Jessie Ralph
Encyclopedia
Jessie Ralph was an American
stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures.
She was born Jessie Ralph Chambers in Gloucester, Massachusetts
, in 1864. She made her acting debut in 1880, at the age of sixteen. She made it to Broadway
, where George M. Cohan
cast her in many of his musicals, but she also excelled at dramatic roles. Although she made her Hollywood debut in 1916, she only became a permanent Hollywood actress in 1933. She was nearly 70 at this time, so her roles were restricted to those of dumpy old ladies, but her expertise at stealing scenes captured the imagination of cinema-goers of the time. Her best known roles are as Greta Garbo
's maid in Camille
, and as W.C. Fields' battleaxe of a mother-in-law in The Bank Dick
. She starred in 55 movies altogether, 52 between 1933 and 1940.
She retired in 1940, after her leg was amputated, and she died 4 years later at the age of 79. She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her husband, Bill Patton (1894–1951), was a bit- part actor in Westerns.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures.
She was born Jessie Ralph Chambers in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
, in 1864. She made her acting debut in 1880, at the age of sixteen. She made it to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, where George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
cast her in many of his musicals, but she also excelled at dramatic roles. Although she made her Hollywood debut in 1916, she only became a permanent Hollywood actress in 1933. She was nearly 70 at this time, so her roles were restricted to those of dumpy old ladies, but her expertise at stealing scenes captured the imagination of cinema-goers of the time. Her best known roles are as Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
's maid in Camille
Camille (1936 film)
Camille is an American romantic drama film directed by George Cukor and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils...
, and as W.C. Fields' battleaxe of a mother-in-law in The Bank Dick
The Bank Dick
The Bank Dick is a 1940 comedy film. W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé who trips a bank robber and ends up a security guard as a result...
. She starred in 55 movies altogether, 52 between 1933 and 1940.
She retired in 1940, after her leg was amputated, and she died 4 years later at the age of 79. She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her husband, Bill Patton (1894–1951), was a bit- part actor in Westerns.
Partial filmography
- Such a Little QueenSuch a Little Queen (1921 film)Such a Little Queen is a 1921 silent film drama starring Constance Binney and directed by George Fawcett, who usually appeared in front of the camera as a character actor. This film is a remake of the 1914 film of the same title which served as an early feature length vehicle for Mary Pickford who...
(19211921 in film-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...
) - Child of ManhattanChild of Manhattan (film)Child of Manhattan is a 1933 Pre-code Columbia Pictures melodrama film based on the play of the same name by Preston Sturges, which was presented on Broadway in 1932...
(19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
) - Murder at the VanitiesMurder at the VanitiesMurder at the Vanities is a musical film based on the 1933 Broadway musical with music by Victor Young, made in the pre-Code era, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen, stars Carl Brisson, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Gertrude Michael, Toby Wing, and Jessie Ralph...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - The Affairs of CelliniThe Affairs of CelliniThe Affairs of Cellini is a comedy film set in Florence over 400 years ago. This 1934 movie was adapted by Bess Meredyth from the play The Firebrand of Florence by Edwin Justus Mayer. It was directed by Gregory La Cava.-Plot:...
(1934) - One Night of LoveOne Night of LoveOne Night of Love is a 1934 romantic musical film set in the opera world, starring Grace Moore and Tullio Carminati. It was written by James Gow, S.K. Lauren and Edmund H. North, from the story, Don't Fall in Love, by Charles Beahan and Dorothy Speare...
(1934) - We Live AgainWe Live AgainWe Live Again is a 1934 film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel Resurrection , starring Anna Sten and Frederic March...
(1934) - Evelyn PrenticeEvelyn PrenticeEvelyn Prentice is a 1934 film teaming William Powell and Myrna Loy, with Rosalind Russell in her film debut. The movie was based on the 1933 novel of the same name....
(1934) - Les MiserablesLes Misérables (1935 film)Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...
(19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - MetropolitanMetropolitan (1935 film)Metropolitan is a 1935 back-stage drama film interlaced with songs and musical segments from opera.Directed by Ryszard Bolesławski , it featured the famous baritone Lawrence Tibbett , with Virginia Bruce as his leading lady...
(1935) - I Found Stella ParishI Found Stella ParishI Found Stella Parish is a 1935 melodrama starring Kay Francis as a beloved actress whose dark secret is revealed to the world.-Plot:In London, Stella Parish has her greatest stage triumph in a play produced and directed by Stephen Norman . However, her happiness is short-lived. She finds a man...
(1935) - Captain Blood (1935)
- David Copperfield (1935)
- Little Lord FauntleroyLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1936 film)Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1936 drama film based on the 1886 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, , and C. Aubrey Smith...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - The Unguarded HourThe Unguarded HourThe Unguarded Hour is a 1936 film starring Loretta Young and Franchot Tone under the direction of Sam Wood. The prosecutor in a murder trial is unaware that his wife is involved.-Cast:*Loretta Young as Lady Helen Dudley Dearden...
(1936) - San FranciscoSan Francisco (film)San Francisco is a 1936 musical-drama directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film...
(1936) - CamilleCamille (1936 film)Camille is an American romantic drama film directed by George Cukor and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils...
(1936) - After the Thin ManAfter the Thin ManAfter the Thin Man is a 1936 American film, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and James Stewart, that is the sequel to the film The Thin Man. The movie presents Powell and Loy as Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles. The film was directed by W. S...
(1936) - The Good EarthThe Good Earth (film)The Good Earth is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - The Last of Mrs. CheyneyThe Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937 film)The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1937 drama/comedy motion picture starring Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery and Frank Morgan. The film tells the story of a chic jewel thief in England, who falls in love with one of her marks....
(1937) - Double WeddingDouble WeddingDouble Wedding is a 1937 romantic comedy film. A bohemian free spirit helps meek Waldo win back his fiancée and falls in love with her over-controlling sister in the process....
(1937) - Hold That KissHold That KissHold That Kiss is a romantic comedy film starring Maureen O'Sullivan and Dennis O'Keefe.-Plot:Travel agency clerk Tommy Bradford delivers tickets to wealthy J. Westley Piermont at the lavish wedding of his daughter. Piermont introduces him to model June Evans , but neglects to mention neither...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Port of Seven SeasPort of Seven SeasPort of Seven Seas is a 1938 drama film starring Wallace Beery and featuring Frank Morgan and Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie was written by Preston Sturges based on the plays of Marcel Pagnol and the films based on them, and was directed by James Whale...
(1938) - St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Blues (1939 film)St. Louis Blues is a 1939 musical film directed by Raoul Walsh that was set on a Mississippi River showboat. Although the plot was not related to the song, the "St. Louis Blues" was sung as one of the numbers. Artists included jazz singer Maxine Sullivan and composer/singer/actor Hoagy Carmichael...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Drums Along the MohawkDrums Along the MohawkDrums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the...
(1939) - The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird (1940 film)The Blue Bird is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from the 1908 play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - I Want a DivorceI Want a DivorceI Want a Divorce is a 1940 Paramount film directed by Ralph Murphy. The screenplay was written by Frank Butler...
(1940) - The Bank DickThe Bank DickThe Bank Dick is a 1940 comedy film. W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé who trips a bank robber and ends up a security guard as a result...
(1940) - They Met in BombayThey Met in BombayThey Met in Bombay is a 1941 American drama film adventure directed by Clarence Brown. The film stars Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell and Peter Lorre.-Plot:...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
)
External links
- Jessie Ralph portrait at NY Public Library Billy Rose Collection