Mary Gordon (actress)
Mary Gordon (born May 16, 1882 in Glasgow as Mary Gilmour , † August 23, 1963 in Pasadena , California ) was a Scottish actress . Her best-known role is the housekeeper Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes film series with Basil Rathbone . She also starred in several films with Laurel and Hardy .
Life
Mary Gordon was born in Glasgow, the fifth of seven children to a wire maker. After her first job as a seamstress, she became an actress. In the 1900s she traveled to the United States with an acting company . There she toured and played a few minor roles in Broadway plays. Her husband, with whom she had a daughter, died in 1917. Together with her daughter and mother - both were called Mary - the character actress traveled to Hollywood in the 1920s , where she made her film debut in 1925 with the short film The Dome Doctor . She starred in several silent films, such as 1928 Joan Crawford film Our Dancing Daughters before the end of the 1920s, the sound film Hollywood reached. She managed to switch to talkies without any problems.
During the 1930s she played in numerous films - often her screen appearances lasted only a few seconds, but sometimes she was also given larger supporting roles. The corpulent, gray-haired actress played matronly roles like mothers, landladies and housekeepers throughout her life. A characteristic of Gordon was her Scottish accent, which she did not shed even when she played Irish or English roles. Her best-known role was Sherlock Holmes ' housekeeper Mrs. Hudson in the famous crime series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the lead roles. Gordon played Mrs. Hudson in a total of ten films between 1939 and 1946 and also in various radio plays . She also shot several times with the comedian duo Laurel and Hardy , including an appearance as a feisty Scottish innkeeper in We're from the Scottish Infantry Regiment (1935). Gordon also appeared in several films by director John Ford , for example as the landlady "Ma" in To the Last Man alongside Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple .
In total, Gordon made almost 300 film appearances by her last film in 1950. Shortly before the end of her career, she got a single television appearance. She spent her last years with her daughter and her grandson in Pasadena. In 1963 Mary Gordon died after a long illness at the age of 81.
Filmography (selection)
- 1925: The Home Maker
- 1928: Hangman's House
- 1928: Our Dancing Daughters
- 1929: Madame X
- 1929: dynamite (dynamite)
- 1930: Oh, For a Man!
- 1931: Charlie Chan - Death is a Black Camel (The Black Camel)
- 1931: Frankenstein
- 1932: Call Her Savage
- 1932: Blonde Venus
- 1933: Serenade for three (Design for Living)
- 1933: Parade in the Spotlight (Footlight Parade)
- 1933: They did him wrong (She Done Him Wrong)
- 1933: The Invisible Man (The Invisible Man)
- 1934: The World Moves On
- 1934: The Little Minister
- 1935: We're from the Scottish Infantry Regiment (Bonnie Scotland)
- 1935: Mutiny on the Bounty (Mutiny on the Bounty)
- 1935: The Bride of Frankenstein (Bride of Frankenstein)
- 1935: The Irish in Us
- 1936: Mary of Scotland (Mary of Scotland)
- 1936: The Little Lord (Little Lord Fauntleroy)
- 1936: The Plow and the Stars
- 1936: Thin Man, 2nd Case (After the Thin Man)
- 1936: The White Angel
- 1937: Double Wedding
- 1937: Two rode to Texas (Way Out West)
- 1938: Chicago Angels with Dirty Faces
- 1938: Mannequin
- 1938: Kidnapped (Kidnapped)
- 1939: The Night of Nights
- 1939: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- 1939: Chain convict in Australia (Captain Fury)
- 1939: She Married a Cop
- 1940: Go West
- 1940: Orchid, the gangster brother (Brother Orchid)
- 1940: The Wrong Paths of Oliver Essex (My Son, My Son!)
- 1940: Miss Kitty (Kitty Foyle)
- 1940: The Invisible Woman (The Invisible Woman)
- 1940: On the high seas (Saps At Sea)
- 1941: consultation for Love (Appointment for Love)
- 1941: Pot o 'Gold
- 1941: Beatable Weather (How Green Was My Valley)
- 1942: Fly-by-Night
- 1942: The Cheeky Cavalier (Gentleman Jim)
- 1942: Pride of the Yankees (The Pride of the Yankees)
- 1943: Jitterbugs
- 1944: Irish Eyes Are Smiling
- 1944: Hollywood Canteen
- 1945: A Lady with a Past (Kitty)
- 1945: The Body Snatcher (The Body Snatcher)
- 1945: Pride of the Marines
- 1946: Little Giant
- 1947: The Double Life of Walter Mitty (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
- 1948: To the Last Man (Fort Apache)
- 1948: Lassie's home (Hills of Home)
- 1949: Panic for King Kong (Mighty Joe Young)
- 1949: Lassie in Need (Challenge to Lassie)
- 1950: Thelma Jordon criminal case (The File on Thelma Jordon)
Sherlock Holmes films
- 1939: The Hound of the Baskervilles (The Hound of the Baskervilles)
- 1939: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
- 1942: The Voice of Terror (Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror)
- 1942: The Secret Weapon (Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon)
- 1943: Fateful Journey (Sherlock Holmes in Washington)
- 1943: Ghosts in the Castle (Sherlock Holmes Faces Death)
- 1944: The Spider Woman (The Spider Woman)
- 1944: The Pearl of the Borgia (The Pearl of Death)
- 1945: The Woman in Green (The Woman in Green)
- 1946: Hunting for music boxes (Dressed to Kill)
Web links and sources
- Mary Gordon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Mary Gordon in the All Movie Guide (English)
- Mary Gordon in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mary Gordon at Allmovie
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Gordon, Mary |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gilmour, Mary (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish actress |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 16, 1882 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow |
DATE OF DEATH | 23rd August 1963 |
Place of death | Pasadena , California , United States |