Florence Eldridge

Florence Eldridge
Florence Eldridge
	Florence Eldridge in 1922
Born	Florence McKechnie; September 5, 1901; Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	August 1, 1988 (aged 86); Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1918-1978
Spouse(s)	Howard Rumsey; (m. 1921; div. 192?); Fredric March; (m. 1927; died 1975)
Children	2

Florence Eldridge (born Florence McKechnie,[1] September 5, 1901, in Brooklyn, New York - August 1, 1988, in Long Beach, California) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1957 for her performance in Long Day's Journey into Night.[2]

Left to right: Fredric March with his wife Florence Eldridge, Helga Maria zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (born Schuylenburg) with husband Hubertus Prinz zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg at the Premiere of Anthony Adverse on 29. July 1936 in Los Angeles

Early years

The daughter of Charles J. McKechnie,[3] Eldridge was born Florence McKechnie in Brooklyn. She attended public schools, including P.S. 85 and Girls' High School.

Stage

Eldridge made her Broadway debut at age 17 as a chorus member of Rock-a-Bye Baby at the Astor Theatre.[4] The reference book American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969 noted, "In the 1920s she won major attention in such plays as The Cat and the Canary and Six Characters in Search of an Author."[5]

In 1965, husband Fredric March and she did a world tour under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. Eldridge wrote that they were "experimenting to see if an acting couple doing excerpts from plays on a bare stage could reach and appeal to a worldwide audience."[6]

Personal life

On March 19, 1921, Eldridge married Howard Rumsey, who owned the Empire Theater and the Knickerbocker Players (both in Syracuse) and the Manhattan Players of Rochester. They were wed at her aunt's home in Maplewood, New Jersey.[7]

She was married to Fredric March from 1927 until his death in 1975, and appeared alongside him on stage and in films.[8] Like her husband, she was a liberal Democrat.[9]

Death

She died of a heart attack aged 86. She was buried alongside her husband at the March Estate in New Milford, Connecticut.

Partial credits

Stage

Screen

Six Cylinder Love (1923) as Marilyn Sterling
The Studio Murder Mystery (1929) as Blanche Hardell
The Greene Murder Case (1929) as Sibella Greene
Charming Sinners (1929) as Helen Carr
The Divorcee (1930) as Helen
The Matrimonial Bed (1930) as Juliet Corton
Thirteen Women (1932) as Grace Coombs
The Great Jasper (1933) as Jenny Horn
Dangerously Yours (1933) as Jo Horton
The Story of Temple Drake (1933) as Ruby Lemarr
A Modern Hero (1934) as Leah Ernst
Les Misérables (1935) as Fantine
Mary of Scotland (1936) as Elizabeth Tudor
Another Part of the Forest (1948) as Lavinia Hubbard
An Act of Murder (1948) as Catherine Cooke
Christopher Columbus (1949) as Queen Isabella
Inherit the Wind (1960) as Sarah Brady

Radio appearances

Year	Program	Episode/source
1953	Star Playhouse	There Shall Be No Night[10]

gollark: So expert. Much wow.

gollark: I have speed upgrades, just not energy upgrades.

gollark: Er, alloy smelter, totally not a furnace.

gollark: Stupid furnace! Smelt my ferroboron and lithium FASTER!

gollark: Is this You're an Expert Harry or something?

References

Fisher, James (2011). Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater: 1930-2010. Scarecrow Press. p. 238. ISBN 9780810879508. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
"("Florence Eldridge" search results)". Tony Awards. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
"'Seven Days' Leave' Thrills at Majestic". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. December 31, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved October 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
"Fredric March and Florence Eldridge Play Real Parents". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 1, 1946. p. 33. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
Bordman, Gerald (1996). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 177. ISBN 9780195090796. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
Eldridge, Florence (June 27, 1965). "March, Eldridge Conduct Great Cultural Experiment". Monroe Morning World. p. 19. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
"Florence McKechnie Weds H. Rumsey, Theatrical Man". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. April 2, 1921. p. 2. Retrieved October 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
Hischak, Thomas S. (2003). Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century. Scarecrow Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780810847613. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
Roland, Zelda (April 28, 2016). "A Socialist's Campaign for California Governor, And the Dirty Hollywood Politics That Sunk It". KCET.
Kirby, Walter (November 29, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Florence Eldridge on IMDb
Florence Eldridge at the Internet Broadway Database
Florence Eldridge at Find a Grave

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[hdcat-1] Fisher, James (2011). Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater: 1930-2010. Scarecrow Press. p. 238. ISBN 9780810879508. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[2] "("Florence Eldridge" search results)". Tony Awards. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[3] "'Seven Days' Leave' Thrills at Majestic". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. December 31, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved October 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[bde-4] "Fredric March and Florence Eldridge Play Real Parents". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 1, 1946. p. 33. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Bordman, Gerald (1996). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 177. ISBN 9780195090796. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[6] Eldridge, Florence (June 27, 1965). "March, Eldridge Conduct Great Cultural Experiment". Monroe Morning World. p. 19. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

[bde040221-7] "Florence McKechnie Weds H. Rumsey, Theatrical Man". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. April 2, 1921. p. 2. Retrieved October 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] Hischak, Thomas S. (2003). Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century. Scarecrow Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780810847613. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[9] Roland, Zelda (April 28, 2016). "A Socialist's Campaign for California Governor, And the Dirty Hollywood Politics That Sunk It". KCET.

[10] Kirby, Walter (November 29, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.