Thelma Ritter

Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American character actress known for her strong New York City accent, diminutive size, and plain look; she favored working-class roles and earned a Tony Award and six Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, more than any other actress in the category.

These nominations were for her performances in All About Eve (1950), The Mating Season (1951), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Pillow Talk (1959), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Her other film roles include those in Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rear Window (1954), The Misfits (1961), and How the West Was Won (1962).

Ritter shared the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for performance in the musical New Girl in Town with her co-star Gwen Verdon. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination for Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1956.

Early and personal life Thelma Ritter was born on February 14, 1902, in Brooklyn, New York, the first child of Charles and Lucy Ritter. Her father was a bookkeeper, upon her graduation from Manual Training High School in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Their father, her husband, Joseph Moran, was also an actor. In the mid-1930s, he changed professions, becoming an actors' agent and then an advertising executive.

Ritter's first movie role was in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised her son. Her third role, in writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's A Letter to Three Wives (1949), left a mark, although Ritter was again uncredited. Mankiewicz kept Ritter in mind and cast her as Birdie Coonan in All About Eve (1950), which earned her an Oscar nomination. A second nomination followed for her work in the Mitch Leisen ensemble screwball comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney and John Lund. Shortly before the film's release, syndicated columnist Bob Thomas called her Hollywood's "most talked-about new starlet". She enjoyed steady film work into the late 1960s.

She appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, and The United States Steel Hour Her other film roles were as James Stewart's nurse in Rear Window (1954) and Doris Day's housekeeper, Alma, in Pillow Talk (1959). Although best known for comedy roles, she played the occasional dramatic role, most notably in With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Titanic (1953), The Misfits (1961), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), for which she received her final Oscar nomination. Her last work was an appearance on The Jerry Lewis Show on January 23, 1968.

Death On January 27, 1969, Ritter suffered a heart attack at her residence in Queens, New York City. She died from a second heart attack on February 5, in New York City, at age 66.

Legacy In 2019, Ritter was listed in an Evening Standard list of 10 women who changed the face of film forever.

Work Film Year Title Role Director Notes 1947 Miracle on 34th Street Peter's Mother George Seaton Uncredited 1948 Call Northside 777 Receptionist Henry Hathaway Uncredited1949 A Letter to Three Wives Sadie Dugan Joseph L. Mankiewicz Uncredited City Across the River Mrs. Katie Cusack Maxwell Shane Father Was a Fullback Geraldine John M. Stahl1950 Perfect Strangers Lena Fassler Bretaigne Windust I'll Get By Miss Murphy Richard Sale All About Eve Birdie Coonan Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1951 The Mating Season Ellen McNulty Mitchell Leisen As Young as You Feel Della Hodges Harmon Jones The Model and the Marriage Broker Mae Swasey George Cukor 1952 With a Song in My Heart Clancy Walter Lang 1953 Titanic Maude Young Jean Negulesco Pickup on South Street Moe Williams Samuel Fuller The Farmer Takes a Wife Lucy Cashdollar Henry Levin1954 Rear Window Stella Alfred Hitchcock 1955 Daddy Long Legs Alicia Pritchard Jean Negulesco Lucy Gallant Molly Basserman Robert Parrish 1956 The Proud and Profane Kate Connors George Seaton 1959 A Hole in the Head Sophie Manetta Frank Capra Pillow Talk Alma Michael Gordon 1961 The Misfits Isabelle Steers John Huston The Second Time Around Aggie Gates Vincent Sherman 1962 Birdman of Alcatraz Elizabeth Stroud John Frankenheimer How the West Was Won Agatha Clegg John Ford Henry Hathaway George Marshall 1963 For Love or Money Chloe BrasherMichael Gordon Move Over, Darling Grace Arden A New Kind of Love Leena Melville Shavelson 1965 Boeing Boeing Bertha John Rich 1967 The Incident Bertha Beckerman Larry Peerce 1968 What's So Bad About Feeling Good? Mrs. Schwartz George Seaton final film role

Television

Theatre

Radio Year Program Notes Ref. 1953 Theatre Guild on the Air Episode: A Square Peg

Awards and nominations Ritter received six Academy Award nominations during her career, without a win. This ties her with Deborah Kerr and Amy Adams with the second most such nominations among actresses, behind Glenn Close’s eight. Peter O'Toole also has eight without a win among men. Only Kerr, O’Toole and Close have received honorary awards from the Academy.

In 1955 Ritter co-hosted the Oscar ceremony, notably trading wisecracks with Bob Hope.

AssociationYearCategoryPerformanceResultRef. Academy Awards 1950Best Supporting Actress All About Eve 1951 The Mating Season 1952 With a Song in My Heart 1953 Pickup on South Street 1959 Pillow Talk 1962 Birdman of Alcatraz Golden Globe Awards 1950 Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture All About Eve 1951 The Mating Season Tony Awards 1958 Best Actress in a Musical New Girl in Town