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Jessie Ralph

Jessie Ralph

Birthday: 1864-11-05 | Place of Birth: Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1941
They Met in Bombay

as    Duchess of Beltravers

1941
The Lady from Cheyenne

as    Mrs. McGuinness

1940
The Blue Bird

as    Fairy Berylune

1940
I Want a Divorce

as    Grandma Brokaw

1940
The Bank Dick

as    Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch

1939
The Kid From Texas

as    Aunt Minetta

1939
Cafe Society

as    Mrs. De Witt

1939
Drums Along the Mohawk

as    Mrs. Weaver

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 Last of Mrs. Cheyney

as    The Duchess of Ebley

1936
After the Thin Man

as    Aunt Katherine Forrest

1936
The Unguarded Hour

as    Lady Agatha Hathaway

1936
Yellow Dust

as    Mrs. Brian

1936
San Francisco

as    Mrs. Maisie Burley

1936
Camille

as    Nanine

1935
David Copperfield

as    Clara Peggotty

1935
Les Misérables

as    Madame Magloire

1935
Mark of the Vampire

as    Midwife

1935
I Live My Life

as    Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's Grandmother

1935
Enchanted April

as    Mrs. Phoebe Fisher

1935
I Found Stella Parish

as    Nana

1934
The Affairs of Cellini

as    Beatrice

1934
Murder at the Vanities

as    Mrs. Helene Smith

1933
Child of Manhattan

as    Aunt Minnie

1933
Cocktail Hour

as    Princess de Longville