Who was Ruth Chatterton? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Died At Age: 68

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Barry Thomson (m. 1942–1960), George Brent (m. 1932–1934), Ralph Forbes (m. 1924–1932)

father: Walter Smith

mother: Lillian Reed Chatterton

Actresses American Women

Died on: November 24, 1961

City: New York City

U.S. State: New Yorkers

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Childhood & Early Life

Ruth Chatterton was born on December 24, 1892, in New York City, U.S., to Walter Smith Chatterton, an architect, and Lilian Reed Chatterton. She was the couple’s only surviving child.

Her parents separated when she was quite young and Ruth was primarily raised by her mother and grandmother. She received her early education from Mrs. Hagen's School in Pelham.

She loved acting from a young age. Once in 1908, she attended a play with her friends and later criticized the lead actress to her friends who challenged her to become a stage actress herself. The gutsy young girl accepted the challenge and joined the chorus of the stage show.

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Career

Pretty and talented, Ruth Chatterton soon started appearing in more substantial roles and before long realized that acting was her calling. Still a teenager, she dropped out of school to pursue a career as a full-time actress.

She joined the Friend Stock Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a 16 year old. Within a few years she got the chance to make her Broadway stage debut in ‘The Great Name’ in 1911.

Her stage career flourished over the years and she found tremendous success with her role in the play ‘Daddy Long Legs’ (1914), adapted from the novel by Jean Webster.

During the 1920s, motion pictures were becoming a rage in the U.S. but Chatterton, an acclaimed stage performer was not much interested in making the transition to the silver screen. Fate, however, had other plans for her.

While performing in a Los Angeles theater, Ruth Chatterton was spotted by the prominent actor Emil Jennings who convinced her to perform with him in his new picture, ‘Sins of the Fathers’ (1928). It was her first and only silent movie epic.

Her debut film did not perform too well at the box office but the actress got noticed for her talent. She appeared in her first sound film, ‘The Doctor’s Secret’, in 1929 thereby successfully making her transition from silent films to talkies.

In 1930, Ruth starred in the hit ‘Sarah and Son,’ playing the role of an impoverished woman whose husband sells their son to a rich couple. The tearjerker was a critical as well as commercial hit that earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Her string of successes continued through the early 1930s. She starred in the successful comedy-drama ‘Female’ in 1933 and gave what is considered her finest performance in ‘Dodsworth’ in 1936.

In the late 1930s she returned to the stage after acting in the film ‘A Royal Divorce’ (1938).

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In her later years she pursued a writing career and her first novel ‘Homeward Bourne’ was published in 1950 which became a best seller. She also wrote two other novels.

In addition to acting, another passion of hers was aviation. She was one of the few woman aviators at the time and flew solo across the U.S. several times.

Major Works

Her portrayal of Fran, an unhappily married woman in the drama film ‘Dodsworth’ is considered one of her best performances. The film was critically praised and nominated for several Academy Awards, and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990.

She played the role of Jacqueline Floriot, a woman who is thrown out of the house by her husband following an affair. Her poignant portrayal of a fallen woman who struggles for redemption earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Awards & Achievements

Ruth Chatterton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Blvd.

She is an inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Personal Life & Legacy

Ruth Chatterton was thrice married. Her first marriage to British actor Ralph Forbes in 1924 ended in 1932. Her second marriage to Irish-born actor George Brent was also short-lived.

She married actor Barry Thomson in 1942 and remained together until Thomson’s death in 1960.

She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on November 21, 1961, and was rushed to a hospital where she died on November 24, 1961. She was 68.

Ruth Chatterton Biography