Ruth Bailey
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Short description|American stage and radio actress (1905–1989)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ruth Bailey
| birth_date = June 8, 1913
| death_place = September 20, 1989 (aged 76)
| occupation = Actress
}}
Ruth Emilissa Bailey{{cite news |title=Car Named After Her |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32778121/ruth_bailey/ |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=The Evening News |date=June 21, 1938 |location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg |page=14|via = Newspapers.com}} (June 8, 1913 – September 20, 1989) was an American actress on stage and on old-time radio. After her acting years, she became a producer at a theater in Cincinnati.
Early years
Bailey was born in Pittsburgh.{{cite news |title=--And She Did |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4227789/ruth_bailey_ruth_robison_bailey/ |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=Harrisburg Telegraph |date=December 12, 1940 |location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg |page=25|via = Newspapers.com}} Her father was an official with the New York Central Railroad. Her parents were opposed to her having a career in acting, but she studied at the Goodman School of Theater in Chicago anyway in addition to attending Vassar College.
Career
Bailey gained acting experience at the Pasadena Playhouse and, while in California, made some short films.{{cite journal |title=Highlights For Friday, Feb. 11 |journal=Radio Mirror |date=March 1938 |volume=9 |issue=5 |page=49 |url=https://archive.org/stream/radi00macf#page/n456/mode/1up |accessdate=June 13, 2019}} Her career developed further after she moved to Chicago, where she performed on stage and radio. Her radio roles included Alice Day on Woman in White,{{cite news |title=Dale Carnegie In Series on KSD Tuesday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32778882/st_louis_postdispatch/ |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=January 9, 1938 |location=Missouri, St. Louis |page=40|via = Newspapers.com}} Rose on Guiding Light,{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|page=140}} and Rose Kransky on The Right to Happiness.{{r|rp|page1=284}} Other programs on which she appeared included Jane's Grief, Bachelor's Children, Today's Children, and Girl Alone.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Mildred |title=Under Ether |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32777174/the_courierjournal/ |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=The Courier-Journal |date=March 18, 1937 |location=Kentucky, Louisville |page=28 |via = Newspapers.com}}
Bailey performed on television in Cincinnati, including having the role of Death Valley Daisy, hostess of WLWT's broadcasts of Western films{{cite journal |last1=Merkel |first1=Jayne |title=She's the Producer |journal=Cincinnati |date=July 1972 |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=12, 15–17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-sCAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Ruth+Bailey%22&pg=PA12 |accessdate=June 12, 2019}} and starring in The Storm on WKRC.
In 1955, Bailey founded Cherry County Playhouse in Traverse City, Michigan. The theater used a resident company of actors supplemented by stars of film and television. Bailey was a hands-on producer, selecting stars, selecting plays, and negotiating contracts, among other responsibilities. She sold the theater in 1975.
Her other business activities included serving as president and manager of E & J Swigart Co. in Cincinnati.
Personal life
On April 12, 1939, Bailey married attorney Eugene Swigart Jr.{{cite news |title=Behind the Mike |url=http://www.archive.org/stream/broadcasting16unse#page/n661/mode/1up/search/%22Ruth+Bailey%22 |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=Broadcasting |date=April 15, 1939 |page=46}} They moved to Cincinnati in 1947.{{cite news |title=Area Producer Sells Theater |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32748078/ruth_bailey/ |accessdate=June 11, 2019 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=April 3, 1975 |location=Ohio, Cincinnati |page=11 |via = Newspapers.com}} She was active in civic affairs in Cincinnati, including working with the Cincinnati Garden Center, the Modern Art Society, the Women's Committee of the Symphony, and the School for the Creative and Performing Arts.
Death
On September 20, 1989, Bailey died at age 76 at her home in the Mount Lookout neighborhood of Cincinnati.{{cite news |last1=Prendergast |first1=Jane |title=Ruth Robison Swigart, actress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4228433/ruth_robison_swigart_obituary/ |accessdate=June 12, 2019 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=September 21, 1989 |location=Ohio, Cincinnati |page=21|via = Newspapers.com}}
References
{{Portal|Biography|Pennsylvania|Radio|Theater}}
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Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:American radio actresses