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.
Acted in
They Met in Bombay
1941
as Duchess of Beltravers
The Lady from Cheyenne
1941
as Mrs. McGuinness
The Bank Dick
1940
as Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch
I Want a Divorce
1940
as Grandma Brokaw
The Girl from Avenue A
1940
as Mrs. Van Dyne
I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
1940
as Mama McGann
Star Dust
1940
as Aunt Martha Parker
The Blue Bird
1940
as Fairy Berylune
Drums Along the Mohawk
1939
as Mrs. Weaver
Mickey the Kid
1939
as Veronica Hudson
The Kid From Texas
1939
as Aunt Minetta
Cafe Society
1939
as Mrs. De Witt
St. Louis Blues
1939
as Aunt Tibbie
Four Girls in White
1939
as Miss Tobias
Port of Seven Seas
1938
as Honorine
Hold That Kiss
1938
as Aunt Lucy
Love Is a Headache
1938
as Sheriff Janet Winfield
Double Wedding
1937
as Mrs. Kensington-Bly
The Romance of Celluloid
1937
as Self
The Good Earth
1937
as Cuckoo
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937
as The Duchess of Ebley
Camille
1936
as Nanine
After the Thin Man
1936
as Aunt Katherine Forrest
Walking on Air
1936
as Evelyn Bennett
Bunker Bean
1936
as Grandmother
San Francisco
1936
as Mrs. Maisie Burley
The Unguarded Hour
1936
as Lady Agatha Hathaway
Yellow Dust
1936
as Mrs. Brian
Little Lord Fauntleroy
1936
as Applewoman
The Garden Murder Case
1936
as Mrs. Hammle
Captain Blood
1935
as Mrs. Barlow
I Found Stella Parish
1935
as Nana
Metropolitan
1935
as Charwoman
I Live My Life
1935
as Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's Grandmother
Jalna
1935
as Gran Whiteoaks
Paris in Spring
1935
as Countess de Charelle
Mark of the Vampire
1935
as Midwife
Les Misérables
1935
as Madame Magloire
Vanessa: Her Love Story
1935
as Lady Mullion
Enchanted April
1935
as Mrs. Phoebe Fisher
David Copperfield
1935
as Clara Peggotty
Evelyn Prentice
1934
as Mrs. Blake
We Live Again
1934
as Matrona Pavlovna
The Affairs of Cellini
1934
as Beatrice
One Night of Love
1934
as Angelina
Murder at the Vanities
1934
as Mrs. Helene Smith
Coming Out Party
1934
as Nora
Nana
1934
as Zoe
Ann Carver's Profession
1933
as Terry
Cocktail Hour
1933
as Princess de Longville
Elmer, the Great
1933
as Sarah Crosby (uncredited)
Child of Manhattan
1933
as Aunt Minnie
The Madonna of the Slums
1919