Ruth Gordon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ruth Gordon
Gordon in 1930
Born	Ruth Gordon Jones (1896-10-30)October 30, 1896 Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	August 28, 1985(1985-08-28) (aged 88) Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actress writer
Years active	1915–1985
Spouse(s)	Gregory Kelly ​ ​ (m. 1921; died 1927)​ Garson Kanin ​ ​ (m. 1942)​
Partner(s)	Jed Harris (1929 - c. 1930s)
Children	1

Ruth Gordon Jones (born October 30, 1896 – died August 28, 1985) was an American actress, writer for movies, and a writer for plays. She started her acting career on Broadway when she was 19 years old. Ruth Gordon was known for her unique voice and personality. She became famous around the world for her movie roles, even when she was in her 70s and 80s. Some of her well-known later movies include Rosemary's Baby (1968), Harold and Maude (1971), and Every Which Way But Loose (1978).

Besides acting, Ruth Gordon wrote many plays, movie scripts, and books. She famously helped write the movie script for the 1949 film Adam's Rib. Ruth Gordon won an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar), an Emmy, and two Golden Globe Awards for her acting. She was also nominated for three Academy Awards for her writing.

Early Life and Education

Ruth Gordon at age four

Ruth Gordon Jones was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. She lived in a few different homes in the Wollaston area of Quincy as she grew up.

Her parents were Annie Tapley and Clinton Jones. She had an older half-sister named Claire. As a baby, her picture was used in ads for her father's job, which was for a baby food company called Mellin's Food. Before she finished Quincy High School, she wrote to her favorite actresses asking for signed pictures. One actress, Hazel Dawn, wrote back to her. This inspired Ruth to become an actress herself! Even though her father wasn't sure about her chances of success, he took her to New York in 1914. There, she joined the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to study acting.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting on Stage and Screen

Gregory Kelly and Gordon in the 1918 Broadway play Seventeen

Ruth Gordon with Garson Kanin, 1946

In 1915, Ruth Gordon appeared as an extra in silent movies filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey. That same year, she made her first appearance on Broadway in a play called Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. She played a character named Nibs. A famous critic, Alexander Woollcott, praised her acting, calling her "ever so gay." He became her friend and helped guide her career.

In 1918, Ruth Gordon acted alongside Gregory Kelly in the Broadway play Seventeen. They continued to perform together in other plays across North America. In 1921, Ruth Gordon and Gregory Kelly got married.

Sadly, Gregory Kelly passed away in 1927 when he was only 36 years old. At that time, Ruth Gordon was doing very well on Broadway, taking on more serious roles after often being cast as a "beautiful, but dumb" character.

In 1929, while starring in the play Serena Blandish, Ruth Gordon had a son named Jones Harris with the show's producer, Jed Harris.

Stage and Film Roles in the 1930s and 1940s

Ruth Gordon as Lola Pratt, holding her dog "Flopit" in the Broadway play Seventeen, 1918

Ruth Gordon continued to act on stage throughout the 1930s. She had important roles in plays like Ethan Frome and A Doll's House.

In the early 1940s, she started getting more movie roles in Hollywood. She played supporting characters in films such as Abe Lincoln in Illinois (where she played Mary Todd Lincoln) and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet. On Broadway in the 1940s, she also starred in her own plays, Over Twenty-One and The Leading Lady.

In 1942, Ruth Gordon married her second husband, writer Garson Kanin. Ruth and Garson worked together to write the movie scripts for the famous Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy films Adam's Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952). These movies were directed by George Cukor. Ruth and Garson were good friends with Hepburn and Tracy, and they even put parts of the actors' real personalities into the films. They were nominated for Academy Awards for these screenplays, and also for an earlier film called A Double Life (1947).

Writing and Awards in the 1950s and 1960s

In 1953, Ruth Gordon's own play, Years Ago, was made into a movie called The Actress. This film was about her own life story, showing how she convinced her sea captain father to let her go to New York to become an actress. Ruth Gordon later wrote three books about her life: My Side, Myself Among Others, and An Open Book.

She kept acting on stage in the 1950s. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for her role as Dolly Levi in the play The Matchmaker. She also performed this role in London, Edinburgh, and Berlin.

Ruth Gordon and Natalie Wood at the Golden Globes, 1966

In 1966, Ruth Gordon was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for her role in Inside Daisy Clover. This was her first acting nomination for an Oscar. Three years later, in 1969, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her part in Rosemary's Baby. This movie was based on a popular horror book about a scary group living in an apartment building. When she accepted her Oscar, Ruth Gordon, who was 72 years old and had been acting for 50 years, joked, "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is ... And thank all of you who voted for me, and to everyone who didn't: please, excuse me." This made the audience laugh and clap.

Ruth Gordon won another Golden Globe for Rosemary's Baby. She was nominated again in 1971 for her role as Maude in Harold and Maude, where she played an older woman who becomes friends with a young man.

Later Career and Legacy

Ruth Gordon appeared in 22 more movies and many TV shows in her 70s and 80s. She was in popular TV comedies like Rhoda and Newhart. She also played a mystery writer in an episode of Columbo in 1977. She was a guest on many talk shows and even hosted Saturday Night Live in 1977.

She won an Emmy Award for a guest role on the TV show Taxi in 1979. In that episode, called "Sugar Mama," her character tries to hire a taxi driver as a male escort.

Her last Broadway performance was in 1976. She also had a small role as Ma Boggs in the Clint Eastwood movies Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.

In 1983, Ruth Gordon received the Crystal Award from Women in Film. This award honors women who have helped expand the role of women in the entertainment industry through their hard work and excellent performances.

Some of her most famous films, Harold and Maude, Adam's Rib, and Rosemary's Baby, have been chosen to be kept safe in the National Film Registry at the United States Library of Congress. This means they are considered very important movies.

Death and Remembrance

Ruth Gordon passed away on August 28, 1985, at her summer home in Edgartown, Massachusetts. She was 88 years old and died after a stroke. Her husband of 43 years, Garson Kanin, was with her. He said that even on her last day, she was busy with walks, talks, errands, and working on a new play. She had made her last public appearance just two weeks before, at a special showing of the film Harold and Maude. She had also just finished acting in four new movies.

In August 1979, a small movie theater in Westboro, Massachusetts, was named the Ruth Gordon Flick in her honor. She attended the opening ceremony. In November 1984, the outdoor theater in Merrymount Park in Quincy, Massachusetts, was named the Ruth Gordon Amphitheater.

Film Roles

Television Appearances

Theatre Performances

Writing Projects

Awards and Nominations

See also

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations