Ruth Hussey

Ruth Hussey

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story. 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 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 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 for her turn as Elizabeth Imbrie, the cynical magazine photographer and almost-girlfriend of James Stewart'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 (1940), Robert Young in Northwest Passage (1940) and H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942), Ray Milland in The Uninvited (1944), and Alan Ladd in The Great Gatsby (1949). In 1946, she starred on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play State of the Union. Her 1949 role in Goodbye, My Fancy on Broadway caused a Billboard reviewer to write: "Miss Hussey brings a splendid aliveness and warmth to the lovely congresswoman...." She filled in for Jean Arthur in the 1955 Lux Radio Theater presentation of Shane, playing Miriam Start, alongside original film stars Alan Ladd and Van Heflin. In 1960, she co-starred in The Facts of Life with Bob Hope. Hussey was also active in early television drama.

Acting

1963

Vacation Playhouse
Tv

Nurse Edie Ramsey

1960

1955

1954

1951

1950

Louisa
Movie

Meg Norton

1949

1948

Studio One
Tv

Nancy Edison

1948

I, Jane Doe
Movie

Eve Meredith Curtis

1945

Bedside Manner
Movie

Dr. Hedy Fredericks, MD

1944

Marine Raiders
Movie

Lt. Ellen Foster

1944

Tender Comrade
Movie

Barbara Thomas

1944

The Uninvited
Movie

Pamela Fitzgerald

1942

Tennessee Johnson
Movie

Eliza McCardle Johnson

1941

1940

1940

The Philadelphia Story
Movie

Elizabeth 'Liz' Imbrie

1940

1940

Northwest Passage
Movie

Elizabeth Browne

1939

Another Thin Man
Movie

Dorothy Waters

1939

The Women
Movie

Miss Wattson

1938

Time Out for Murder
Movie

Peggy Norton, victim

1938

Marie Antoinette
Movie

Duchess de Polignac (uncredited)

1938

Hold That Kiss
Movie

Nadine Piermont

1937

1937

Big City
Movie

Mayor's Secretary (uncredited)

Infos

Full Name
Ruth Hussey
Gender
Female
Date of Birth
10/30/1911
Date of Death
4/19/2005
Also Known As

Ruth March

Рут Хасси