluded her at age 21 was certainly shown in later years. Rest in God’s peace, Patricia Neal.


16 posted on 08/09/2010 2:58:32 PM PDT by STARWISE (The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Sparky1776

Yes. And The Fountainhead and A Face in the Crowd. She was fantastic.


17 posted on 08/09/2010 2:58:32 PM PDT by ElayneJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: julieee

I remember many of Patricia Neal’s movies; “In Harm’s Way,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “A Face in the Crowd.” She also starred in “The Homecoming,” which essentially became the pilot for “The Waltons” on TV.
Never knew about the affair with Gary Cooper or the abortion though. She will be missed.


18 posted on 08/09/2010 2:59:05 PM PDT by ixtl (When people fear government, there is tyranny; when goverment fears people, there is liberty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ElayneJ

“She was fantastic.”

Indeed.


19 posted on 08/09/2010 2:59:47 PM PDT by Sparky1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: mware

The movie that Cooper and Neal co-starred in was THE FOUNTAINHEAD, from the novel by Ayn Rand.


20 posted on 08/09/2010 3:00:33 PM PDT by Argus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson