Judith Arlen (born Laurette Elizabeth Rutherford; March 18, 1914 – June 5, 1968) was an American film actress of Canadian descent. She was the elder sister of actress

Ann Rutherford Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the And ...

Early years

Judith Arlen was born Laurette Rutherford in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, to Canadian parents John Rutherford and Lucille (née Mansfield) Rutherford. Rutherford's mother was a silent film actress, and her father was a former operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. The family moved to San Francisco, and, soon afterwards, her parents separated and Lucille Mansfield moved to Los Angeles with Laurette and her sister

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

Career

Laurette took on the stage name Judith Arlen and started her acting career in 1930 with an uncredited role in the

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

film ''Madam Satan''. She had another uncredited role in 1933, but received two credited roles in 1934, and that year she was one of 13 girls selected as "

WAMPAS Baby Stars The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

" (at the time, ''baby star'' was common slang for ''starlet''), the last year that the "WAMPAS" titles were awarded. The 1934 film ''

Kiss and Make-Up ''Kiss and Make-Up'' is a 1934 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant as a doctor who specializes in making women beautiful. Genevieve Tobin and Helen Mack play his romantic entanglements. The film was based on the play ''Kozmetika'' by (credi ...

'', which starred

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, was Arlen's next-to-last film. She had a minor role in '' Young and Beautiful'', in which she played a ''WAMPAS Baby Star'', after which her acting career petered out. In 1935, her younger sister Ann's career was launched. Arlen worked behind the scenes for her younger sister. In 1939, Arlen was host of the CBS Radio variety program ''Penthouse Blues''. She also performed in radio soap operas that originated in Los Angeles. By 1941, Arlen had begun using the stage name Judith Rutherford. In June 1941, she was the leading lady of the Gretna Players in Pennsylvania, performing in that company's season-opening production of ''Whispering Friends''. Arlen also sang professionally. In 1947, she recorded "All My Love" backed by "Dat's Love" on the DeLuxe label.

Death

She resided in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

at the time of her death on June 5, 1968, aged 54.

References

External links

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Judith Arlen WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlen, Judith American film actresses People from Greater Los Angeles Actresses from Santa Barbara, California 1914 births 1968 deaths Actresses from Los Angeles 20th-century American actresses WAMPAS Baby Stars American people of Canadian descent