Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in ''
The Philadelphia Story''.
Early life
Hussey was born in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, on October 30, 1911. She was later known as Ruth Carol O'Rourke, her stepfather's surname.
[Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , p. 591.] Her father, George R. Hussey, died of the
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
in 1918 when she was seven years old. Ten years later, her mother, Julia Corbett Hussey, married a family friend, William O'Rourke, who had worked at the family's mail-order silver enterprise. She grew up at 179 Ontario Street.
[Rhode Island, State Census, 1925.] She had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Betty.
After obtaining her early education in Providence's public schools, Hussey studied art at
Pembroke College and graduated from that institution in 1936. She never landed a role in any of the plays for which she tried out at Pembroke. She then received a degree in theatre from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
School of Drama, and worked as an actress with a
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...
company in Michigan for two seasons. She also attended Boston Business College.
[ ]
Career
After working as an actress in summer stock, she returned to Providence and worked as a radio fashion commentator on a local station. She wrote the ad copy for a Providence clothing store and read it on the radio each afternoon. She was encouraged by a friend to try out for acting roles at the Providence Playhouse. The theater director there turned her down, saying the roles were cast only out of New York City. Later that week, she journeyed to New York City and on her first day there, she signed with a talent agent who booked her for a role in a play starting the next day back at the Providence Playhouse.
In New York City, she also worked for a time as a model. She then landed a number of stage roles with touring companies. ''
Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...
'' toured the country in 1937 and the last theater on the road trip was at the
Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was spotted on opening night by
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
talent scout Billy Grady. MGM signed her to a players contract and she made her film debut in 1937. She quickly became a leading lady in MGM's "B" unit, usually playing sophisticated, worldly roles. For a 1940 "A" picture role, she was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for her turn as Elizabeth Imbrie, the cynical magazine photographer and almost-girlfriend of
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
's character Macaulay Connor in ''
The Philadelphia Story''.
[ In 1941, exhibitors voted her the third-most-popular new star in Hollywood.
]
Hussey also worked with Robert Taylor in ''Flight Command
''Flight Command'' is a 1940 American film about a cocky U.S. Navy pilot who has problems with his new squadron and with the wife of his commander. It stars Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey and Walter Pidgeon. ''Flight Command'' has the distinction of ...
'' (1940), Robert Young in ''Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...
'' (1940) and '' H. M. Pulham, Esq.'' (1941), Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...
in ''Tennessee Johnson
''Tennessee Johnson'' is a 1942 American film about Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Dieterle and written by Milton Gunzburg, Alvin Meyers, John Balderston, and We ...
'' (1942), Ray Milland
Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...
in '' The Uninvited'' (1944), and Alan Ladd in ''The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...
'' (1949).
In 1946, she starred on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''State of the Union
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
''.[ Her 1949 role in ''Goodbye, My Fancy'' on Broadway caused a '']Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' reviewer to write: "Miss Hussey brings a splendid aliveness and warmth to the lovely congresswoman...."
She filled in for Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.
Arthur had feature roles in three F ...
in the 1955 ''Lux Radio Theater
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
'' presentation of ''Shane
Shane may refer to:
People
* Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress
* Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946)
* iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer
* Shane (name)
Shane is mainly a masculine g ...
'', playing Miriam Starrett, alongside the film’s original stars Alan Ladd and Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...
.
In 1960, she co-starred in '' The Facts of Life'' with Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
. Hussey was also active in early television drama.
Personal life
On August 9, 1942, Hussey married talent agent and radio producer C. Robert "Bob" Longenecker (1909–2002) at Mission San Antonio de Pala
The San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, or the "Pala Mission", was founded on June 13, 1816 as an asistencia or "sub-mission" to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, some twenty miles inland upstream from the latter mission on the San Luis Rey River. ...
in north San Diego County, California. Longenecker was born and raised in Lititz, Pennsylvania
Lititz is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of the city of Lancaster. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370.
History
Lititz was founded by members of the Moravian Church in 1756 and was named af ...
. They raised three children: George Robert Longenecker, John William Longenecker, and Mary Elizabeth Hendrix.
Following the birth of her children, Hussey focused much of her attention on family activities and, in 1964, designed a family cabin in the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, California
Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, and surrounding the eponymous Lake Arrowhe ...
. In 1967, she was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame
The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame was established in the State of Rhode Island in 1965. Its mission statement states that the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame "exists to honor and recognize, and to extol and publicize the achievements of th ...
.
In 1977, she and her husband moved from their Brentwood family home to Rancho Carlsbad in Carlsbad, California
Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...
. Her husband died in 2002 shortly after celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.
Her son, John Longenecker
John Longenecker (born 1947) is an American film producer, Directors Guild of America member, screenwriter and cinematographer who produced the Academy Award-winning live-action short film, ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' (1970).
Biograph ...
, works as a cinematographer and film director. He won an Academy Award for producing a live-action short film ''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
''The Resurrection of Broncho Billy'' is a 1970 live action short Western film directed by James R. Rokos and starring Johnny Crawford.
It won an Oscar for Best Short Subject.
It was one of John Carpenter's first works; he acted as editor, ...
'' (1970).
She was also active in Catholic charities
The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations.
Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spi ...
,["Hussey, Ruth"]
''American National Biography'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 19, 2017. was noted for painting in watercolors
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
,[ and was a lifelong ]Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
although she did vote for Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
in 1944 and for Hollywood friend and former co-star Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections.
Death
Hussey died April 19, 2005,[ at the age of 93, from complications from an ]appendectomy
An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...
. She is interred at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.[Wilson, Scott (2016)]
"6289. Hussey, Ruth"
''Final Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', third edition, p. 363. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
Filmography
Radio appearances
References
External links
Ruth Hussey
– official website
*
*
*
''NY Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Ruth
1911 births
2005 deaths
20th-century American actresses
American film actresses
American radio actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Articles containing video clips
Pembroke College in Brown University alumni
Brown University alumni
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni
People from Lake Arrowhead, California
Actors from Providence, Rhode Island
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
People from Carlsbad, California
Burials in California
People from Brentwood, California
California Democrats
California Republicans
Catholics from California
Actresses from Rhode Island
21st-century American women
Burials at Valley Oaks Memorial Park