Ruth Chatterton

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name = Ruth Chatterton


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caption = from the trailer for the film "Female" (1933)
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birthdate = birth date|1893|12|24|mf=y
birthplace = New York City, New York, U.S.
deathdate = Death date and age|1961|11|24|1893|12|24
deathplace = Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S.
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spouse = Ralph Forbes (1924-1932)
George Brent (1932-1934)
Barry Thomson (1942-1960)
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Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1893 - November 24, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actress.

Early life

Born in New York City on Christmas Eve, 1893, of English and French extraction, she was on Broadway by the age of 14 as a dancer.

Film career

Her first film was "Sins of the Fathers" in 1928, and almost all of her films were pre-Code. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for two films -- "Madame X" (1929) and "Sarah and Son" (1930).

Her stage experience enhanced many of her film performances when the "silents" segued to the "talkies." Although her first "talkies" were merely filmed stage productions, her enunciation and acting were appreciated by the public and critics alike. And when she abandoned Paramount, her initial studio, for Warner Brothers (along with Kay Francis and William Powell), it was noted that the brothers Warner needed an infusion of "class."

She also was known for her co-starring role in the film "Dodsworth" (1936), for Samuel Goldwyn and United Artists, which is widely regarded as her finest film, although not a pre-Code film.

Chatterton's last film was "A Royal Divorce" in 1938. However, she appeared on U.S.television in several plays, including a TV adaptation of "Dodsworth", in which she recreated her film role. Her last television appearance was as "Gertrude" in a 1953 adaptation of "Hamlet", with Maurice Evans in the title role, on the "Hallmark Hall of Fame". She then relocated to England.

Author and Later Life

Having left acting, she began a successful writing career, producing several novels. She was also one of the few aviatrices at the time, and was acquainted with Amelia Earhart.

, a fellow Warners player in the 1930s.

She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 67 in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1961. Ruth Chatterton was cremated and is interred in a niche in the Lugar Mausoleum (Section 11, Lot 303) at Beechwoods Cemetery in New Rochelle, NY.

Occasional, much-younger co-star Bette Davis recalled that Chatterton was "very kind" to her at Warners when Davis was a young actress starting out on her career.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Blvd.

External links

*imdb name| id=0154183 | name=Ruth Chatterton
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=2336 Photographs of Ruth Chatterton]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6640989 Ruth Chatteron Memorial] at Find A Grave