Jessie Ralph
{{short description|American actress (1864–1944)}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jessie Ralph
| image = Jessie Ralph in The Last of Mrs Cheyney trailer.jpg
| imagesize = 230px
| caption = Trailer for The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1864|11|05|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1944|5|30|1864|11|05|mf=y}}
| death_place = Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.
| birthname = Jessie Ralph Chambers
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1880–1941
| spouse = William Patton (1901–?; his death)
}}
Jessie Ralph Patton ({{nee}} Chambers; November 5, 1864{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}} – May 30, 1944), was an American stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic films.
Early life
Jessie Ralph Chambers was the 13th child born to sailing captain James Chambers and his wife. Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1864, she made her acting debut in stock theater in 1880, at age 16.{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Dr Roger L. |title=Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures |date=2018 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=9781480944992 |pages=32–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwZTDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Jessie+Ralph%22+actor&pg=PA33 |access-date=September 13, 2019 |language=en}}
Career
Ralph made her Broadway debut in The Kreutzer Sonata (1906) and her final appearance on Broadway was in The Good Earth (1932).{{cite web |title=Jessie Ralph |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jessie-ralph-57005 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=September 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914013802/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/jessie-ralph-57005 |archive-date=September 14, 2019}}
In 1915, Ralph debuted in two-reel films in New York, not arriving in Hollywood until 1933. She was nearly 70 then, so her parts were limited to matronly roles, but her ability to steal scenes captured the attention of moviegoers of the time.{{Citation needed |date=December 2022}}
Ralph's best-known roles include Nurse Pegotty in David Copperfield (1935), Nanine, Greta Garbo's maid in Camille (1936), as Myrna Loy's Aunt Katherine (in a state of permanent high dudgeon) in After the Thin Man (1936) and as Mrs. Hermosillo Brunch, battle-axe mother-in-law to W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick (1940). From 1933 to 1941, Ralph appeared in 55 films, 11 of them released during 1935.
Personal life
Ralph married actor William Patton on August 21, 1901 in Manhattan, New York.{{cite web |last1=Ralph |first1=Jessie |title=New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1769602:9105?tid=&pid=&queryid=9e6409b5-9be8-420a-8eb2-32a4ba2603a1&_phsrc=PvE432&_phstart=successSource |website=Ancestry.com |access-date=15 October 2024}} They remained married until his death.{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Jessie+Ralph%22+actor&pg=PT31|title=Jessie Ralph|date=June 10, 1944|magazine=Billboard|access-date=September 14, 2019}} They had no children.
Death
Ralph retired from Hollywood in 1941 after having her leg amputated. She died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1944, aged 79{{cite news |title=Jessie Ralph, 79, of Stage, Screen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/05/31/archives/jessie-ralph-79-of-stage-screen-character-actress-is-dead-in.html |access-date=December 7, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 31, 1944 |page=19 |url-access=subscription}} and was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. {{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1915
| A Ringer for Max | | | short |
| 1915
| The Galloper | Sybil | | |
| 1915
| Mary's Lamb | Mary Lamb | | |
| 1916
| New York | Mrs. Macey | Lost film |
| 1919
| The Madonna of the Slums | | | short |
| 1921
| Mary | Lost film |
| 1933
| Aunt Minnie | |
| 1933
| Sarah Crosby | uncredited |
| 1933
| Princess de Longville | |
| 1933
| Terry (Graham's Maid) | |
| 1934
| Nana | Zoe | |
| 1934
| Nora | |
| 1934
| Mrs. Helene Smith | |
| 1934
| Beatrice | |
| 1934
| Angelina | |
| 1934
| Matrona Pavlovna | |
| 1934
| Mrs. Blake | |
| 1935
| Nurse Peggotty | |
| 1935
| Mrs. Phoebe Fisher | |
| 1935
| Lady Mullion | |
| 1935
| Madame Magloire | |
| 1935
| Midwife | |
| 1935
| Countess de Charelle | |
| 1935
| Jalna | Gran Whiteoak | |
| 1935
| Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's grandmother | |
| 1935
| Charwoman | |
| 1935
| Nana | |
| 1935
| Mrs. Barlow | |
| 1936
| Mrs. Hammle | |
| 1936
| Mrs. Bryan | |
| 1936
| The Applewoman | |
| 1936
| Lady Hathaway | Sam Wood | |
| 1936
| Grandmother | |
| 1936
| Mrs. Maisie Burley | |
| 1936
| Evelyn Bennett | |
| 1936
| Camille | Nanine | |
| 1936
| Aunt Katherine Forrest | |
| 1937
| Cuckoo | |
| 1937
| Duchess | |
| 1937
| Mrs. Kensington-Bly | |
| 1938
| Sheriff Janet Winfield | |
| 1938
| Aunt Lucy | |
| 1938
| Honorine | |
| 1939
| Miss Tobias | |
| 1939
| Aunt Tibbie | |
| 1939
| Mrs. De Witt | |
| 1939
| Aunt Minetta | |
| 1939
| Veronica M. Hudson | |
| 1939
| Mrs. Weaver | |
| 1940
| Fairy Berylune | |
| 1940
| Aunt Martha Parker | |
| 1940
| I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby | Mama McGann | |
| 1940
| Mrs. Van Dyne | |
| 1940
| Grandma Brokaw | |
| 1940
| Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch | |
| 1941
| Mrs. McGuinness | |
| 1941
| Duchess of Beltravers | |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{IMDb name|0707771}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=1036606&word= Jessie Ralph] portrait at NY Public Library Billy Rose Collection
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralph, Jessie}}
Category:19th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Massachusetts
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:People from Gloucester, Massachusetts