Gloria Stuart
Encyclopedia
Gloria Frances Stuart was an American actress, activist, painter, bonsai artist and fine printer. Over a Hollywood career which spanned, with a long break in the middle, from 1932 until 2004, she appeared on stage
, television
, and film, for which she was best-known. She appeared as Claude Rains
' sweetheart in The Invisible Man, and as the elderly Rose Dawson Calvert in an Academy Award-nominated role in the film Titanic
. She was the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar, at the age of 87, for that role.
Stuart was born Gloria Frances Stewart in Santa Monica, California
, a third-generation Californian. Her mother, Alice Vaughan Deidrick Stewart, was born in Angels Camp, California
. Her father, Frank Stewart, was an attorney representing many Tongs
in San Francisco. Gloria's brother, Frank, came 11 months later. A second brother, Thomas, died in infancy. When Gloria was nine years old, her father, who had been appointed a judge and was about to take the bench, was hit by a car and died. Her mother got a job in the Ocean Park, California Post Office to support her children. Alice Stewart remarried, to Fred J. Finch, a native of Kentucky
, who owned a local funeral parlor and held oil leases in Texas. A half-sister, Patsy — Patricia Marie Finch — was born in 1924. Gloria's younger brother Frank took the surname Finch, later becoming a sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times
.
She later changed the spelling of her surname when she began her career, reportedly because "Stuart" would fit better on a marquee.
She attended Santa Monica High School
, graduating in 1927, then immediately ran off to Berkeley to attend the University of California, Berkeley
. At Berkeley, she majored in drama and philosophy but dropped out in her junior year to marry Blair Gordon Newell, a San Francisco sculptor working under Ralph Stackpole
on the facade of the San Francisco Stock Exchange building. The Newells lived a bohemian life in Carmel and were part of a circle of artists including Ansel Adams
, Edward Weston
, and Robinson Jeffers
. She acted at the Carmel Playhouse and worked on the Carmel newspaper. Returning to Los Angeles, she appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse and was immediately signed to a contract by Universal Studios
in 1932. She became a favorite of director James Whale
, appearing in his The Old Dark House
(1932), The Kiss Before the Mirror
(1933) and The Invisible Man
(1933).
Stuart was an activist and became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild
, but her career with Universal was disappointing. She moved to 20th Century Fox
, and by the end of the decade had appeared in more than forty films, including Busby Berkeley
's Gold Diggers of 1935
and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
. She appeared alongside such stars as Lionel Atwill
, Lionel Barrymore
, Freddie Bartholomew
, Warner Baxter
, James Cagney
, Eddie Cantor
, Melvyn Douglas
, Ruth Etting, Boris Karloff
, Paul Lukas
, Raymond Massey
, Pat O'Brien
, Al Pearce
, Dick Powell
, Claude Rains
, the Ritz Brothers
, Shirley Temple
and Lee Tracy
.
, one of the writers on Roman Scandals
. Sheekman was Groucho Marx
's best friend and was collaborating (sometimes without credit) on Marx Brothers
films. Later, Sheekman ghostwrote
several of Marx's books; Marx called him "The Fastest Wit in the West". The Sheekmans' daughter, Sylvia Vaughn Sheekman, was born in 1935. Four years later, Stuart convinced her husband they should travel around the world. When they reached France, they tried to volunteer for the French Resistance
, but were turned down, so they caught the last ship sailing to New York.
They decided to stay in New York and work in the theater. In the next few years, Sheekman wrote several plays (two with George S. Kaufman
) and Stuart got roles mostly in summer stock, including Emily to Thornton Wilder
's Stage Manager in Our Town
. When Sheekman's third play flopped, they returned to Hollywood, and he was hired by Paramount Pictures
. Stuart took singing lessons and toured the country entertaining the troops in hospitals and selling war bonds. In 1946, she opened a small business, Décor, Ltd, where she sold lamps, tables, chests and other objets d'art of decoupage she created.
Sheekman wrote 17 screenplay
s during the next 16 years. In 1954, with their daughter studying at UC Berkeley
, Gloria and Arthur Sheekman joined friends who were living abroad, settling in Rapallo
on the Italian Riviera
. Inspired by the success of the primitive paintings of Grandma Moses
, Stuart took up oil painting. Her first one-woman show at the Hammer Galleries in New York all but sold out. After 43 years of happy marriage, husband Arthur Sheekman succumbed to the effects of Alzheimers Disease, and died on January 12, 1978, just weeks before his 77th birthday. According to widow's autobiography, "I Just Kept Hoping," Sheekamn was cremated and his ashes were buried beneath a tree at their home in Brentwood, California.
Stuart was also active in conservative Republican
causes and was active in the campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower
, Richard Nixon
, Gerald Ford
, and Ronald Reagan
. She even attended many of the Republican National Conventions. For several decades she was a member of The Wesley United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, CA.
in My Favorite Year
.
During this period, Stuart took up the Japanese art of bonsai, becoming the first Anglo member of the California Bonsai Society. And she began to travel again, going with friends or on her own to Europe, India, Africa, the Balkans. Five years after husband's death, Stuart became reacquainted with California printer Ward Ritchie (Ward Ritchie Press), whom she had known during her college years. Both widowed, they fell in love. She was fascinated by his antique hand press and asked him to teach her how to run it. She bought her own hand press and established "Imprenta Glorias", and began creating artists' books
(books hand-made, labor intensive, usually with a very limited run). Stuart wrote the text, designed the book, set the type, printed the pages, and finished pages with water colors or silk screen or decoupage. Books from Imprenta Glorias are in the Metropolitan Museum, Library of Congress
, Huntington Library, J. Paul Getty Museum
, Morgan Library
, Victoria and Albert Museum
, Bibliothèque nationale de France
, and numerous private and university collections. No longer able to work with small type and a large heavy press, she gave her press and sets of rare type to Mills College
. Stuart and Ritchie kept company (each in their own house) until his death from cancer in 1996.
Not long after Ritchie's death, Stuart landed the character of 100-year-old Rose, at the heart of James Cameron
's Titanic
. Stuart was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award
and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She remains the oldest person ever to have been nominated for an Oscar. Suzy Amis
credited Stuart for bringing her together on the set with her eventual husband, director James Cameron.
Stuart published her autobiography, I Just Kept Hoping, in 1999, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
in 2000. Her last appearance on film was a role in Wim Wenders
's Land of Plenty
in 2004, and afterward she gave numerous filmed and audio interviews. Stuart continued to work at her artist's books, finishing a miniature about a time when she was in Berkeley, called I Dated J. Robert Oppenheimer.
about her role in theThe Old Dark House
by James Whale
, and about her co-star Boris Karloff
, for his 2010 BBC documentary series A History of Horror
.
at age 95; however, she still lived to see her 100th birthday. Stuart died just two months later in her sleep of respiratory failure
on September 26, 2010, at age 100. She was cremated.
for her years of service. She was presented the Ralph Morgan Award by Titanic co-star Frances Fisher
and in response Stuart replied, "I'm very, very grateful. I've had a wonderful life of giving and sharing."
On July 4, 2010, Stuart celebrated her 100th birthday at the ACE Gallery
in Beverly Hills with a party hosted by the director of Titanic, James Cameron
and his wife, Suzy Amis
. Frances Fisher
, and Shirley MacLaine
were among the guests.
On July 22, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored her career with a program featuring film clips and a conversation between Stuart and film historian Leonard Maltin
.
Stuart later said that she relates with her comeback character of the 100-year-old Rose saying: "I think that's the important thing, if you're full of love, admiration, appreciation of the beautiful things there are in this life, you have it made, really. And I have it made."
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and film, for which she was best-known. She appeared as Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
' sweetheart in The Invisible Man, and as the elderly Rose Dawson Calvert in an Academy Award-nominated role in the film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. She was the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar, at the age of 87, for that role.
Early life and career
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, a third-generation Californian. Her mother, Alice Vaughan Deidrick Stewart, was born in Angels Camp, California
Angels Camp, California
Angels Camp, also known as City of Angels and formerly Angel's Camp, Angels, Angels City, Carson's Creek, and Clearlake, is the only incorporated city in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 3,835 at the 2010 census, up from 3,004 at the 2000 census...
. Her father, Frank Stewart, was an attorney representing many Tongs
Tong (organization)
The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". In North America a tong is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity...
in San Francisco. Gloria's brother, Frank, came 11 months later. A second brother, Thomas, died in infancy. When Gloria was nine years old, her father, who had been appointed a judge and was about to take the bench, was hit by a car and died. Her mother got a job in the Ocean Park, California Post Office to support her children. Alice Stewart remarried, to Fred J. Finch, a native of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, who owned a local funeral parlor and held oil leases in Texas. A half-sister, Patsy — Patricia Marie Finch — was born in 1924. Gloria's younger brother Frank took the surname Finch, later becoming a sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
.
She later changed the spelling of her surname when she began her career, reportedly because "Stuart" would fit better on a marquee.
Santa Monica High School
Santa Monica High School, informally known as SAMOHI, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1884, it is one of the oldest high schools in the state....
, graduating in 1927, then immediately ran off to Berkeley to attend the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. At Berkeley, she majored in drama and philosophy but dropped out in her junior year to marry Blair Gordon Newell, a San Francisco sculptor working under Ralph Stackpole
Ralph Stackpole
Ralph Ward Stackpole was an American sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco's leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of social realism, especially during the Great Depression, when he was part of the Federal Art Project...
on the facade of the San Francisco Stock Exchange building. The Newells lived a bohemian life in Carmel and were part of a circle of artists including Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, and Robinson Jeffers
Robinson Jeffers
John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Most of Jeffers' poetry was written in classic narrative and epic form, but today he is also known for his short verse, and considered an icon of the environmental movement.-Life:Jeffers was born in...
. She acted at the Carmel Playhouse and worked on the Carmel newspaper. Returning to Los Angeles, she appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse and was immediately signed to a contract by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in 1932. She became a favorite of director James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
, appearing in his The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
(1932), The Kiss Before the Mirror
The Kiss Before the Mirror
The Kiss Before the Mirror is a suspense film directed by James Whale, starring Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Gloria Stuart, and Walter Pidgeon, and released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...
(1933) and The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man (1933 film)
The Invisible Man is a 1933 science fiction film based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man, published in 1897, as adapted by R. C. Sherriff, Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges, whose work was considered unsatisfactory and who was taken off the project...
(1933).
Stuart was an activist and became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, but her career with Universal was disappointing. She moved to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, and by the end of the decade had appeared in more than forty films, including Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
's Gold Diggers of 1935
Gold Diggers of 1935
Gold Diggers of 1935 is a Warner Bros. musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, Adolphe Menjou, Winifred Shaw, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert and Frank McHugh...
and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1938 American musical film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, and Bill Robinson. The screenplay by Don Ettlinger and Karl Tunberg is loosely based on Kate Douglas Wiggin's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm...
. She appeared alongside such stars as Lionel Atwill
Lionel Atwill
Lionel Atwill was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England.He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London in 1904. He become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, and made his screen debut in 1919. He acted on the stage in Australia but was most...
, Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
, Freddie Bartholomew
Freddie Bartholomew
Frederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...
, Warner Baxter
Warner Baxter
Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
, James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
, Ruth Etting, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
, Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
, Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
, Al Pearce
Al Pearce
Albert Pearce was a comedian, singer and banjoist who was a popular personality on several radio networks from 1928 to 1947....
, Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
, Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
, the Ritz Brothers
Ritz Brothers
The Ritz Brothers were an American comedy team who appeared in films, and as live performers from 1925 to the late 1960s.Although there were four brothers, the sons of Austrian-born haberdasher Max Joachim and his wife Pauline, only three of them performed together. There was also a sister,...
, Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
and Lee Tracy
Lee Tracy
William Lee Tracy was an American actor.- Early life :Tracy was born in Atlanta, Georgia.After graduating from Western Military Academy in 1918 he studied electrical engineering at Union College, and then served as a 2nd lieutenant in World War I. In the early 1920s he decided to work as an actor...
.
Personal life
In 1934, Stuart and Newell divorced amicably and she married screenwriter Arthur SheekmanArthur Sheekman
Arthur Sheekman , a graduate from the University of Minnesota, started his career as columnist and drama critic during the 1920s and the early 1930s for the Manhattan Newspaper. He then entered the film industry in 1931 when he became a scenarist for the Marx Brothers' movie Monkey Business where...
, one of the writers on Roman Scandals
Roman Scandals
Roman Scandals is a 1933 black-and-white American musical film starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart, Edward Arnold and David Manners. It was directed by Frank Tuttle....
. Sheekman was Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
's best friend and was collaborating (sometimes without credit) on Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
films. Later, Sheekman ghostwrote
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
several of Marx's books; Marx called him "The Fastest Wit in the West". The Sheekmans' daughter, Sylvia Vaughn Sheekman, was born in 1935. Four years later, Stuart convinced her husband they should travel around the world. When they reached France, they tried to volunteer for the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, but were turned down, so they caught the last ship sailing to New York.
They decided to stay in New York and work in the theater. In the next few years, Sheekman wrote several plays (two with George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
) and Stuart got roles mostly in summer stock, including Emily to Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
's Stage Manager in Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
. When Sheekman's third play flopped, they returned to Hollywood, and he was hired by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Stuart took singing lessons and toured the country entertaining the troops in hospitals and selling war bonds. In 1946, she opened a small business, Décor, Ltd, where she sold lamps, tables, chests and other objets d'art of decoupage she created.
Sheekman wrote 17 screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s during the next 16 years. In 1954, with their daughter studying at UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Gloria and Arthur Sheekman joined friends who were living abroad, settling in Rapallo
Rapallo
Rapallo is a municipality in the province of Genoa, in Liguria, northern Italy. As of 2007 it counts approximately 34,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Tigullio Gulf and is located in between Portofino and Chiavari....
on the Italian Riviera
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera, or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines...
. Inspired by the success of the primitive paintings of Grandma Moses
Grandma Moses
Anna Mary Robertson Moses , better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses,"...
, Stuart took up oil painting. Her first one-woman show at the Hammer Galleries in New York all but sold out. After 43 years of happy marriage, husband Arthur Sheekman succumbed to the effects of Alzheimers Disease, and died on January 12, 1978, just weeks before his 77th birthday. According to widow's autobiography, "I Just Kept Hoping," Sheekamn was cremated and his ashes were buried beneath a tree at their home in Brentwood, California.
Stuart was also active in conservative Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
causes and was active in the campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. She even attended many of the Republican National Conventions. For several decades she was a member of The Wesley United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, CA.
Return to acting – 1970s to 2000s
In 1975, after 29 years away from acting, with her husband, Arthur, in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer's, Gloria got herself an agent and hoped for work. In 1978, Arthur died. Over the next few years she appeared in small parts in television. Then in 1982 came an offer for what was to be one of her favorite scenes in all her films: playing a silver-haired dowager taking a solitary turn around a dance floor with Peter O'ToolePeter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
in My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...
.
During this period, Stuart took up the Japanese art of bonsai, becoming the first Anglo member of the California Bonsai Society. And she began to travel again, going with friends or on her own to Europe, India, Africa, the Balkans. Five years after husband's death, Stuart became reacquainted with California printer Ward Ritchie (Ward Ritchie Press), whom she had known during her college years. Both widowed, they fell in love. She was fascinated by his antique hand press and asked him to teach her how to run it. She bought her own hand press and established "Imprenta Glorias", and began creating artists' books
Artists' Books
Artists' books are works of art realized in the form of a book. They are often published in small editions, though sometimes they are produced as one-of-a-kind objects referred to as "uniques"....
(books hand-made, labor intensive, usually with a very limited run). Stuart wrote the text, designed the book, set the type, printed the pages, and finished pages with water colors or silk screen or decoupage. Books from Imprenta Glorias are in the Metropolitan Museum, Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Huntington Library, J. Paul Getty Museum
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
, Morgan Library
Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum is a museum and research library in New York City, USA. It was founded to house the private library of J. P. Morgan in 1906, which included, besides the manuscripts and printed books, some of them in rare bindings, his collection of prints and drawings...
, Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
, and numerous private and university collections. No longer able to work with small type and a large heavy press, she gave her press and sets of rare type to Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
. Stuart and Ritchie kept company (each in their own house) until his death from cancer in 1996.
Not long after Ritchie's death, Stuart landed the character of 100-year-old Rose, at the heart of James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. Stuart was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She remains the oldest person ever to have been nominated for an Oscar. Suzy Amis
Suzy Amis
Susan Elizabeth "Suzy" Amis is an American former film actress and former model.-Career:Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Amis first worked as a Ford model before she began acting in the 1980s. She made her feature film debut in the 1985 comedy film Fandango, opposite Kevin Costner...
credited Stuart for bringing her together on the set with her eventual husband, director James Cameron.
Stuart published her autobiography, I Just Kept Hoping, in 1999, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
in 2000. Her last appearance on film was a role in Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
's Land of Plenty
Land of Plenty (2004 film)
Land of Plenty is a 2004 drama film directed by Wim Wenders starring Michelle Williams and John Diehl. The title of the film comes from the song "The Land of Plenty", written by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson, which was used in the movie.-Plot:...
in 2004, and afterward she gave numerous filmed and audio interviews. Stuart continued to work at her artist's books, finishing a miniature about a time when she was in Berkeley, called I Dated J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Other work
When Stuart was 99 years old, she was interviewed by writer and actor Mark GatissMark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
about her role in theThe Old Dark House
The Old Dark House
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
by James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
, and about her co-star Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, for his 2010 BBC documentary series A History of Horror
A History of Horror
A History of Horror is a 2010 three-part documentary series made for the BBC by British writer and actor Mark Gatiss...
.
Death
Stuart was diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at age 95; however, she still lived to see her 100th birthday. Stuart died just two months later in her sleep of respiratory failure
Respiratory failure
The term respiratory failure, in medicine, is used to describe inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, with the result that arterial oxygen and/or carbon dioxide levels cannot be maintained within their normal ranges. A drop in blood oxygenation is known as hypoxemia; a rise in arterial...
on September 26, 2010, at age 100. She was cremated.
Awards and honors
On June 19, 2010, Stuart was honored by the Screen Actors GuildScreen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
for her years of service. She was presented the Ralph Morgan Award by Titanic co-star Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...
and in response Stuart replied, "I'm very, very grateful. I've had a wonderful life of giving and sharing."
On July 4, 2010, Stuart celebrated her 100th birthday at the ACE Gallery
ACE Gallery
ACE GALLERY is an art gallery with two functioning gallery spaces in Los Angeles, California, United States, with one located on the Miracle Mile section of Wilshire Boulevard and the other also on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills...
in Beverly Hills with a party hosted by the director of Titanic, James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and his wife, Suzy Amis
Suzy Amis
Susan Elizabeth "Suzy" Amis is an American former film actress and former model.-Career:Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Amis first worked as a Ford model before she began acting in the 1980s. She made her feature film debut in the 1985 comedy film Fandango, opposite Kevin Costner...
. Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...
, and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
were among the guests.
On July 22, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored her career with a program featuring film clips and a conversation between Stuart and film historian Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
.
Stuart later said that she relates with her comeback character of the 100-year-old Rose saying: "I think that's the important thing, if you're full of love, admiration, appreciation of the beautiful things there are in this life, you have it made, really. And I have it made."
Filmography
- Street of Women (1932; uncredited)
- Back StreetBack Street (1932 film)Back Street is a 1932 film made by Universal Pictures, directed by John M. Stahl, and produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.. The screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman and based on the novel by Fannie Hurst. The film stars Irene Dunne and John Boles.-Plot:...
(1932; uncredited) - The All-American (1932)
- The Old Dark HouseThe Old Dark HouseThe Old Dark House is an American comedy horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein, also released by Universal Studios.-Background:...
(1932) - AirmailAirmail (film)Air Mail is a 1932 American adventure film directed by John Ford and starring Ralph Bellamy and Gloria Stuart.-Cast:* Ralph Bellamy - Mike Miller* Gloria Stuart - Ruth Barnes* Pat O'Brien - Duke Talbot...
(1932) - Laughter in HellLaughter in HellLaughter in Hell is a 1933 Pre-Code film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Pat O'Brien. The film's title was typical of the sensationalistic titles of many Pre-Code films. The film was inspired in part by I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and was part of a series of movies depicting men in...
(1933) - Sweepings (1933)
- Private Jones (1933)
- The Kiss Before the MirrorThe Kiss Before the MirrorThe Kiss Before the Mirror is a suspense film directed by James Whale, starring Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Gloria Stuart, and Walter Pidgeon, and released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...
(1933) - The Girl in 419 (1933)
- It's Great to Be AliveIt's Great to Be AliveIt's Great to Be Alive is a science fiction musical comedy film produced by Fox Film Corporation, is a remake of The Last Man on Earth , and later influenced the novel Mr. Adam by Pat Frank.-Synopsis:...
(1933) - Secret of the Blue RoomSecret of the Blue RoomSecret of the Blue Room is a 1933 murder mystery film starring Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, and Paul Lukas. It is based on the German film Geheimnis des Blauen Zimmers. A woman's suitor challenges his two rivals to each spend a night in a room in which several murders occurred years before at 1...
(1933) - The Invisible Man (1933)
- Roman ScandalsRoman ScandalsRoman Scandals is a 1933 black-and-white American musical film starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart, Edward Arnold and David Manners. It was directed by Frank Tuttle....
(1933) - Beloved (1934)
- I Like It That Way (1934)
- I'll Tell the World (1934)
- The Love Captive (1934)
- Here Comes the NavyHere Comes the NavyHere Comes the Navy is a 1934 American romantic comedy film starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart, and Frank McHugh. The movie was written by Earl Baldwin and Ben Markson, and directed by Lloyd Bacon....
(1934) - Gift of GabGift of Gab (film)Gift of Gab is a 1934 black-and-white film released by Universal Pictures. Edmund Lowe stars as a man with the "Gift of Gab" — he can sell anyone anything. The film costars Ruth Etting, Ethel Waters, Victor Moore, and Gloria Stuart, and features Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi.Ruth Etting sings...
(1934) - Maybe It's Love (1935)
- Gold Diggers of 1935Gold Diggers of 1935Gold Diggers of 1935 is a Warner Bros. musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, Adolphe Menjou, Winifred Shaw, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert and Frank McHugh...
(1935) - LaddieLaddie (film)- Cast :*Tim Holt as Laddie Stanton*Virginia Gilmore as Pamela Pryor*Joan Carroll as Sister Stanton*Spring Byington as Mrs. Stanton*Robert Barrat as Mr. John Stanton*Miles Mander as Mr. Pryor*Esther Dale as Sarah, the Housekeeper*Sammy McKim as Leon Stanton...
(1935) - Professional SoldierProfessional Soldier (film)Professional Soldier is a 1935 adventure film based on a 1931 story by Damon Runyon, "Gentlemen, the King!" It stars Victor McLaglen, Freddie Bartholomew, and Gloria Stewart...
(1935) - The Prisoner of Shark IslandThe Prisoner of Shark IslandThe Prisoner of Shark Island is a 1936 film loosely based on the life of Samuel Mudd, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, directed by John Ford, and starring Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart.-Plot:...
(1936) - The Crime of Dr. Forbes (1936)
- Poor Little Rich GirlPoor Little Rich Girl (1936 film)The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1936 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend was based on stories by Eleanor Gates and Ralph Spence, and on the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name...
(1936)
- 36 Hours to Kill (1936)
- The Girl on the Front Page (1936)
- Wanted: Jane Turner (1936)
- Girl Overboard (1937)
- The Lady EscapesThe Lady EscapesThe Lady Escapes is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, George Sanders and Cora Witherspoon...
(1937) - Life Begins in College (1937)
- Change of Heart (1938)
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook FarmRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1938 American musical film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, and Bill Robinson. The screenplay by Don Ettlinger and Karl Tunberg is loosely based on Kate Douglas Wiggin's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm...
(1938) - Island in the SkyIsland in the Sky (1938 film)Island in the Sky is a 1938 drama directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Gloria Stuart and Michael Whalen.-Cast:* Gloria Stuart as Julie Hayes* Michael Whalen as Michael Fraser* Paul Kelly as Johnny Doyle* Robert Kellard as Peter Vincent...
(1938) - Keep Smiling (1938)
- Time Out for Murder (1938)
- The Lady Objects (1938)
- The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers (1939 film)The Three Musketeers is a 1939 musical comedy film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel of the same name. Don Ameche stars as D'Artagnan, with the Ritz Brothers as his cowardly helpers.-Cast:*Don Ameche as D'Artagnan...
(1939) - Winner Take All (1939)
- It Could Happen to You (1939)
- Here Comes Elmer (1943)
- The WhistlerThe WhistlerThe Whistler was an American radio mystery drama which ran from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. It was sponsored by the Signal Oil Company: "That whistle is your signal for the Signal Oil program, The Whistler." The program was adapted into a film noir series by Columbia Pictures in...
(1944) - Enemy of Women (1944)
- She Wrote the Book (1946)
- My Favorite YearMy Favorite YearMy Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...
(1982) - Mass AppealMass AppealMass Appeal is a two-character play by Bill C. Davis. The comedy-drama focuses on the conflict between a complacent Roman Catholic pastor and the idealistic young deacon who is assigned to his affluent, suburban parish.-Plot:...
(1984) - WildcatsWildcats (film)Wildcats is a 1986 film starring Goldie Hawn and costarring Jan Hooks and Swoosie Kurtz. It is the film debut of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. They also appeared together in White Men Can't Jump and Money Train...
(1986) - TitanicTitanic (1997 film)Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
(1997) - The Titanic Chronicles (1999)
- The Love Letter (1999)
- The Million Dollar HotelThe Million Dollar HotelThe Million Dollar Hotel is a 2000 American drama film based on a concept story by Bono and Nicholas Klein; directed by Wim Wenders; and starring Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich, and Mel Gibson...
(2000) - Land of PlentyLand of Plenty (2004 film)Land of Plenty is a 2004 drama film directed by Wim Wenders starring Michelle Williams and John Diehl. The title of the film comes from the song "The Land of Plenty", written by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson, which was used in the movie.-Plot:...
(2004)
Television
- The Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie Borden is a 1975 American television movie. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 1975.-Plot:The film, although based on fact, is a stylish retelling of the events of August 4, 1892 when the parents of New England spinster Lizzie Andrew Borden were found brutally murdered in...
(1986) - Adventures of the Queen (1975)
- The WaltonsThe WaltonsThe Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
(1975; guest appearance) - Flood!Flood!- Cast :*Robert Culp as Steve Brannigan*Martin Milner as Paul Burke*Barbara Hershey as Mary Cutler*Richard Basehart as John Cutler*Carol Lynley as Abbie Adams*Roddy McDowall as Mr. Franklin*Cameron Mitchell as Sam Adams*Eric Olson as Andy Cutler...
(1976) - In the Glitter Palace (1977)
- The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg LaurelThe Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg LaurelThe Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel is a 1979 television film directed by Guy Green.-Plot:Set in the 1930s, a female doctor returns to her birth town in the Blue Ridge Mountains after she had spent a certain period in the big city. She now has the intention of helping the poor residents...
(1979) - The Best Place to Be (1979)
- The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979)
- Merlene of the Movies (1981)
- Murder, She WroteMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(1987; guest appearance) - Shootdown (1988)
- Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free ManMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(2001) - The Invisible ManThe Invisible Man (2000 TV series)The Invisible Man is a Sci-Fi American television series starring Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Eddie Jones, Shannon Kenny and Michael McCafferty...
(2001; guest appearance) - Touched by an AngelTouched by an AngelTouched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
(2001; guest appearance) - General HospitalGeneral HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
(cast member, 2002–03) - MiraclesMiracles (TV series)Miracles is an American drama television program starring Skeet Ulrich and Angus Macfadyen. Created by Richard Hatem and Michael Petroni, the series has sometimes been dubbed a "spiritual version of The X-Files" by its creators...
(2003; guest appearance) - A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (2010; interview in part one)
See also
External links
- Gloria Stuart of 'Titanic' fame dies at age 100
- Gloria Stuart's Death Announcement (YouTube)
- Gloria Stuart Before Titanic - slideshow by Life magazine