Stage Florence Eldridge, a 24-year-old actress, became the first person to portray Daisy Buchanan in any medium, starring in the 1926 Broadway adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel at the
Ambassador Theatre in New York City. Directed by
George Cukor, the production ran for 112 performances, delighting audiences and garnering rave reviews. Vacationing in Europe at the time, Fitzgerald missed the Broadway play, but his agent
Harold Ober sent telegrams quoting the positive reviews. A year later, Elderidge married actor
Fredric March in 1927. In Eldridge's footsteps, many other actresses portrayed Daisy Buchanan on the stage. In 1958, Robyn Cotner portrayed Daisy in the first musical adaptation of Fitzgerald's novel. In 1999,
Dawn Upshaw portrayed the character in
John Harbison's operatic adaptation of the work performed at the
New York Metropolitan Opera, and Heidi Armbruster portrayed Daisy in
Simon Levy's 2006 stage adaptation in a performance described by critic Quinton Skinner as "full of loony momentary enthusiasms and a dangerous sensuality, though by the second act, Armbruster's perf veers toward hollow mannerisms." Monte McGrath portrayed Daisy in a 2012 version of the same play by Simon Levy, and her performance received acclaim. Madeleine Herd played Daisy in a 2015 adaptation by Independent Theater Productions. In the fall of 2023,
Eva Noblezada played Daisy in
The Great Gatsby: A New Musical, which transferred to Broadway in March 2024;
Sarah Hyland and
Aisha Jackson both later replaced Noblezada as Daisy. Then in 2026, Eva Noblezada returned to the role of Daisy. Charlotte MacInnes played the role of Daisy in
Florence Welch's musical
Gatsby: An American Myth which premiered at the
American Repertory Theatre in the summer of 2024.
Film Paramount Pictures produced a 1926
silent film adaptation featuring
Lois Wilson as Daisy. In contrast to later adaptations, two women adapted Fitzgerald's novel for the screen:
Elizabeth Meehan wrote the
film treatment, and
Becky Gardiner wrote the screenplay. Although a few critics found Lois Wilson's interpretation of Daisy to be unsympathetic, other critics raved that Wilson reached "heights of emotional acting in the picture which she never before attained" and did "the best acting of her career." Notwithstanding Wilson's performance, Fitzgerald's wife Zelda loathed the 1926 film adaptation of his novel and walked out during a viewing of the film at a theater. "We saw
The Great Gatsby at the movies," Zelda wrote to an acquaintance, "It's and awful and terrible and we left." The film is now
lost. In 1949, Paramount Pictures undertook a
second film adaptation starring
Betty Field as Daisy. In contrast to the 1926 adaptation,
Production Code Administration censors compelled the screenwriters to bowdlerize the novel's plot by eliding Daisy's infidelity. According to screenwriter
Richard Maibaum, Field's performance as Daisy divided critics. Lew Sheaffer wrote in
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Field performed "the difficult feat of making a strong impact" as Gatsby's "vague, shilly-shallying sweetheart." Boyd Martin of
The Courier-Journal opined that Field convincingly portrayed Daisy's shallowness, whereas Wanda Hale of
The New York Daily News complained that Field gave "such a restrained, delicate performance that you have to use some imagination to understand her weakness." In 1974,
Mia Farrow portrayed Daisy in a
third film adaptation. Her performance met with a mixed reception. Bruce Handy of
Vanity Fair praised Farrow as "full of vain flutter and the seductive instant intimacy of the careless rich".
Vincent Canby of
The New York Times, in an otherwise negative review, complimented Farrow's performance as "a woman who cannot conceive of the cruelties she so casually commits".
Roger Ebert lamented that Farrow played Daisy as "all squeaks and narcissism and empty sophistication", and
Gene Siskel complained that Farrow interpreted Daisy to be a "skittish child-woman". Upon viewing the 1974 film, Fitzgerald's daughter
Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald criticized Farrow's performance and opined that Farrow couldn't convey the "Southern nature" of Daisy's character. In 2013,
Carey Mulligan portrayed Daisy in a
fourth film adaptation. Director
Baz Luhrmann cast Mulligan as Daisy after two 90-minute auditions with actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrayed Gatsby. Mulligan partly based her performance on the
Kardashian family, specifically "looking very present, presentational, and perfect." Although familiar with popular antipathy towards the character, Mulligan felt she could not "think that about her, because I can't play her thinking she's awful." In a review of the 2013 film, Todd McCarthy of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that viewers with their own ideas about Daisy's character would debate whether Mulligan possessed "the beauty, the bearing, the dream qualities desired for the part, but she lucidly portrays the desperate tear Daisy feels between her unquestionable love for Gatsby and fear of her husband." Critic Jonathan Romney of
The Independent praised Mulligan's "reassuringly candid presence" that he described as "weary, wan, with a dash of
Blanche DuBois."
Television Phyllis Kirk portrayed Daisy in a 1955 episode of the television series
Robert Montgomery Presents adapting
The Great Gatsby. Reviewers deemed Kirk's interpretation of Daisy to be merely adequate as "the distraught lady across the bay". Three years later,
Jeanne Crain played Daisy in a 1958 episode of the television series
Playhouse 90.
Mira Sorvino played Daisy in the
2000 television adaptation. Produced on a small budget, the adaptation suffered from low production values, and television critics panned Sorvino's performance. Natasha Joffe of
The Guardian wrote that Sorvino's "voice is supposed to be full of money, but is just moany. Why would Gatsby love her? She looks like a drowned goose and her hats are like they've been made out of old pants." Similarly, John Crook of
The Fremont Tribune declared Sorvino to be "seriously miscast as Daisy". In 2007, Tricia Paoluccio portrayed Daisy in
PBS'
American Masters television episode titled "Novel Reflections: The American Dream".
Radio Irene Dunne starred as Daisy in an adaptation broadcast on
Family Hour of Stars on January 1, 1950, and
Pippa Bennett-Warner played Daisy in the 2012 two-part
Classic Serial production.
List == See also ==