Shirley Booth

Shirley Booth (August 30, 1898 – October 16, 1992) was an acclaimed American actress.

Related Topics:
August 30 - 1898 - October 16 - 1992 - American - Actress

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She was born Marjory Ford in New York, New York, the daughter of Albert James Ford and Virginia Wright. Her younger sister was Jean Valentine Ford, who survived her.

Related Topics:
New York - New York

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She began her career on the stage as a teenager acting in stock company productions, and was briefly known as Thelma Booth Ford. Her Broadway debut was in the play Hell's Bells opposite Humphrey Bogart on January 26, 1925. During the 1930s and 1940s, she achieved popularity in dramas, comedies and musicals. She acted with Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (1939) and with Ralph Bellamy in Tomorrow the World (1943).

Related Topics:
Career - Stage - Teenager - Stock company - Broadway - Play - Hell's Bells - Humphrey Bogart - January 26 - 1925 - 1930s - 1940s - Musicals - Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story - 1939 - Ralph Bellamy - Tomorrow the World - 1943

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Booth also starred on the popular radio series Duffy's Tavern, portraying the lighthearted "Miss Duffy" on CBS Radio from 1941 to 1942 and on NBC-Blue Radio from 1942 to 1943, and won an audience of fans over the airwaves.

Related Topics:
Radio - CBS - 1941 - 1942 - NBC - 1943

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She had two husbands, actor Ed Gardner (married 1929-divorced 1942) and William Baker (married 1943-his death 1951), but had no children.

Related Topics:
Ed Gardner - 1929 - 1942 - 1943 - 1951

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Her first Tony, for Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic), was awarded for her performance as Grace Woods in Goodbye, My Fancy (1948). Her second Tony was for Best Actress in a Play, which she received for her widely acclaimed performance of the tortured wife, Lola, in the poignant drama Come Back, Little Sheba (1950). Her leading man, Sidney Blackmer, received the Tony for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Doc.

Related Topics:
Tony - Goodbye, My Fancy - 1948 - Come Back, Little Sheba - 1950 - Sidney Blackmer

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Booth's enormous success in Come Back, Little Sheba was immediately followed by A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), in which she played the feisty but lovable Aunt Cissy. She then went to Hollywood and recreated her stage role in the motion picture version of Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), with Burt Lancaster playing Doc. When the movie, her first, was completed, she returned to New York and played Leona Samish in The Time of the Cockoo (1952) on Broadway.

Related Topics:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - 1951 - Hollywood - Motion picture - Come Back, Little Sheba - 1952 - Burt Lancaster - The Time of the Cockoo - 1952

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In 1953, she received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Lola Delaney in the successful movie, Come Back, Little Sheba, becoming the first actress ever to win both a Tony and an Oscar for the same role. She also received her third Tony, which was her second in the Best Actress in a Play category, for her performance in The Time of the Cuckoo.

Related Topics:
1953 - Academy Award - Best Actress in a Leading Role

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She spent the next few years commuting between New York and Southern California. On Broadway, she scored personal successes in the musical My Beautiful Sea (1954) and the comedy The Desk Set (1955).

Related Topics:
Southern California - My Beautiful Sea - 1954 - The Desk Set - 1955

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After Come Back, Little Sheba, Booth made only four other movies, as herself in the all-star novelty Main Street to Broadway (1953), playing Mrs. Vivien Leslie in the romance/drama About Mrs. Leslie (1954), playing Dolly Gallagher Levi in the romance/comedy The Matchmaker (1958), which is the movie version of the nonmusical play that Hello, Dolly! was later based on, and playing Alma Duval in the drama Hot Spell (1958).

Related Topics:
Main Street to Broadway - 1953 - About Mrs. Leslie - 1954 - The Matchmaker - 1958 - Hello, Dolly! - Hot Spell

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She returned to the Broadway stage in 1959, starring as the long-suffering title character in the Marc Blitzstein musical Juno, an adaptation of Sean O'Casey's 1924 classic play, Juno and the Paycock.

Related Topics:
1959 - Marc Blitzstein - Juno - Sean O'Casey - 1924 - Juno and the Paycock

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In 1961, she began starring in the long-running TV sitcom Hazel, based on a popular comic strip about a sassy, wisecracking and domineering, yet lovable housemaid, Hazel Burke. For this role she won two Emmys, in 1962 and 1963, and new stardom with a younger audience. She told the Associated Press in 1963, "I liked playing Hazel the first time I read one of the scripts, and I could see all the possibilities of the character–the comedy would take care of itself. My job was to give her heart. Hazel never bores me. Besides, she's my insurance policy."

Related Topics:
1961 - TV - Sitcom - Hazel - Comic strip - Emmys - 1962 - 1963 - Associated Press - Scripts

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Booth was a distinguished and versatile performer, equally at home acting in theatre, radio, and on the big and small screen. She had a long and prestigious list of stage credits and made numerous appearances in TV movies and programs. She also did voice work for the animated special The Year Without a Santa Claus, playing Mrs. Santa. Her last Broadway appearance was in a revival of Hay Fever (1970).

Related Topics:
Animated - Special - The Year Without a Santa Claus - Hay Fever - 1970

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She died after a brief illness at age 94 at her home in North Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod; actress Julie Harris lived nearby and would visit her. She is interred in Mount Hebron Cemetery, Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

Related Topics:
North Chatham, Massachusetts - Cape Cod - Julie Harris - Upper Montclair, New Jersey

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Shirley Booth has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Related Topics:
Hollywood Walk of Fame - Hollywood

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