Rose Hobart

Early years Born in New York City, Hobart was the daughter of a cellist in the New York Symphony Orchestra, Paul Kefer, and an opera singer, Marguerite Kefer. Her parents' divorce when she was seven resulted in Hobart and her sister, Polly, going to France to live with their grandmother. When World War I began, they came back to the United States and went to boarding schools. By 1921, she was a student at Kingston High School in Kingston, New York.

Career When Hobart was 15, she debuted professionally in Cappy Ricks, a Chautauqua production. She was accepted for the 18-week tour because she told officials that she was 18. Hobart's Broadway stage debut was on September 17, 1923 at the Knickerbocker Theater, playing a young girl in Lullaby. In 1925, she played Charmian in Caesar and Cleopatra.

Hobart was an original member of Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre. In 1928, she made her London debut, playing Nina Rolf in The Comic Artist. During her career in theater, she toured with Noël Coward in The Vortex and was cast opposite Helen Hayes in What Every Woman Knows.

Her performance as Grazia in Death Takes a Holiday won her a Hollywood contract. In 1986, she recalled that "On my first three pictures, they worked me 18 hours a day and then complained because I was losing so much weight that they had to put stuff in my evening dress... When I did East of Borneo (1931), that schlocky horror [film that] I did, we shot all night long. They started at 6 o'clock at night and finished at 5 in the morning. For two solid weeks, I was working with alligators, jaguars and pythons out on the back lot. I thought, 'This is acting?' It was ridiculous. We were militant about the working conditions. We wanted an eight-hour day like everybody else." On October 9, 1932, she married William Mason Grosvenor, Jr., an executive in a chemical engineering firm. They were divorced on February 17, 1941. She had one child, son Judson Bosworth, from her third marriage to architect Barton H. Bosworth. from natural causes. She was survived by her only child, son Judson Bosworth (b. 1949).

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1930 Liliom Julie A Lady Surrenders Mabel 'Mike' Isabel Beauvel 1931 Chances Molly Prescott East of Borneo Linda Randolph Compromised Ann Brock Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Muriel Carew 1932 Scandal for Sale Claire Strong 1933 The Shadow Laughs Ruth Hackett 1935 Convention Girl Cynthia 'Babe' LaVal 1939 Tower of London Anne Neville 1940 Wolf of New York Peggy Nolan Susan and God Irene A Night at Earl Carroll's Ramona Lisa 1941 Ziegfeld Girl Mrs. Merton Singapore Woman Alice North Lady Be Good Mrs. Carter Wardley I'll Sell My Life Dale Layden (Mary Jones) Nothing But the Truth Mrs. Harriet Donnelly No Hands on the Clock Marion West 1942 A Gentleman at Heart Claire Barrington Mr. and Mrs. North Carol Brent Who Is Hope Schuyler? Alma Pearce Gallant Lady Rosemary Walsh Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant Mrs. Black The Adventures of Smilin' Jack Fraulein Von Teufel 1943 Air Raid Wardens (scenes deleted) Salute to the Marines Mrs. Carson (uncredited) Swing Shift Maisie Lead Woman (uncredited) The Mad Ghoul Della Crime Doctor's Strangest Case aka Strangest Case Mrs. Diana Burns 1944 Song of the Open Road Mrs. Powell The Soul of a Monster Lilyan Gregg 1945 The Brighton Strangler Dorothy Kent Conflict Kathryn Mason Isle of the Dead Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn (in long shot; uncredited) 1946 Claudia and David Edith Dexter The Cat Creeps Connie Palmer Canyon Passage Marta Lestrade 1947 The Farmer's Daughter Virginia Thatcher The Trouble With Women Agnes Meeler Cass Timberlane Diantha Marl 1948 Mickey Lydia Matthews (uncredited) 1949 Bride of Vengeance Lady Eleonora

Television Year Title Role Notes 1968 The Invaders Housekeeper - Irma 1 episode 1968 Gunsmoke Melanie Karcher 1 episode 1968–1969 The F.B.I. Molly Ferguson / Maid 2 episodes 1971 Cannon Nina's Mother 1 episode 1971 Night Gallery Mrs. Hugo (segment "The Dear Departed") 1 episode; final appearance