Ruth Gordon

Biography: After some youthful experience as a bit player in films, Gordon acted on Broadway by the mid teens and enjoyed a stage career that lasted over forty years. In the early '40s she appeared in a series of memorable films: the biopics Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet; Greta Garbo's last film, Two-Faced Woman, directed by George Cukor; and the World War Two dramas Edge of Darkness and Action in the North Atlantic. In the late '40s and early '50s Gordon collaborated with her husband Garson Kanin on a series of literate screenplays directed by Cukor: A Double Life, Adam's Rib, The Marrying Kind, Pat and Mike, The Actress. She returned to film acting in the '60s, receiving an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Roman Polanski's horror film Rosemary's Baby. Gordon became a bigger star than ever, and had her wildest screen roles in two landmark black comedies: Carl Reiner's Where's Poppa?, playing George Segal's possessive senile mother, and Hal Ashby'sAfter some youthful experience as a bit player in films, Gordon acted on Broadway by the mid teens and enjoyed a stage career that lasted over forty years. In the early '40s she appeared in a series of memorable films: the biopics Abe Lincoln in Illinois and Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet; Greta Garbo's last film, Two-Faced Woman, directed by George Cukor; and the World War Two dramas Edge of Darkness and Action in the North Atlantic. In the late '40s and early '50s Gordon collaborated with her husband Garson Kanin on a series of literate screenplays directed by Cukor: A Double Life, Adam's Rib, The Marrying Kind, Pat and Mike, The Actress. She returned to film acting in the '60s, receiving an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Roman Polanski's horror film Rosemary's Baby. Gordon became a bigger star than ever, and had her wildest screen roles in two landmark black comedies: Carl Reiner's Where's Poppa?, playing George Segal's possessive senile mother, and Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude, starring as the lover of 20-year-old Bud Cort. Her other notable late films include the thriller Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice?, the Clint Eastwood comedies Every Which Way but Loose and Any Which Way You Can, and Tony Bill's My Bodyguard.… Expand