Ruth Selwyn

Ruth Wilcox was born in Tazewell, Virginia and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia,{{Cite news |date=1939-05-24 |title=Filmdom and Theater Seek Talent in S. F. |pages=15 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-filmdom-and-t/128812134/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} the daughter of James Columbus Wilcox and Martha McLeod WIlcox. Her father was an optometrist and jeweler.{{Cite news |date=1933-11-19 |title=Beautiful Ruth Selwyn Came into Life at Tazewell, Oldtimers Recall |pages=19 |work=The Roanoke Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-roanoke-times-beautiful-ruth-selwyn/128810545/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her brother was film and television director Fred M. Wilcox. Her sister Pansy Wilcox married film studio executive Nicholas Schenck.

Selwyn worked as an actress and theater producer.{{Cite book |last=Kellow |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjbg-C7dKAcC&dq=Ruth+Selwyn&pg=PA12 |title=Ethel Merman: A Life |date=2007 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-670-01829-1 |pages=11–12 |language=en}} She produced several productions of Broadway comedies and musicals.{{Cite news |last=Swan |first=Gilbert |date=1930-02-28 |title=Broadway's Sole Woman Producer Rivals Her Eminent Husband |pages=23 |work=Arizona Republic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-republic-broadways-sole-woman-p/128810819/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1930, she produced The 9:15 Revue,{{Cite news |date=1930-02-13 |title='The 9:15': Ruth Selwyn's Revue is No More Than So-So |pages=21 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-915-rut/128811789/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} with formidable writing and performing rosters including Anita Loos, Ring Lardner, Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen,{{Cite book |last=Jablonski |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsgCHeS69q8C&dq=Ruth+Selwyn&pg=PA31 |title=Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows, and Blues |date=1996 |publisher=UPNE |isbn=978-1-55553-366-3 |pages=31–32 |language=en}} Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, and Leslie Howard. Despite this star power, the show closed after five performances.{{Cite news |last=Love |first=Sam |date=1930-02-18 |title=Ruth Selwyn's Show Fails For Lack of $3,000 Cash |pages=10 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-ruth-selwyns-show/128811980/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} Bachelor Born, which she produced in 1938 with Milton Shubert, ran for over a year with 400 performances, and toured nationally. Her last Broadway production was Walk With Music (1940), with music by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.{{Cite news |date=1940-06-08 |title=Newcomer |pages=30 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-newcomer/128812928/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Selwyn was also active in developing Palm Springs, where she owned the Red Roof Ranch.{{Cite news |date=1954-12-16 |title=Ruth Warburton, Actress and Desert Resident, Dies |pages=1 |work=The Desert Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-desert-sun-ruth-warburton-actress-a/128812527/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}

• Polly of the Circus (1932)
• The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932)
• New Morals for Old (1932)
• Speak Easily (1932)
• Men Must Fight (1933){{Cite news |date=1933-03-12 |title='Men Must Fight' Has Novel Dramatic Theme |pages=6 |work=The Paducah Sun-Democrat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-paducah-sun-democrat-men-must-fight/128810448/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}}
• Fugitive Lovers (1934)
• Baby Face Harrington (1935)

Wilcox married three times. Wilcox's first husband was Russell Martin Snyder; they married in 1922 and divorced in 1925. They had one son, Russell.{{Cite news |date=1954-12-30 |title=Ruth Warburton Estate Goes to Son, Russell Selwyn |pages=6 |work=The Desert Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-desert-sun-ruth-warburton-estate-goe/128812399/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her second husband was film director Edgar Selwyn; they married in 1926, and he adopted her son. They divorced in 1938. She married Irish-born actor John Warburton in 1943.{{Cite news |date=1943-06-15 |title=English Actor's Engagement to Mrs. Ruth Selwyn Revealed |pages=4 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-english-actors-en/128810336/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} They divorced in 1948.{{Cite news |date=1948-12-24 |title=Ruth Selwyn Divorces John Barrow Warburton |pages=10 |work=The Tulsa Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tulsa-tribune-ruth-selwyn-divorces-j/128812299/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |via=Newspapers.com}} Ruth Selwyn died in Hollywood on December 13, 1954, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California; she was 49 years old.{{Cite news |date=1954-12-17 |title=Funeral of Ruth Selwyn Draws Film Personages |pages=5 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-funeral-of-ruth-se/128811414/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title='Obituary for Ruth Wilcox Selwyn SELWYN (Aged 49)' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/39099651/obituary_for_ruth_wilcox_selwyn_selwyn/ |access-date=26 July 2023 |work=The Los Angeles Times|date=15 December 1954 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=5|via = Newspapers.com}}

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• {{IMDb name|id=0783643}}
• {{IBDB name|id=23743}}

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Category:1905 births

Category:1954 deaths

Category:People from Tazewell, Virginia

Category:American actresses

Category:American producers