Linda Watkins

Linda Mathews Watkins (May 23, 1908 – October 31, 1976) was an American stage, film, and television actress.

Linda Watkins
Portrait of Linda Watkins by Carl Van Vechten, 1937.
Born	Linda Mathews Watkins (1908-05-23)May 23, 1908 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 31, 1976(1976-10-31) (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1925 – 1974
Spouse(s)	Gabriel L. Hess
Children	1

Early years

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Watkins was the daughter of Gardiner and Elizabeth R. (née Mathews) Watkins.[1] Her father was active in real estate in Boston. She was related to physicist Albert A. Michelson and painter Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore.[2]

Watkins attended a teachers' college because her parents wanted her to teach. She later went to study at the Theatre Guild.[3]

Stage

After six months Watkins began to appear with the Theater Guild's summer repertory program in Scarborough, New York. Three weeks after she finished a course at the Theater Guild's Dramatic School, she had the lead in The Devil in the Cheese.[4] When producer Charles Hopkins[5] asked Watkins if she preferred playing comedy or drama, she replied, "Tragedy". He was casting for a comedy production and Watkins was offered the lead role.

Watkins gained additional acting experience during a season with the Hartman stock theater company in Columbus, Ohio, after which the Shubert Organization gave her the lead in its Chicago production of Trapped.[3]

Aged 17, she performed in the Tom Cushing comedy The Devil In The Cheese with Fredric March at the Charles Hopkins Theater in New York City.[6] In 1928, she appeared in the Forest Theater production of Trapped by Samuel Shipman. She appeared in a revival of The Wild Duck in November 1928, starred in the George S. Kaufman/Ring Lardner comedy June Moon in 1929, and co-starred with Ralph Morgan in Sweet Stranger in 1930.[7]

Motion pictures

She debuted in movies in Sob Sister (1931), a film in which she plays a female reporter. Reviewer Muriel Babcock remarked that Watkins "is cool, blond, poised, good to look upon. She plays the title role with admirable restraint and gives every evidence of being a comer in films."

Linda Watkins, 1932.

Her second movie was Good Sport (1931), a screen adaptation of a story by William J. Hurlbut.

Produced by the Fox Film Company, Watkins played Marilyn Parker, a naive wife caught up in a love triangle. Her co-stars were Alan Dinehart and John Boles. She appeared in Charlie Chan's Chance, a lost 1932 film starring Warner Oland as the famous detective. Edmund Lowe and Watkins co-starred in Cheaters at Play (1932).

Her other film credits included From Hell It Came (1957), Ten North Frederick (1958), As Young as We Are (1958), Cash McCall (1960), Because They're Young (1960), The Parent Trap (1961), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Huckleberry Finn (1974) and Bad Ronald (1974).

Marriage

Watkins married lawyer Gabriel L. Hess, a widower, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago on January 28, 1932.[8] He was attorney for Will Hays and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. The couple had a son, Adam Hess, who died in 1969; he left three daughters, Elizabeth, Faye, and Emily, Watkins' granddaughters. Watkins obtained her release from Fox prior to her marriage.

Television

Watkins appeared in numerous television broadcasts beginning with an episode of The Billy Rose Show in 1950. Other shows in which she performed are Wagon Train (1957), Death Valley Days (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1958), M Squad (1957), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957–1958), Peter Gunn (1959), Perry Mason (1959), The David Niven Show (1959), The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1958), Gunsmoke (Season 4, Episode 23 "Sky"), Gunsmoke (Season 6, Episode 15 "Old Fool"), Gunsmoke season 7 (episode 3 Miss Kitty) Gunsmoke (Season 10 Episode 6 "Take Her, She's Cheap") The Asphalt Jungle (1961), The Munsters, Hazel (1963–64), and The Doris Day Show (1968).

She also appeared as Emily Hull, the mother of Sally McMillan (Susan St. James), in several episodes of McMillan & Wife. One of her last television appearances was as a guest star on The Waltons in 1973 as Maggie MacKenzie, in the episode "The Journey".

Death

Linda Watkins died in Los Angeles in 1976, aged 68, from undisclosed causes.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Sob Sister	Jane Ray
1931	Good Sport	Marilyn Parker
1932	Charlie Chan's Chance	Gloria Garland
1932	Cheaters at Play	Tess Boyce
1932	The Gay Caballero	Ann Grey
1933	Playthings of Desire	Gloria Dawn
1957	From Hell It Came	Mrs. Mae Kilgore
1958	Going Steady	Aunt Lola
1958	Ten North Frederick	Peg Slattery
1958	As Young as We Are	Mrs. Hutchins
1960	Cash McCall	Marie Austen
1960	Because They're Young	Frances McCalla
1961	The Parent Trap	Edna Robinson
1964	Good Neighbor Sam	Edna Bailey
1974	Huckleberry Finn	Mrs. Grangerford
1974	Bad Ronald	Mrs. Schumacher	TV movie, (final film role)

References

1. Parents' names from Massachusetts Vital Records, 1908 births, vol. 577, pg. 101.
2. Peak, Mayme Ober (August 20, 1931). "Selection of 'Baby Stars' Causes Row in Filmdom". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. p. 26. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Linda Watkins Says She Owes Ohio Debt". The Akron Beacon Journal. Ohio, Akron. October 2, 1931. p. 18. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Sidelights of the Stage and Screen". The Billings Gazette. Montana, Billings. February 27, 1927. p. 21. Retrieved July 12, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Charles Hopkins at the Internet Broadway Database
6. Devil in the Cheese at the Internet Broadway Database
7. "Linda Watkins". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
8. Gah1965 (October 10, 2008). "HOLLYWOOD HEYDAY: January 29, 1932".

Sources

• Fresno Bee, "Linda Watkins Hinted To Be A Bride", January 27, 1932, pg. 5.
• Los Angeles Times, "Baby Stars Vote Splits Up WAMPAS", August 15, 1931, pg. A1.
• Los Angeles Times, "New Move Marks War On Wampas", August 24, 1931, pg. A1.
• Los Angeles Times, "Studios Place Stars Together", August 29, 1931, pg. 11.
• Los Angeles Times, "Sob Sister Proffered At Loews", October 23, 1931, pg. A11.
• New York Times, "A New Ingenue", January 9, 1927, pg. X4.
• New York Times, "Trapped To Open Aug. 7", July 25, 1928, pg. 13.
• New York Times, "In Sweet Stranger Cast", August 28, 1930, pg. 27.
• New York Times, "The Screen", December 12, 1931, pg. 23.
• New York Times, "Linda Watkins Weds G.L. Hess In Chicago", January 29, 1932, pg. 12.
• Zanesville Register, "Along Broadway", Monday, May 4, 1959, pg. 5.

External links

• Linda Watkins on IMDb
• Linda Watkins at the Internet Broadway Database