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.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.9886 |
| Birthday | 1911-10-30 |
| Place of Birth | Providence, Rhode Island, USA |
| Also Known As | Ruth March, Рут Хасси, Ruth Carol Hussey, |
1940
The Philadelphia Story
7.541/1018
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
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The Philadelphia Story
1939
The Women
7.162/182
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
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The Women
1938
Man-Proof
5.2/10
A newspaper illustrator tries to remain best friends with the man she secretly loves, even though he recently married another woman.
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Man-Proof
1939
Within the Law
6.5/6
Shopgirl Mary Turner, sentenced to prison for someone else's theft, is released and takes revenge upon those who wronged her in powerful but lawful wa...
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Within the Law
1939
Another Thin Man
7.115/144
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
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Another Thin Man
1945
Bedside Manner
5.857/7
A beautiful female doctor visits her small hometown on her way back to Chicago. Her overworked uncle, who is the town's doctor, wants her to stay and...
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Bedside Manner
1952
Stars and Stripes Forever
6.833/12
A film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898.
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Stars and Stripes Forever
1940
Northwest Passage
6.6/63
Based on the Kenneth Roberts novel of the same name, this film tells the story of two friends who join Rogers' Rangers, as the legendary elite force e...
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Northwest Passage
1940
Susan and God
6.5/17
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group.
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Susan and God
1937
Madame X
6.111/9
An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her i...
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Madame X
1944
The Uninvited
6.9/235
A pair of siblings from London purchase a surprisingly affordable, lonely cliff-top house in Cornwall, only to discover that it actually carries a gho...
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The Uninvited
1948
I, Jane Doe
6.389/8
While stationed in France during World War II, an American fighter pilot marries a French girl but leaves her behind when he returns to the U.S. The F...
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I, Jane Doe
1960
The Facts of Life
5.259/29
Middle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating,...
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The Facts of Life
1939
Maisie
4.8/10
Wisecracking showgirl Maisie Ravier finds herself trapped in a Wyoming town when her new employer closes the show prematurely. She meets ranch foreman...
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Maisie
1942
Tennessee Johnson
6.389/9
The tumultuous presidency of 19th-president Andrew Johnson is chronicled in this biopic. The story begins with Johnson's boyhood and covers his early...
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Tennessee Johnson
1949
The Great Gatsby
5.438/24
Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, th...
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The Great Gatsby
1951
That's My Boy
5.9/27
Jack Jackson, the greatest football player in Ridgefield College history, is disappointed that his only son Junior is an uncoordinated, allergy-ridden...
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That's My Boy
1941
Our Wife
6.75/4
A musician's ex-wife wants him back after he finds love and success.
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Our Wife
1941
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
7.1/11
A middle-aged businessman who has lived a conservative life according to the routine conventions of society, still remembers the beautiful young woman...
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H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1940
Flight Command
5.9/12
A rookie flyer, Ens. Alan Drake, joins the famous Hellcats Squadron right out of flight school in Pensacola. He doesn't make a great first impression...
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Flight Command
1944
Tender Comrade
5.676/17
Jo Jones, a young defense plant worker whose husband is in the military during World War II, shares a house with three other women in the same situati...
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Tender Comrade
1939
Blackmail
6.875/8
A fugitive from a chain gang becomes an oil-well firefighter and meets the man who framed him.
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Blackmail
1970
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
6.393/14
The story of a young man, a self-styled cowboy; His dreams of the Old West and its film heroes frequently crushed by the rhythms of modern, urban life...
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The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
1950
Mr. Music
6.5/2
A golf-crazy songwriter tries to avoid the long, solitary hours of concentration needed to produce a hit musical. His producer and his secretary consp...
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Mr. Music
1939
Fast and Furious
5.182/11
Joel & Garda Sloan, a husband and wife detective team, who also sell rare books in New York, take a vacation to Seaside City. At Seaside, Joel's pal,...
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Fast and Furious
1938
Rich Man, Poor Girl
6.111/9
A millionaire courts a working-class woman.
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Rich Man, Poor Girl
1944
Marine Raiders
6.833/6
A Marine major looks out for his captain on Guadalcanal and in Australia.
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Marine Raiders
1973
My Darling Daughters' Anniversary
7.5/2
In this sequel, the daughters' anniversary present is the news that their widowed father is about to get remarried.
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My Darling Daughters' Anniversary
1938
Hold That Kiss
7/3
Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely wealthy. Comedy.
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Hold That Kiss
1938
Spring Madness
4.929/7
Harvard senior Sam Thatcher and his best friend and roommate, known as "The Lippencott", plan to go to Russia after graduation, a decision Sam has kep...
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Spring Madness
1938
Judge Hardy's Children
6.813/8
Judge Hardy takes a business trip to Washington, DC, where Andy promptly falls for the French ambassador's daughter.
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Judge Hardy's Children
1939
Honolulu
6.5/8
Wanting a break from his overzealous fans, a famous movie star hires a Hawaiian plantation owner to switch places with him for a few weeks.
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Honolulu
1953
The Lady Wants Mink
8/2
A woman raises mink to get the coat she's always wanted.
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The Lady Wants Mink
1941
Married Bachelor
6.375/4
A man's marriage suffers when he pretends to be a bachelor while promoting "his" best-selling book about married life (actually written by an eccentri...
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Married Bachelor
1942
Pierre of the Plains
4.857/7
A French-Canadian trapper's adventures jeopardize his romance with an innkeeper.
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Pierre of the Plains
1951
Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
4.8/9
The story of the Crucifixion, set within the context of the Korean War.
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Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration
1941
Free and Easy
6.857/7
This MGM B-picture was adapted from Ivor Novello's play The Truth Game. Max and Florian Clemington pretend to be members of the landed gentry. Max rom...
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Free and Easy
1942
Soaring Stars
0/0
Two autograph hounds attend an air show at Santa Anita racetrack.
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Soaring Stars
1950
Louisa
6.545/11
Architect Hal Norton and wife Meg invite his widowed mother Louisa to move in with them, only to discover the sweet elderly lady is romantically invol...
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Louisa
1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
6.75/8
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a tal...
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A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1937
Big City
7.7/6
Anna and Joe are newly married, playful and deeply in love. Joe is scraping by as cab driver in New York City during a period of corruption, mob contr...
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Big City
1952
Woman of the North Country
5/4
In 1890 Minnesota Christine Powell is the scheming head of the Powell dynasty, the richest mining empire of the era. But the Powell mine deposits are...
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Woman of the North Country
1938
Time Out for Murder
6.2/4
A bank runner is accused of killing a woman for whom he deposited a large amount. Reporter and bank official investigate.
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Time Out for Murder
1938
Marie Antoinette
6.554/37
The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the riv...
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