Lurene Tuttle

Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach who performed in radio, film, and television. Making her start in vaudeville, Tuttle's most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile actresses. Often appearing in 15 shows per week

After her family moved to Southern California, Tuttle appeared in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse, then joined the vaudeville troupe Murphy's Comedians. By the time of the Great Depression, Tuttle had put her versatility with dialogue to work in radio, and within a decade, she became an in-demand actress in the medium.

Radio roles Tuttle's radio debut came in 1936 when she appeared on Hollywood Hotel with Dick Powell.

Thirteen years later, one newspaper columnist called her "quite possibly the most-heard woman in America."

On radio's The Adventures of Sam Spade she played just about every female role, including Spade's secretary Effie Perrine. She appeared in such shows as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and concurrently appeared on The Great Gildersleeve as the niece Marjorie Forrester. Tuttle had regular roles in such shows as Brenthouse, Dr. Christian, Duffy's Tavern, One Man's Family, The Red Skelton Show (as Junior's mother and as Daisy June, roles that she shared with Harriet Nelson), Hollywood Hotel, and Those We Love.

Dr. Christian was unusual in that the show, according to critic Leonard Maltin in The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age, solicited scripts from listeners (one of whom was a young Rod Serling) and put them on the air—with a little help. Tuttle recalled:

Tuttle guest starred on the radio police series Dragnet, starring Jack Webb, Lux Radio Theatre, The Screen Guild Theater and Suspense, in the episode "The Sisters", with Rosalind Russell. In The Whistler, she played good and evil twins and used separate microphones to stay in character for each twin.

It was during her time on Hollywood Hotel that Tuttle became involved in the founding of the American Federation of Radio Artists. According to Maltin, Tuttle's male counterpart on the show, Frank Nelson (a frequent guest performer on Jack Benny's program), tried to get both a raise to $35 per show—at a time when the show paid $5,000 per appearance to headlining guest stars. Nelson eventually got the raises, but the negotiations prompted him to become an AFRA co-founder and one of its active members.

Tuttle later became the first female president of the federation's Hollywood local.

Films and television

On television and in films, Tuttle streamlined herself into a pattern of roles between wise, loving wives/mothers or bristling matrons. She was familiar to the early television audience as wife/mother Lavinia "Vinnie" Day in Life with Father (1953–1955). Columnist Hedda Hopper called the selection of Leon Ames as Father and Tuttle as Mother "what I consider 22 carat casting with two all-Americans."

Heaven Only Knows (1947) was her first film.

She served as a board member of the Screen Actors Guild from 1951 to 1954.

Tuttle has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – "Star of Radio" at 1760 Vine Street and "Star of Television" at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard. Both stars were dedicated February 8, 1960.

Personal life Tuttle married Melville Ruick, an actor whom she had met during her radio years; the couple had a daughter, Barbara (1930–1974), who was married to film composer John Williams.

Tuttle and Ruick eventually divorced. She then married Frederick W. Cole, an engineer, on November 27, 1950, in Pasadena, California. She sued him for divorce on January 4, 1956.

She became a respected acting coach and teacher, even making time for it at the height of her acting career. She often re-trained radio actors who had been away from the craft during service in World War II.

Tuttle had a hobby of collecting toy dogs. A 1930 newspaper article reported "Her dressing room shelf is filled with more than 200 miniature replicas of every variety of dog known."

Death Tuttle died from cancer on May 28, 1986, at a hospital in Encino, California. Memorial services were held June 2, 1986, at Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. with Lurene Tuttle playing The Swallow and featuring Bing Crosby alongside Orson Welles, with Herrmann's music conducted by Victor Young.