A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... CECIL KELLAWAY (August 22, 1893 – February 28, 1973)…

CECIL KELLAWAY Collage.jpg

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called "SYBIL'S WHO'Z DAT?"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships". (I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???). Here's our next guest!! Over the course of his long career, he was a specialist in characterizations requiring a kindly, crinkly eyed, friendly sort, portraying many priests, doctors, amiable professors, butlers, and family friends, and, even on occasion, a warlock and a leprechaun. And you’d recognize him instantly just by the sound of his distinctively doddering voice and manner.

He’s Cecil Kellaway (August, 22, 1893 – February 28, 1973). Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he was the son of English parents, Edwin John Kellaway, an architect and engineer, and his wife Rebecca Annie, née Brebner. Edwin Kellaway had come to South Africa to help build the Houses of Parliament and was a good friend of Cecil Rhodes, who was Cecil's godfather. He was interested in acting from an early age. He was educated at the Normal College, Cape Town, and in England at Bradford Grammar School. He studied engineering and on his return to South Africa was employed in an engineering firm. However the lure of acting was too strong and he became a full-time actor, making his debut in POTASH AND PERLMUTTER (1910).

He briefly served in the army in 1914 but was invalided out. He returned to the theater immediately. Early plays that he appeared in included THE PRINCE OF PILSEN. He toured for three years through China, Japan, Siam, Borneo, Malaya, North and South Africa, and Europe, in plays such as MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE. Kellaway arrived in Australia in 1921 under contract to J. C. Williamson Ltd. He had a notable success as the comic father of four daughters in A NIGHT OUT, which he played through most of 1922; he would often return to this role in later years and it kicked off a sixteen-year association with Williamson on the Australian stage, mostly in musical comedies.

For Williamson he was in MARY (1922-23) then returned to A NIGHT OUT before going on to THE CABARET GIRL (1923-24), KISSING TIME (1924), WHIRLED INTO HAPPINESS (1924), KATJA (1925), THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1925), PRIMROSE (1925), A NIGHT OUT revival (1926), FRASQUITA (1927), PRINCESS CHARMING (1928), HOLD EVERYTHING (1929), FLORODORA (1931), A WARM CORNER (1931), A NIGHT OUT again, SONS O' GUNS (1931), BLUE ROSES (1932), HOLD MY HAND (1932), and THE GYPSY PRINCESS (1933). Kellaway made his film debut in the lead of THE HAYSEEDS (1933), a popular local comedy, directed by Beaumont Smith. However his main focus was still the stage: THE DUBARRY (1934), MUSIC IN THE AIR (1934), ROBERTA (1935), HIGH JINKS (1935), BALL AT THE SAVOY (1935), A SOUTHERN MAID (1936), and WHITE HORSE INN (1936).

He returned to films with the Australian Cinesound film IT ISN'T DONE (1937), for which he also provided the original story. Directed by Ken G. Hall it was a popular success. It led to Kellaway being screen-tested by RKO Pictures and put under contract, at 45 years of age! RKO initially put Kellaway into small roles in lesser films but he worked his way up to the bigger films and roles with GUNGA DIN (1939) starring Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Sam Jaffe, and Cary Grant.

Kellaway returned to Australia for a second Cinesound film, MR. CHEDWORTH STEPS OUT (1939), which featured a young Peter Finch. But back in Hollywood his films kept getting better, starting with WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, THE SUN NEVER SETS (1939), MAN ABOUT TOWN (1939), THE UNDER-PUP (1939), INTERMEZZO (1939), and WE ARE NOT ALONE (1939)….all in 1939 alone!!

He worked in a variety of dramas, Westerns, comedies, and even horror films throughout the 1940s although they were mostly “B” pictures; MEXICAN SPITFIRE (1940), THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1940), ADVENTURE IN DIAMONDS (1940), PHANTOM RAIDERS (1940), BROTHER ORCHID (1940), POP ALWAYS PAYS (1940), THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940), DIAMOND FRONTIER (1940), and MEXICAN SPITFIRE OUT WEST (1940). But over the years, his consistent professionalism and distinctive voice, manner,  and presentation also earned him roles in star-projects, some of them iconic films like THE LETTER (1940) with Bette Davis and as a mischievous warlock in I MARRIED A WITCH (1942) with Fredric March and Veronica Lake. In 1946 he appeared as the ill-fated husband of Lana Turner's character in the film noir classic THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE also starring John Garfield. He followed it with the mysterious PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948) with Joseph Cotten, and one of the greatest Hollywood feel-good fantasies of all time, HARVEY (1950) with Jimmy Stewart. Even as he began to appear on television in the 1950s, he still squeezed in some of his most memorable film roles; HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964) again with Bette Davis and Joseph Cotton and co-starring Olivia De Havilland and Agnes Moorehead, and perhaps his most beloved character of all, the monsignor in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) with Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for THE LUCK OF THE IRISH in 1948 and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER.

In the 1950s, like many great character actors, he began to make the transition to television. In 1959, he made a guest appearance on television on PERRY MASON as chemist and murderer Darrell Metcalf in "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish", and received billing credit equal to Raymond Burr's. He appeared on a couple of episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and even did Westerns; in 1961, Kellaway guest-starred as MacKay in the episode "Incident In The Middle of Nowhere" on CBS's RAWHIDE with a very young Clint Eastwood. In 1964, he played Santa Claus in the "Visions of Sugarplums" episode of BEWITCHED, which was an odd coincidence. He had been originally offered the role of Santa Claus in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) with John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, and the 6 year old Natalie Wood, but he turned it down, telling his son, "Americans don't go for whimsy." The role then went to Kellaway’s own cousin Edmund Gwenn who went on to win the Oscar for it as Best Supporting Actor. In 1967, Kellaway played the part of a lonely, megawealthy much older suitor of Ann Marie (played by Marlo Thomas) in an episode of THAT GIRL. He also appeared as Admiral Snedecker in a 1969 episode of THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR. Shortly afterwards, his failing health forced him to retire from acting.

Kellaway had married Doreen Elizabeth Joubert in Johannesburg on November 15, 1919 with whom he remained till his death. His brother Alec Kellaway became a notable actor in his own right. His other brother Leion became ballet-master for Edouard Borovansky and the Australian Ballet. His cousins were renowned fellow actors Edmund Gwenn and Arthur Chesney. Kellaway died after a long illness at a West Los Angeles convalescent home on February 28, 1973. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and four grandchildren. He was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... HUGH HERBERT (August 10, 1884 – March 12, 1952)…

Collage Hugh Herbert.jpg

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???.... well, our next guest has a face that’s instantly familiar, but his voice and his laugh (“whoo-Whoo!”) are even more so! And those hands!!

It’s Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1884 – March 12, 1952) . He was a motion picture comedian who began his career in vaudeville, and additionally wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Born in Binghamton, NY, Hugh was the middle child of John Herbert and the former Mary Gallagher who had both come over to the States from Scotland sometime before their three children were born. The family soon moved to Brooklyn where they are listed on the 1905 census. Eldest son James was two years Hugh’s senior and the youngest brother, Thomas, came three years after Hugh. (Tom later became an actor himself and actually appeared alongside Hugh in a few films.) On being the middle child, Hugh told Katherine Hartley of Photoplay, “They considered drowning me, but Pop said, ‘Ah, we might as well keep it. It might be good for laughing purposes.’” In the same 1936 interview, he added: “So you see, I just sort of slipped in between. Nobody ever paid any attention to me. That’s why I guess, as I grew older, I thought I’d like to be an actor”. One of Herbert’s first jobs was as an usher in Proctor’s Theatre in Manhattan, and Hugh was soon getting his feet wet in some very small amateur productions (Hugh claimed his first stage credit came in a bit role in Roaring Dick and Company starring Maurice Barrymore, father of Ethel, Lionel and John. Then came his often repeated story of becoming a “talker” for the silent screen. Hugh was paid $15 a week to stand behind a silent movie screen for 18-20 shows per day and give voice to the silent characters for the audience. It was while working as a "talker" that Hugh was discovered by Gordon & North who starred him in the playlet The Son of Solomon, the first of many Jewish roles Herbert played on vaudeville. “I have found it almost impossible to prove to people that I am not Hebrew,” Hugh said in 1917 and, touching upon the subject again years later in 1936, “It’s a good religion and were I born a Jew I certainly wouldn’t deny being one.” Herbert, described by the New York Clipper in 1919 as, “easily the best Jew character man in vaudeville,” always described himself as Scotch-Irish and was eventually married by a Priest--to a Jewish girl, Rose Epstein, in 1917 whom he met backstage as a visitor to one of his plays. Within a short time, she joined him onstage in his acting troupe and changed her name to Anita Pam starring along side him in the 1920s in pieces such as Mind Your Business, in which she played a stenographer, Home Comforts, described as a domestic farce, and as leading player in The Cat, a piece Hugh that wrote especially for her. 

The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors from Broadway, the regional theatres, and Vaudeville circuits to Hollywood, and Hugh Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. Hugh already knew the popular comedy pair Wheeler and Woolsey from vaudeville, and his earliest movies, like Wheeler & Woolsey’s 1930 feature HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER cast him in generic comedy roles that could have been taken by any comedian, but he developed his own unique screen personality, complete with a silly giggle. His screen character was usually absent-minded and flustered. When he appeared in 1930’s Hook, Line and Sinker and he credits 1933’s wild DIPLOMANIACS as being where his famed cry of excitement originated. He would flutter his fingers together and talk to himself, repeating the same phrases: "hoo-hoo-hoo, wonderful, wonderful, hoo hoo hoo!". The new character caught on quickly. As Hugh Herbert became a screen personality during the 1930s it’s also interesting to note the versatility shown in other roles.

He’s a toned-down version of his later self alongside Edna May Oliver in LAUGH AND GET RICH (1931) and delivers a combination of the madcap along with more reflective moments in TRAVELING HUSBANDS (1931), where Hugh's Hymie Schwartz probably also offers a hint of his earlier vaudeville work. In SHE HAD TO SAY YES (1933), a pre-Code stunner starring Loretta Young that features a somewhat atypical (sleazy) Hugh, he made another well-positioned fan in Warner Brothers head of production Darryl F. Zanuck. Warner Brothers signed Hugh to a five-year contract and it was his next role, in that same year’s GOODBYE AGAIN (1933) that established him in the public’s mind as a great supporting player. He became a regularly featured character in Warner Brothers films of the 1930s, including FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933), BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933), FOG OVER FRISCO (1934), FASHIONS OF 1934, and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935, WE’RE IN THE MONEY (1935), COLLEEN (1936), as well as the film adaptation of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (1935). Herbert continued in supporting roles at Warner Brothers until February 1938 when the company elevated him to star status. To give an idea of the distinction of this promotion, it was reported at this time that Warner Brothers had 27 star players, including Hugh, and 77 featured players under contract. Unfortunately, the first starring role for Hugh Herbert was in SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937), an enjoyable comedy-mystery featuring an exceptional unmasking of the culprit. The film was a success but couldn’t be considered a Hollywood blockbuster. Off-screen Hugh kept busy with a trio of roles around Studio City, where he lived. He was Mayor, President of the Chamber of Commerce, and Chief Columnist of the Studio City News, from which his articles were bylined, “The Mayor, Hugh Herbert, Says.”

Hugh remained very active on-screen throughout the next decade as well, first signing a five year starring contract with Universal in 1940 where, as at Warners, he played supporting roles in major films, and leading roles in minor ones. One of his best-received performances from this period is in the Olsen and Johnson comedy HELLZAPOPPIN’ (1941) in which he plays a nutty detective. He later moved to Columbia in 1944. He continued to star in short-subject comedies for the remainder of his life. He was often caricatured in Warner’s Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930s/40s, such as The Hardship of Miles Standish and Speaking of the Weather. One of the minor characters in the Terrytoons short The Talking Magpies (1946) is also a recognizably Hugh Herbertesque bird. Herbert’s onscreen persona became so vivid that he had many imitators over the years in other film comedies and at other studios. And so many imitators (including Curly Howard of The Three Stooges, Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series, and the cartoon icon Daffy Duck) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s. In addition to his acting, Herbert also wrote for six films, co-writing the screenplays for the films LIGHTS OF NEW YORK (1928) and SECOND WIFE (1930) and contributing to THE GREAT GABBO (1929), among others. He acted in a few films co-written by the much more prolific (but unrelated) screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert: FASHIONS OF 1934, WE’RE IN THE MONEY (1935), and COLLEEN (1936).

(Much confusion has surrounded the careers of Austrian-born writer F. Hugh Herbert and Binghamton-born actor-writer Hugh F. Herbert especially since their professional paths crossed in show business.) Herbert continued working right up until the time of his death, appearing in movies and even managing a few early television appearances, including making a surprise appearance (in drag) on a live Spike Jones show in 1951. Unfortunately most of the Hugh Herbert news during the latter part of his life centered around his mostly amicable divorce from Rose in 1949 after 31 years of marriage. Rose said that after years in Hollywood, Hugh had changed. She was quoted as saying that the light-hearted, carefree and amusing man she had married was often preoccupied and melancholy. He often drove for hours alone at night, after leaving dinner parties without even a good-night to his friends. Rose returned to her family home in Texas. Rose’s lawyer told her she could get more out of Hugh if she returned to California to file for her divorce, but she remained in Texas and was quite satisfied with being awarded $10,000 cash to buy a house and $300 a week thereafter for support. Hugh continued working. One night, after complaining that he felt ill, he called his doctor and personal friend, Dr. Victor Kovner, to his house. Kovner arrived but could not save Hugh Herbert from the heart attack that claimed his life that night, March 12, 1952. The writer, performer, and movie star was 67 years old. He willed most of his $200,000 estate to the motion picture relief fund. Rose Epstein Herbert aka Anita Pam died in 1973. They had no children. Hugh Herbert was once quoted as saying, “The best business in the world is to make people laugh. Plenty of laughter means good health. Then people are usually happy when they are laughing, and what is better than to make people happy?”. Hugh Herbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... HENRY JONES (August 1, 1912 – May 17, 1999)…

HENRY JONES Collage.jpg

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Well, here’s a face that no one ever forgets either in film or on television… and he was known for playing comedy and drama, even dark suspense, and then doing the nearly impossible by combining all of them in single performances.

                It’s Henry Jones (August 1, 1912 – May 17, 1999). Jones was born Henry Burk Jones in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen (née Burk) and John Francis Xavier Jones. He attended the Jesuit-run Saint Joseph's Preparatory School. After a start in regional theatre and on Broadway in 1931, his major Broadway debut came in 1938 in Maurice Evans’ HAMLET where he played both Reynaldo and the second gravedigger. He went on to appear in THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE (1939) and MY SISTER EILEEN (1942). Jones served in the army in World War II, and afterwards returned to Broadway in THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC (1954), and SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO (1960), for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Performance in a Drama. In 1956, Jones originated the role of handyman Leroy Jessup in the premiere of THE BAD SEED (1956), a role that he then recreated in the film and was instantly famous for. After 1961, he devoted his entire career to film and television, where he made over 150 appearances on the major network shows, usually as ministers, judges, janitors, and dour businessmen. His TV credits included ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE ELEVENTH HOUR, NIGHT GALLERY, EMERGENCY!, THE MOD SQUAD, DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, ADAM 12, FATHER KNOWS BEST, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, and THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW. He played Dr. Smith's cousin in a 1966 episode of LOST IN SPACE, "Curse Of Cousin Smith". On television, Jones' best remembered role was as the title character's father-in-law in the 1970s CBS sitcom PHYLLIS with Cloris Leachman. His movies included such well-known titles as WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER (1957), VERTIGO (1958), 3:10 TO YUMA (1957), BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), 9 TO 5 (1980), THE GRIFTERS (1990), DICK TRACY (1990), ARACHNIPHOBIA (1990). Jones was married twice, and had two children. He died in Los Angeles, California at age 86, from complications from injuries suffered in a fall. To this day, he remains one of the great character actors film fans love-to-hate, and then love again! Short in stature, he was a giant of a talent and respected by all who worked with him. To this day, his lines from THE BAD SEED can be quoted verbatim with gestures and facial expressions by his legions of fans!!!

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... THELMA RITTER (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969)

THELMA RITTER Collage.jpg

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? With a face, a voice, and a manner that could be described as "every woman", but as unforgettable as the most luminescent star, she remains Hollywood royalty: THELMA RITTER! (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969)....born on Valentine's Day in Brooklyn.

She typically played working class characters and was noted for her distinctive voice, with a strong Brooklyn accent. After appearing in high school plays and stock companies, she trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She established a stage career but took a hiatus to raise her two children by her husband, Joseph Moran, an actor turned advertising executive. Ritter's first movie role was in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET in 1947- She was 45 at the time!!! She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised to her son. Her “big break” came in 1950’s ALL ABOUT EVE in which Ritter played Birdie, the long-suffering personal maid to stage diva Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Down-to-earth Birdie is the first person in EVE to grow wise to the title character’s machinations, and Ritter does a wonderful job in helping the audience see the first glimmers of deception in Eve’s story. And it’s no wonder Ritter is so phenomenal in the role: the film’s writer/director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, wrote the part with Ritter specifically in mind after having worked with her in the previous year’s A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (although she was uncredited!) Ultimately, Ritter’s performance was noteworthy enough to garner her first Academy Award nomination (one of fourteen nominations for that film, incidentally). A second nomination followed for her work in Mitchell Leisens' classic ensemble screwball comedy THE MATING SEASON (1951) starring Gene Tierney and John Lund. She established herself among costars, directors, and studio heads alike as a master of the "throw-away line" and perhaps Hollywood's most lovable "scene-stealer". When she was onscreen, even the greatest stars knew that audiences might be watching Ritter not just for her own one-liners, but for her shrugs, smirks, eye-rolls, or deadpan stares in reaction to their lines.

Ritter enjoyed steady film work for the next dozen years. She also appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, and The United States Steel Hour. Other film roles were as James Stewart's nurse in REAR WINDOW (1954) and as Doris Day's housekeeper in PILLOW TALK (1959). Though she found a great deal of success in Hollywood, Ritter was also an accomplished stage actress, winning a 1958 Tony Award for Best Leading Performance in a Musical for her role in NEW GIRL IN TOWN, a musical adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play ANNA CHRISTIE (which was so memorably brought to the screen as Greta Garbo’s first “talkie” in 1930). Ritter shared the Tony award with her costar, Gwen Verdon in a rare tie.

The 1960s brought Ritter several more acclaimed roles, including a supporting part in THE MISFITS (1961), the final completed film for Hollywood icons Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe; a sixth Oscar-nominated performance as the mother of the titular character in BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962) with Burt Lancaster; an appearance next to Debbie Reynolds in the star-studded Western epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON (also in 1962); and a reunion with Doris Day in 1963’s MOVE OVER DARLING. Although best known for comedy roles, she played the occasional dramatic role, most notably as an underworld figure who is eventually murdered in the film noir PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953) with Richard Widmark and as a character based on (“the unsinkable”) Molly Brown in TITANIC (1953). Her last work was an appearance on THE JERRY LEWIS SHOW on January 23, 1968. Ritter died of a heart attack in New York City, just nine days before her 67th birthday in 1969. 

At the time of her death, she was survived by her husband of forty-two years, Joseph Moran, an actor turned advertising executive, and her two children Monica and Joseph Jr. She left behind a body of work comprising more than thirty films and a wide variety of stage and television performances. She never won an Oscar, but she was one of the most-nominated actors of all time. During her career, Ritter was nominated for an Oscar six times, tying with Deborah Kerr and Glenn Close as most nominated for the award in an acting category without a win. Kerr DID eventually receive an honorary award from the Academy, however, (coincidentally presented to her by Close!) but Ritter has the distinction in 1954, of having co-hosted the Oscar ceremony, notably trading wisecracks with Bob Hope. Despite having only spent two decades in Hollywood, Thelma Ritter certainly is an unforgettable and iconic presence on the classic cinematic landscape. A birthday on February 14th??... For me, Thelma Ritter is truly one of the greatest Valentines of all time!!

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