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Information about Thelma Ritter

Thelma Ritter

from the trailer for The Mating Season (1951)
BornFebruary 14, 1902
Brooklyn, New York, United States
DiedJanuary 5 1969 (aged 68)
New York, United States
Years active1947 - 1968
Spouse(s)Joseph Moran (1927-1969)


Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was a Tony Award winning American character actress of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

Ritter was born in Brooklyn, New York. After appearing in high school plays and stock companies, she trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She followed a stage career until taking a hiatus to raise a family, then resumed her career on radio in the early 1940s.

Career

Ritter did stock theater and radio shows early in her career, without much impact. Ritter's first movie role was in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). The 45-year-old made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised to her son. Her second role, in writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's A Letter to Three Wives (1949), also left a mark, although Ritter was again not listed in the credits.

Mankiewicz kept Ritter in mind, and cast her in his All About Eve the following year. An Oscar nomination led to popularity, and a second Oscar nomination followed for Mitchell Leisen's' classic screwball comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney, John Lund and Miriam Hopkins. Ritter enjoyed steady film work for the next dozen years. She also appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, and The United States Steel Hour.

Throughout her career, Ritter was nominated for an Academy Award six times but never received one. She co-hosted the Oscar ceremony in 1954, trading wisecracks with Bob Hope.

The diminutive, gravel-voiced Ritter gained great acclaim as a premiere character actress, known for her comic timing and sassy one-liners. She was most typically cast as the sardonic, seen-it-all housekeeper who saw through her boss's vanity and frequently told him or her so. But she was also fiercely protective, and neither trusted nor tolerated fools or con men. Ritter would trade on this irascible screen persona for the rest of her life.

Her unsentimental, hard-boiled fatalism could be used in other ways. In occasional non-comedic turns, she projected an unglamorous world-weariness, notably in Pickup on South Street (1953).

Some of her best-known roles include Bette Davis's devoted maid in All About Eve (1950), as Gene Tierney's maid/mother-in-law in The Mating Season (1951), James Stewart's nurse in Rear Window (1954), and as Doris Day's housekeeper in Pillow Talk (1959). Her turn in John Huston's The Misfits (1961), where she played opposite Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, also garnered favorable reviews.

Death

Shortly after a 1968 performance on The Jerry Lewis Show, Ritter suffered a heart attack which eventually proved fatal. She was 9 days shy of her 67th birthday.

Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
Nominated Best Actress in a Supporting Role for:
All About Eve (1950)
The Mating Season (1951)
With a Song in My Heart (1952)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)


(Having never actually won the award, she is tied with Deborah Kerr for the most nominations for a female actor for an acting award without winning. The record for all actors is Peter O'Toole with eight.)

Emmy Awards
Nominated Emmy Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Goodyear Television Playhouse for episode "The Catered Affair"

Golden Globe Awards
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for:
All About Eve (1950)
The Mating Season (1951)
Boeing Boeing (1965)

Tony Awards
Awarded Best Actress (Musical) (1957) for New Girl in Town in a tie with her co-star, Gwen Verdon

Trivia

  • When Bette Davis made The Catered Affair, she patterned her performance after Ritter, who she became good friends with during the making of All About Eve.

External links

Preceded by
Fredric March and Donald O'Connor
26th Academy Awards		Oscars host
27th Academy Awards (with Bob Hope)		Succeeded by
Claudette Colbert, Jerry Lewis, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz
28th Academy Awards
IMDb profile
The Mating Season is a 1951 classic screwball comedy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Charles Brackett, Richard Breen and Walter Reisch, based on the play
..... Click the link for more information.
February 14 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1870s  1880s  1890s  - 1900s -  1910s  1920s  1930s
1899 1900 1901 - 1902 - 1903 1904 1905

Year 1902 (MCMII
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Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
January 5 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1463 - Poet François Villon is banned from Paris.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972

Also:
*:1969 (number)
*:

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State of New York

Flag of New York Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
-1947- 1948 1949 1950  1951 .  1952 .  1953 .  1954  . 1955  . 1956  . 1957 

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-1968- 1969 1970 1971  1972 .  1973 .  1974 .  1975  . 1976  . 1977  . 1978 

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Tony Award

Designed by Herman Rosse, 1949
Awarded for Excellence in theatre
Presented by American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers
Country  United States
First awarded 1947
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The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival.
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New Girl in Town
'

Music Bob Merrill
Lyrics Bob Merrill
Book George Abbott
Based upon Eugene O'Neill's play
Anna Christie
Productions 1957 Broadway

New Girl in Town
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February 14 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.
..... Click the link for more information.
19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1870s  1880s  1890s  - 1900s -  1910s  1920s  1930s
1899 1900 1901 - 1902 - 1903 1904 1905

Year 1902 (MCMII
..... Click the link for more information.
February 5 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


..... Click the link for more information.
19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972

Also:
*:1969 (number)
*:

..... Click the link for more information.
Tony Award

Designed by Herman Rosse, 1949
Awarded for Excellence in theatre
Presented by American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers
Country  United States
First awarded 1947
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
actor, actress, or player (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity.
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Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents.
..... Click the link for more information.
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with campuses located at 120 Madison Avenue in New York City (in a landmark building designed by famed architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club) and 1336 North La Brea Avenue in
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All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Miracle on 34th Street (also titled The Big Heart in the UK) is a 1947 film written by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton, and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and Edmund Gwenn.
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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Birth name Joseph Leo Mankiewicz
Born January 11 1909(1909--)
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died January 5 1993 (aged 85)
Bedford, New York, U.S.
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|/ IMDb profile
A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them.
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IMDb profile

All About Eve is a 1950 drama film, written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.
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Mitchell Leisen (b. October 6 1898, Menominee, Michigan – d. October 28 1972, Los Angeles) was an American director, art director, and costume designer. He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments.
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Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union.

Track listing


# English Title Japanese Title Time

1. "Survivors Banquet"
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IMDb profile
The Mating Season is a 1951 classic screwball comedy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Charles Brackett, Richard Breen and Walter Reisch, based on the play
..... Click the link for more information.


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