Thelma Ritter

Thelma Ritter
from the trailer for The Mating Season (1951)
Born	February 14, 1902 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	February 5, 1969(1969-02-05) (aged 66) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Cremated
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1947–68
Spouse(s)	Joseph Moran (April 21, 1927 – February 5, 1969; her death); 2 children

Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 — February 5, 1969) was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working class characters. She received six Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and won one Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

Early life

Ritter was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1902. After appearing in high school plays and stock companies, she trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She established a stage career but took a hiatus to raise her two children by her husband, Joseph Moran, an actor turned advertising executive.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Ritter did stock theater and radio shows early in her career, without much impact. Ritter's first movie role was in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised her son. Her second role, in writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's A Letter to Three Wives (1949), left a mark, although Ritter was again uncredited. Mankiewicz kept Ritter in mind, and cast her as "Birdie" in All About Eve (1950), which earned her an Oscar nomination. A second nomination followed for her work in Mitchell Leisen's' classic ensemble screwball comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney and John Lund. She enjoyed steady film work for the next dozen years.

She appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, and The United States Steel Hour. Other film roles were as James Stewart's nurse in Rear Window (1954) and as Doris Day's housekeeper in Pillow Talk (1959). Although best known for comedy roles, she played the occasional dramatic role, most notably in With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Titanic (1953), and The Misfits (1961).

Death

Her last work was an appearance on The Jerry Lewis Show on January 23, 1968. Ritter died of a heart attack in New York City, just nine days before her 67th birthday.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1947	Miracle on 34th Street	Peter's Mother	Uncredited
1948	Call Northside 777	Receptionist	Uncredited
1949	A Letter to Three Wives	Sadie Dugan	Uncredited
1949	City Across the River	Mrs. Katie Cusack
1949	Father was a Fullback	Geraldine
1950	Perfect Strangers	Lena Fassler
1950	I'll Get By	Miss Murphy
1950	All About Eve	Birdie Coonan
1951	The Mating Season	Ellen McNulty
1951	As Young as You Feel	Della Hodges
1951	The Model and the Marriage Broker	Mae Swasey
1952	With a Song in My Heart	Clancy
1953	Titanic	Maude Young	Based on Molly Brown
1953	Pickup on South Street	Moe Williams
1953	The Farmer Takes a Wife	Lucy Cashdollar
1954	Rear Window	Stella
1955	The Best of Broadway	Mrs. Fisher	Episode: "The Show-Off"
1955	Daddy Long Legs	Alicia Pritchard
1955	Lucy Gallant	Molly Basserman	Alternative title: Oil Town
1956	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Lottie Slocum	Episode: "The Baby Sitter"
1956	The Proud and Profane	Kate Connors
1957	Telephone Time	Mary Devlin	Episode: "Plot to Save a Boy"
1959	A Hole in the Head	Sophie Manetta
1959	Pillow Talk	Alma
1961	The Misfits	Isabelle Steers
1961	Frontier Circus	Bertha Beecher	Episode: "Journey from Hannibal"
1961	The Second Time Around	Aggie Gates
1962	Birdman of Alcatraz	Elizabeth Stroud
1962	Wagon Train	Madame Sagittarius	Episode: "The Madame Sagittarius Story"
1962	How the West Was Won	Agatha Clegg
1963	For Love or Money	Chloe Brasher
1963	A New Kind of Love	Leena
1963	Move Over, Darling	Grace Arden
1965	Boeing Boeing	Bertha	Alternative title: Boeing (707) Boeing (707)
1967	The Incident	Bertha Beckerman
1968	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	Mrs. Schwartz

Awards and nominations

During her career, Ritter was nominated for an Oscar six times, giving her the distinction of being one of the three actresses (tied with Deborah Kerr and Glenn Close) most nominated for the award in an acting category without a win. The current record for all actors is Peter O'Toole with eight nominations without a win, followed by Richard Burton with seven nominations. Both Kerr and O'Toole received honorary awards from the Academy, however. In 1954, Thelma Ritter co-hosted the Oscar ceremony, notably trading wisecracks with Bob Hope.

Academy Awards

Nominated Best Actress in a Supporting Role for:

• All About Eve (1950)
• The Mating Season (1951)
• With a Song in My Heart (1952)
• Pickup on South Street (1953)
• Pillow Talk (1959)
• Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

Emmy Awards

Nominated for an Emmy (in 1956), as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the Goodyear Television Playhouse production of The Catered Affair.

Golden Globe Awards

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for:

• All About Eve (1950)
• The Mating Season (1951)
• Boeing Boeing (1965)

Tony Awards

Awarded Best Actress (Musical) (1957) for New Girl in Town in a rare tie (with her co-star, Gwen Verdon).

External links

• Thelma Ritter at the Internet Broadway Database
• Thelma Ritter at the Internet Movie Database