Ruth Gordon (Jones) Kanin (1896 - 1985)

Born 30 Oct 1896 in Quincy, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Gregory Kelly — married 23 Dec 1918 (to 9 Jul 1927) in New York City, New York, United States

Wife of Garson Kanin — married 4 Dec 1942 (to 1985) in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Died 28 Aug 1985 at age 88 in Edgartown, Dukes, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Ruth (Jones) Kanin is Notable.

Ruth Gordon Jones, better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American film, stage, and television actress, as well as screenwriter and playwright.

Gordon began her career performing on Broadway at age nineteen, and later gained international visibility and critical acclaim for film roles in her seventies and eighties. Her later work included performances in Rosemary's Baby (1968), Harold and Maude (1971), and the Clint Eastwood films Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and Any Which Way You Can (1980)."^[1]

Born 30 October 1896 at 41 Winthrop Avenue, Quincy, Massachusetts,^[2] she was the only child of Annie Tapley (née Ziegler) and Clinton Jones, a factory foreman who had been a ship's captain. She was baptized an Episcopalian. Her only sibling was an older half-sister Claire, from her father's first marriage.^[1]

"Although her father was skeptical of her chances of success in a difficult profession, he took his daughter to New York in 1914, where he enrolled her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1920."^[1]

On Monday, December 30, 1918, Ruth was married to the actor Gregory Kelly in New York City. "Gregory Kelly Weds. Kelly, who is to be seen in Cleveland shortly in "Seventeen," is now a married man. On Monday, he was wedded to Ruth Gordon, who plays the "baby talk" lady in the Booth Tarkington play. Miss Gordon is a Boston society girl, who has won considerable fame in her three years on the stage. Kelly is well known for his delineation of juvenile characters, and has been associated with Stuart Walker for several years."^[3] Kelly died of heart disease in 1927.

"In 1929, Gordon was starring in the hit play, Serena Blandish, when she became pregnant by the show's producer, Jed Harris. Their son, Jones Harris, was born in Paris that year and Gordon brought him back to New York. Although they never married, Gordon and Harris provided their son with a normal upbringing and his parentage became public knowledge as social conventions changed." ^[1] Their son, Jones Harris, was also a writer and producer, and, in 1971, was married to Heidi Vanderbilt, daughter of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and Jeanne Murray Vanderbilt.^[4] Jones and Heidi later divorced.^[5]

Gordon married her second husband, writer Garson Kanin, who was 16 years her junior, on 3 December 1942 in Washington, D.C..

"Ruth Gordon, actress, weds Garson Kanin, Washington, December 4 (AP)--Ruth Gordon, Broadway actress, was married last night to Garson Kanin, former Hollywood movie director, now an army private. The ceremony was performed at the Willard Hotel by Dist. Judge James W. Morris and was witnessed by members of the cast of the Katharine Cornell play, "The Tree Sisters," in which Miss Gordon is appearing here. Other guests included Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter and Mrs. Frankfurter."^[6]

Gordon and Kanin collaborated on the screenplays for the Katharine Hepburn – Spencer Tracy films Adam's Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952).

Ruth died 28 August 1985 at her summer home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts at the age of 88.^[7][8]

Ruth Gordon Obituary:^[9]

Ruth Gordon, dead at the age of 88, had a remarkable 70-year run as an actress in stage, screen and TV productions.

She started her career as a teen-ager in silent movies and made her first stage appearance in Peter Pan in 1915. Over the years she played scores of roles in Hollywood, on Broadway and in television.

She won an Oscar at age 72 for Rosemary's Baby and had two Emmy nominations. She was also a playwright and even wrote a novel, Shady Lady, at the age of 85.

She was a most versatile actress. Many of her fans remember when she had to kiss an orangutan in a Clint Eastwood movie. She was always full of verve. Advancing age was never a barrier to the zest she put into her performances. We will miss her.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Ruth Gordon on Wikipedia.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch: 14 January 2020), Ruth Gordon Jones, 1896.
3. ↑ Monday, Dec 30, 1918, Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), p. 10.
4. ↑ Thursday October 28, 1971, The New York Times, Miss Vanderbilt Becomes Bride of Jones Harris.
5. ↑ Ward Morehouse, Inside the Plaza: An Intimate Portrait of the Ultimate Hotel, p. 22.
6. ↑ December 4, 1942, Daily Times (Chicago, Illinois), p. 14.
7. ↑ 29 August 1985, The Seattle Times (Pacific, Washington), obituary, RUTH GORDON DIES OF APPARENT STROKE; digital image, GenealogyBank.com, accessed 3 May 2020.
8. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #5971799 for Ruth Gordon.
9. ↑ Columbus Dispatch, obit for ACTRESS RUTH GORDON, digital image, GenealogyBank.com, accessed 3 May 2020.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20200806204148/https://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180401/following-actress-ruth-gordons-footsteps-through-quincy
• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-29-mn-23770-story.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/29/arts/ruth-gordon-the-actress-dies-at-88.html
• https://goldenglobes.com/person/ruth-gordon/
• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002106/
• https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ruth-gordon-8543
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ruth-Gordon
• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #145033293 (accessed 19 May 2024)
  Memorial page for Ruth Gordon (30 Oct 1896-28 Aug 1985), citing Hancock Cemetery, Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Kim Regal (contributor 51774346).