Ruth White (actress)

Ruth White
Ruth White
	Ruth White Emmy
Born	Ruth Patricia White; April 24, 1914; Perth Amboy, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 3, 1969 (aged 55); Perth Amboy, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1946–1969

Ruth Patricia White (April 24, 1914 – December 3, 1969) was an American actress who worked in theatre, film, and television. She was an Emmy Award and Obie Award winner and also a Tony Award nominee.

Early years

A lifelong resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, White attended St. Mary's High School and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Literature from New Jersey College for Women, now Douglass Residential College, Rutgers University in 1935.[1] While pursuing her acting career in nearby New York City, she taught acting and drama at Seton Hall University. During this period, she also studied acting with Maria Ouspenskaya.[2]

Early career

White began her acting career in 1940 as an apprentice at the Cape May Playhouse.[3] Late in World War II, she spent six months in Alaska and the Aleutians touring with a USO troupe. For five years, beginning in 1948, she was the leading resident actress at Bucks County Playhouse.[2]

White's Broadway debut came in The Ivy Green (1949).[4]

Career hiatus and resurgence

White's career was delayed in the late 1950s while she nursed her ailing mother. During her mother's illness White gained weight and looked older than her age. However, she managed to recover and appeared in off-Broadway plays of Samuel Beckett ("Happy Days") and Edward Albee ("Malcolm" and "Box"). White also earned a Tony Award nomination in 1968 for her role in Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party."

By the end of the 1960s, she had become one of New York's most highly praised and in demand character actresses, and appeared in Midnight Cowboy, Hang 'Em High and No Way To Treat A Lady.

White's final film role was in The Pursuit of Happiness, released 14 months after her death.

Recognition

In 1962, White won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her work in the play Happy Days.[5] In 1964, she won an Emmy Award for her role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV Movie Little Moon of Alban.[6]

Death

White, who never married, died of cancer on December 3, 1969.[7] She is interred with her brothers Charles and Richard in their family plot at Saint Mary's Cemetery, Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Edge of the City	Katherine Nordmann
1959	The Nun's Story	Mother Marcella (School of Medicine)
1962	To Kill a Mockingbird	Mrs. Dubose
1965	Baby the Rain Must Fall	Miss Clara
1965	A Rage to Live	Mrs. Bannon
1966	Cast a Giant Shadow	Mrs. Chaison
1967	Up the Down Staircase	Beatrice Schacter
1967	The Tiger Makes Out	Mrs. Kelly
1968	No Way To Treat A Lady	Mrs. Himmel
1968	A Lovely Way to Die	Biddy, Cook
1968	Hang 'Em High	Madame 'Peaches' Sophie
1968	Charly	Mrs. Apple
1969	Midnight Cowboy	Sally Buck - Texas
1969	The Reivers	Miss Reba
1971	The Pursuit of Happiness	Mrs. Popper	(final film role)
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949	The Magic Cottage	Bessie Bookbinder	early DuMont children's series
1952	Captain Video and His Video Rangers	Mrs. Bullfinch	1 episode
1963	The Twilight Zone	Mrs. Ford	1 episode
1963-1965	The Fugitive	Edith Waverly / Grams	2 episodes

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References

"Ruth White, 55, Of Stage And TV; Actress Who Won Emmy in Little Moon of Alban Dies", The New York Times, December 4, 1969. Accessed November 14, 2017. "Ruth Catherine White, born April 14, 1924, into a family that had been in Perth Amboy for more than 150 years, was the daughter of Charles V. and Jane Gibbons White, She attended St. Mary's High School in her hometown and was graduated from Douglass College in New Brunswick, N. J."
Brown, Doris (16 April 1961). "Perth Amboy Actress Wins Acclaim In Role in 'Big Fish, Little Fish'". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Jersey, New Brunswick. p. 31. Retrieved December 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
Brower, Millicent (17 October 1961). "Actress Ruth White Performs Entire Role While Buried in Sand Mound". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Texas, Lubbock. WNS. p. 2-B. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
"Ruth White". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
"("Happy Days" search results)". OBIE Awards. Village Voice and American Theatre Wing. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1416. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
Doyle, Marion (9 December 1969). "Countless Friends Mourn Ruth White". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Jersey, New Brunswick. p. 8. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Ruth White on IMDb
Ruth White at the Internet Broadway Database
Ruth White at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

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[1] "Ruth White, 55, Of Stage And TV; Actress Who Won Emmy in Little Moon of Alban Dies", The New York Times, December 4, 1969. Accessed November 14, 2017. "Ruth Catherine White, born April 14, 1924, into a family that had been in Perth Amboy for more than 150 years, was the daughter of Charles V. and Jane Gibbons White, She attended St. Mary's High School in her hometown and was graduated from Douglass College in New Brunswick, N. J."

[cnjhn-2] Brown, Doris (16 April 1961). "Perth Amboy Actress Wins Acclaim In Role in 'Big Fish, Little Fish'". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Jersey, New Brunswick. p. 31. Retrieved December 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] Brower, Millicent (17 October 1961). "Actress Ruth White Performs Entire Role While Buried in Sand Mound". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Texas, Lubbock. WNS. p. 2-B. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "Ruth White". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.

[5] "("Happy Days" search results)". OBIE Awards. Village Voice and American Theatre Wing. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.

[6] The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1416. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.

[7] Doyle, Marion (9 December 1969). "Countless Friends Mourn Ruth White". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Jersey, New Brunswick. p. 8. Retrieved December 12, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.