Hope Holiday

Hope Holiday (November 30, 1930) is an American actress, perhaps best known for her role of Mrs. Margie MacDougall, Jack Lemmon's partner in self-pity on Christmas Eve night, in the Billy Wilder film The Apartment (1960).

Early years

Holiday was born Hope Jane Zee in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Manhattan. Her father, a burlesque entertainer who was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, changed his name from Allen Zaslawsky to Allen Zee. She attended Public School 117 in Jamaica, Queens, and then went to Forest Hills High School. Hoping to become a star, she dropped out of high school and sang at the Copacabana nightclub. Her father was also described by Ed Sullivan as a "Capitol Theater exec." Her mother, Doris, worked in the production department at radio station WHN in New York City. Her father at one time was night manager of WHN. She has an older sister, Judy, whose stage name was Judy Sinclair.

Name change

A column in the June 30, 1954, issue of the Brooklyn Eagle noted Zee's change of names: "At the Guy Lombardo extravaganza, 'Arabian Night,' the lassie that almost walked away with the show was Hope Holiday. Hope, before this show, used the name of Hope Zee ..." She later recalled: