Jessie Ralph
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jessie Ralph (born Jessie Ralph Chambers, November 5, 1864 – May 30, 1944) was an American stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures. She was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1864. She made her acting debut in 1880, at the age of sixteen. She made it to Broadway, where George M. Cohan cast her in many of his musicals, but she also excelled at dramatic roles. Although she made her Hollywood debut in 1916, in a motion picture career that would eventually span 25 years, she only became a permanent Hollywood actress in 1933. She was nearly 70 at this time, so her roles were limited to matronly roles, but her expertise at stealing scenes captured the imagination of cinema-goers of the time. Her best-known roles are as Greta Garbo's maid in Camille, as W.C. Fields' battle-axe of a mother-in-law in The Bank Dick, as Myrna Loy's supercilious aunt Katherine in After the Thin Man, and as Nurse Peggotty in David Copperfield. She starred in 55 movies altogether, 52 between 1933 and 1941. Jessie Ralph retired from Hollywood in 1941, after her leg was amputated. She died four years later in her home town of Gloucester at the age of 79. She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Known For
Credits
- 1941 · They Met in Bombay as Duchess of Beltravers
- 1941 · The Lady from Cheyenne as Mrs. McGuinness
- 1940 · The Bank Dick as Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch
- 1940 · I Want a Divorce as Grandma Brokaw
- 1940 · The Girl from Avenue A as Mrs. Van Dyne
- 1940 · I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby as Mama McGann
- 1940 · Star Dust as Aunt Martha Parker
- 1940 · The Blue Bird as Fairy Berylune
- 1939 · Drums Along the Mohawk as Mrs. Weaver
- 1939 · Mickey the Kid as Veronica Hudson
- 1939 · The Kid From Texas as Aunt Minetta
- 1939 · Cafe Society as Mrs. De Witt
- 1939 · St. Louis Blues as Aunt Tibbie
- 1939 · Four Girls in White as Miss Tobias
- 1938 · Port of Seven Seas as Honorine
- 1938 · Hold That Kiss as Aunt Lucy
- 1938 · Love Is a Headache as Sheriff Janet Winfield
- 1937 · Double Wedding as Mrs. Kensington-Bly
- 1937 · The Romance of Celluloid as Self
- 1937 · The Good Earth as Cuckoo
- 1937 · The Last of Mrs. Cheyney as The Duchess of Ebley
- 1936 · Camille as Nanine
- 1936 · After the Thin Man as Aunt Katherine Forrest
- 1936 · Walking on Air as Evelyn Bennett
- 1936 · San Francisco as Mrs. Maisie Burley
- 1936 · Bunker Bean as Grandmother
- 1936 · The Unguarded Hour as Lady Agatha Hathaway
- 1936 · Yellow Dust as Mrs. Brian
- 1936 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Applewoman
- 1936 · The Garden Murder Case as Mrs. Hammle
- 1935 · Captain Blood as Mrs. Barlow
- 1935 · I Found Stella Parish as Nana
- 1935 · Metropolitan as Charwoman
- 1935 · I Live My Life as Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's Grandmother
- 1935 · Jalna as Gran Whiteoaks
- 1935 · Paris in Spring as Countess de Charelle
- 1935 · Mark of the Vampire as Midwife
- 1935 · Les Misérables as Madame Magloire
- 1935 · Vanessa: Her Love Story as Lady Mullion
- 1935 · Enchanted April as Mrs. Phoebe Fisher
- 1935 · David Copperfield as Clara Peggotty
- 1934 · Evelyn Prentice as Mrs. Blake
- 1934 · We Live Again as Matrona Pavlovna
- 1934 · The Affairs of Cellini as Beatrice
- 1934 · One Night of Love as Angelina
- 1934 · Murder at the Vanities as Mrs. Helene Smith
- 1934 · Coming Out Party as Nora
- 1934 · Nana as Zoe
- 1933 · Ann Carver's Profession as Terry
- 1933 · Cocktail Hour as Princess de Longville
- 1933 · Elmer, the Great as Sarah Crosby (uncredited)
- 1933 · Child of Manhattan as Aunt Minnie
- 1919 · The Madonna of the Slums as