Historical Figures Codexery

Ruth Gordon

A seven-decade career from Broadway to Hollywood, with an Oscar, Emmy, and two Golden Globes.

The actress, playwright, screenwriter, and novelist Ruth Gordon Jones was born on October 30, 1896, and her professional life in entertainment lasted for seventy years, starting when she was 19 years old with a Broadway performance.[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Ruth Gordon Jones
Born
30 October 1896
Birthplace
Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died
28 August 1985
Place of death
Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S.
Years active
1915–1985
Partner
Jed Harris (1929 – c. 1930s)
Children
1

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

A personal reply from Hazel Dawn inspired her to go into acting, and her father took her to New York in 1914 to enroll her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[2] In 1915, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of Peter Pan in the role of Nibs, earning a favorable mention from critic Alexander Woollcott.[3] In 1969, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rosemary's Baby at age 72.[4] Ruth Gordon Jones came into the world in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts.[5]

While still a student at Quincy High School, she sent letters to several actresses she admired, asking them for signed photographs.[6] To correct her permanent bow-legged condition, Gordon entered a hospital in Chicago during December 1920 to have her legs surgically broken and straightened.[7] In 1942, Gordon became the wife of writer Garson Kanin, her second husband.[8] The screenplays for the 1949 film Adam's Rib and the 1952 film Pat and Mike, both directed by George Cukor, were co-written by Gordon and Kanin.[8]

Gordon passed away at her summer residence in Edgartown, Massachusetts, with her spouse Garson Kanin present.[9]

What the cited sources add

The LaVigne account states that after Woollcott reviewed Gordon as "ever so gay as Nibs," she wrote a thank you letter and the two became lifelong friends.[10] LaVigne notes that Gordon married actor Gregory Kelly, but the marriage lasted only seven years because Kelly died of heart disease.[10] According to LaVigne, Gordon was cast as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, directed by Tyrone Guthrie.[10] LaVigne reports that Gordon's last Broadway appearance was as the title character opposite Lynn Redgrave in Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession at Lincoln Center.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Steven LaVigne, "Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin and Marian Seldes", minnesotaplaylist.com, July 11, 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Current biography. 1943 : who's news and why", New York : H.W. Wilson, 1971, p. 238-41 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ruth Gordon Biography, Movies, Plays, & Facts Britannica", www.britannica.com, 2025-08-24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Skolsky, "Quake – And a Kiss", Hollywood Citizen-News, April 15, 1969, p. 5 Academy Awards Section; "Ruth Gordon Wins Supporting Actress: 1969", YouTube, June 25, 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scheible, "Following actress Ruth Gordon's footsteps through Quincy", PatriotLedger.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: US Census 1900 and 1910, Massachusetts Marriage Records; Gordon, Ruth, "My Side: The Autobiography of Ruth Gordon", D.I. Fine, 1986; Gordon, Ruth, "Years Ago: A Play", Viking Press, 1947; "Years Ago", 1947-01-06, p. 58 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Pittsburgh Press, December 24, 1920: "Actress, to continue her career, has bowed legs broken and straightened" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "AFI Catalog A Double Life (1948) History", catalog.afi.com; "AFI Catalog Adam's Rib (1949) History", catalog.afi.com; "AFI Catalog Pat and Mike (1952) History", catalog.afi.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Ruth Gordon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Freedman, "Ruth Gordon, The Actress, Dies at 88", The New York Times, 29 August 1985 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Steven LaVigne, "Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin and Marian Seldes", minnesotaplaylist.com, July 11, 2017. facts only, no text reused. minnesotaplaylist.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ruth Gordon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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