Ruth Donnelly

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Ruth Donnelly (born May 17, 1896 in Trenton , New Jersey , † November 17, 1982 in New York City , New York ) was an American actress who was cast mainly in supporting comedic roles as a quick-witted matron.

life and career

Ruth Donnelly was born the daughter of a newspaper reporter and music critic who was temporarily mayor of her hometown Trenton . At the age of 17 she made her acting debut in 1913 in the choir of the musical comedy The Quaker Girl . Donnelly traveled with actors through America and in 1914 she made her first silent film The Man Who Lost, But Won . Over the next two years she appeared in a number of short films before concentrating on her theatrical work again and not making her next film until 1927. In September 1917 she made her debut on Broadway in New York City in The Scrap of Paperand caught the attention of theater producer George M. Cohan . Cohan subsequently cast Donnelly as Comic Relief in his Broadway productions. By 1931, the character actress played in a total of 13 plays on Broadway.

The stock market crash in 1929 led Donnelly to embark on a film career, and so she was one of the many Broadway actors who moved to Hollywood with the start of talkies in the late 1920s . During the pre-code , she established herself as a successful supporting actress, which was mainly seen in comedic roles. Often she embodied joking and sharp-tongued friends of the main character, wives or secretaries. In her younger years in particular, she often played somewhat matronly characters who were a few years older than herself. Donnelly played four times alongside Barbara Stanwyck , and she played Guy Kibbee's wife several times . She had one of her darkest roles as the quarrelsome and dominant mother of Mary Brian in Hard to Handle (1933), who will stop at nothing to earn some money. Director Frank Capra used Donnelly in his films Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936) and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) in supporting roles.

In the 1940s, Donnelly played mainly in B-Movies, an exception was her appearance as a fun-loving nun in The Bells of St. Mary next to Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman . In the 1950s she turned fewer films and came to several guest roles on television, besides, she was in the drama autumn storms of Robert Aldrich seen as comic relief. After she had shot her last film with Die Spur des Goldes in 1957 , Donnelly could still be seen in a few smaller roles on television until the mid-1960s. On Broadway, she played again in 1963 in The Riot Act and in 1971 as a replacement for Patsy Kelly in a production of No, No, Nanette as Pauline, before she completely retired from the acting business. She also released some songs on a record called Souveniers .

Ruth Donnelly was married to Basil de Guichard (1885-1958), the manager of an airline, from 1932 until his death in 1958. She died in 1982 at the age of 86 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Trenton.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Ruth Donnelly  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ruth Donnelly at Chiseler
  2. ↑ Ruth Donelly at the Internet Broadway Database
  3. ↑ Ruth Donnelly at Find A Grave
personal data
SURNAME Donnelly, Ruth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Trenton , New Jersey , United States
DATE OF DEATH 17th November 1982
Place of death New York City , New York , United States