Ruth Godfrey (February 24, 1922January 7, 1985) was an American film actress, best known for her work in several

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeare ...

shorts. She also worked under the name of Ruth Godfrey White.

Career

Stage

Godfrey danced in a production of ''

Meet the People ''Meet the People'' (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film, musical comedy film made, and set, during World War II, and starring Lucille Ball and Dick Powell and featuring Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, Rags Ragland and June Allyson. The film ...

'' at LaConga, a New York night club, in 1942. She danced in ''

Something for the Boys ''Something for the Boys'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical. P ...

'' on Broadway in 1943 and joined other cast members in entertaining soldiers at a hospital. She and other performers, including Allen Jenkins, did a four-month tour of the Hawaiian islands with USO-Camp Shows.

Film

Godfrey was assistant dance director at

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

for ten years. She was under contract to

Columbia Studios Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Major film studios, Big Five stud ...

for two years, starting in 1946 She was the choreographer for ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

'' at Paramount Pictures. Godfrey taught such stars as Jimmy Cagney, Gene Nelson, Jane Powell, Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball. Godfrey first joined

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

as a member of The Jack Cole Dancers, along with supporting actresses

Nita Bieber Nita Gale Bieber (July 18, 1926 – February 4, 2019) was an American actress and dancer. Early years Bieber was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Callie Mae (Robbins) and William Carl Bieber. She was one of five siblings who st ...

and Gloria Patrice. All three would appear in her 1946 debut film with the Stooges, '' Rhythm and Weep''. She was the featured dancer in the

Soundie Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical ge ...

''Hats Off'' (1943), performing to the song "

Where Did You Get That Hat? "Where Did You Get That Hat?" is a comic song which was composed and first performed by Joseph J. Sullivan at Miner's Eighth Avenue Theatre in 1888. It was a great success and has since been performed by many others including J. C. Heffron, Sta ...

" with the Winnie Hoveler Dancers. Godfrey appeared in several more Three Stooges films throughout the 1950s, such as '' Shot in the Frontier'', ''

Musty Musketeers ''Musty Musketeers'' is a 1954 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 154th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

'' and ''

Pardon My Backfire ''Pardon My Backfire'' is a 1953 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard). It is the 149th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring ...

''. Memorably, Godfrey became the only actress in the history of the slapstick comedy trio to deliver a triple slap—twice—to the Stooges in 1957's ''

A Merry Mix Up ''A Merry Mix-Up'' is a 1957 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser). It is the 177th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the co ...

''. Though she made less fewer 10 films with the comedy team, Godfrey is one of the few actresses to have worked with five of the six Stooges (

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Litvak accent. He is best known as the ...

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges. Early life Fine was born to a Russian Je ...

Curly Howard Jerome Lester Horwitz (; October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), known professionally as Curly Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of the American comedy team the Three Stooges, which also featured his elder ...

and

Joe Besser Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957� ...

) on film in the various incarnations of the group. Godfrey retired from film shortly after production of Stooge shorts films ceased in December 1957.

Personal life and death

Godfrey's

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity (law), affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person i ...

was

short subject head Jules White. Godfrey died of

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

in the Northridge section of

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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on January 7, 1985.

References

External links

* * 1922 births 1985 deaths American film actresses 20th-century American actresses {{US-film-actor-1920s-stub