Ruth Nelson

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Ruth Gloria Nelson (born August 2, 1905 in Saginaw , Michigan , † September 12, 1992 in New York City , New York ) was an American actress .

life and career

Ruth Nelson was born in Michigan to the vaudeville actress Eva Mudge. In the 1920s she studied acting at the American Laboratory Theater in New York City and then became an actress on Broadway there . In 1931 she was one of the co-founders of the New York Group Theater , in whose productions she subsequently participated regularly. The psychological and political staging of the plays as well as the naturalistic drama made the Group Theater a legendary name in American theater history. She played one of her best-known theater roles as the wife of a taxi driver in Clifford Odets ' play Waiting for Lefty in 1935 . From 1931 to 1937 she was married to her fellow actor William Challee (1904-1989).

After the end of group theater in 1941, Nelson moved to Hollywood and became a film actress. She made her film debut in 1943 in the drama The North Star , directed by Lewis Milestone . The following year she played First Lady Ellen Wilson in the five Academy Award-winning biography Wilson about US President Woodrow Wilson . Directed by Elia Kazan , who was also a member of the Group Theater, she played supporting roles in the films A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) and Endless is the Prairie (1947). Often she played mother characters as well as inconspicuous but loyal working class women. Nelson was married to the film director John Cromwell from 1946 until his death in 1979 , making her the stepmother of actor James Cromwell . When John Cromwell was accused of being a communist in the McCarthy era in the early 1950s , Nelson retired from acting to support her husband in his life crisis. She even turned down an offer to play the role of Linda Loman in the world premiere of today's classic drama Death of a Salesman.

She and her husband appeared in front of the camera in the Robert Altman films Three Women (1977) and One Wedding (1978). Three Women was also Ruth Nelson's first feature film in almost 30 years and was the starting point for a smaller career in American film and television. In 1977 she took on another supporting role in the movie The Cat Knows the Murderer and was seen warmly in television series like Hart . Ruth Nelson's last major film appearance was in 1990 in the drama Time of Awakening , in which she played the mother of the hospital patient played by Robert De Niro . Most recently she was on stage in Uncle Vanya in 1991 . Nelson died in 1992 at the age of 87 after developing cancer and suffering a stroke .

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ruth Nelson, 87; Veteran Actress. September 14, 1992. Retrieved December 20, 2019 (American English).
  2. ↑ Bruce Lambert: Ruth Nelson, 87, an Actress for Nearly 70 Years . In: The New York Times . September 13, 1992, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed December 20, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Ruth Nelson, 87; Veteran Actress. September 14, 1992. Retrieved December 20, 2019 (American English).
  4. ↑ Ruth Nelson. Retrieved December 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Bruce Lambert: Ruth Nelson, 87, an Actress for Nearly 70 Years . In: The New York Times . September 13, 1992, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed December 20, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Bruce Lambert: Ruth Nelson, 87, an Actress for Nearly 70 Years . In: The New York Times . September 13, 1992, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed December 20, 2019]).
  7. ↑ Ruth Nelson, 87; Veteran Actress. September 14, 1992. Retrieved December 20, 2019 (American English).
personal data
SURNAME Nelson, Ruth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nelson, Ruth Gloria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd August 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Saginaw , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1992
Place of death New York City , New York