RUTH GORDON

Ruth Gordon was born in 1896. What a full life she had! She started as a stage actress at the age of 19, and continued there for 24 years. In 1940 she had a memorable movie role (her first real one, at the age of 44) in Abe Lincoln of Illinois as Mary Todd Lincoln, and she appeared in a handful of other movies, and then stopped making movies again, to return to stage acting also becoming a playwright! In 1942 she married 16 years younger screenwriter Garson Kanin, and the two began writing screenplays together, most notably two for Tracy and Hepburn (Pat and Mike and Adam's Rib). After decades away from the screen, she made some TV appearances, and then (in her 70s) she had memorable roles which included: Inside Daisy Clover (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this film), Rosemary's Baby (winner of the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this film), Harold and Maude (the cult classic, where she found true love with "teenager" Bud Cort!), and Where's Poppa? She passed away in 1985 at the age of 88.