Jessie Ralph
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 4, 1864
- Died
- May 30, 1944
- Birthplace
- Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jessie Ralph (born Jessie Ralph Chambers, November 5, 1864 – May 30, 1944) was an American stage and screen actress, best known for her matronly roles in many classic motion pictures. She was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1864. She made her acting debut in 1880, at the age of sixteen. She made it to Broadway, where George M. Cohan cast her in many of his musicals, but she also excelled at dramatic roles. Although she made her Hollywood debut in 1916, in a motion picture career that would eventually span 25 years, she only became a permanent Hollywood actress in 1933. She was nearly 70 at this time, so her roles were limited to matronly roles, but her expertise at stealing scenes captured the imagination of cinema-goers of the time. Her best-known roles are as Greta Garbo's maid in Camille, as W.C. Fields' battle-axe of a mother-in-law in The Bank Dick, as Myrna Loy's supercilious aunt Katherine in After the Thin Man, and as Nurse Peggotty in David Copperfield. She starred in 55 movies altogether, 52 between 1933 and 1941. Jessie Ralph retired from Hollywood in 1941, after her leg was amputated. She died four years later in her home town of Gloucester at the age of 79. She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Filmography
They Met in Bombay 1941
as Duchess of Beltravers
The Lady from Cheyenne 1941
as Mrs. McGuinness
The Bank Dick 1940
as Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch
I Want a Divorce 1940
as Grandma Brokaw
The Girl from Avenue A 1940
as Mrs. Van Dyne
I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby 1940
as Mama McGann
Star Dust 1940
as Aunt Martha Parker
The Blue Bird 1940
as Fairy Berylune
Drums Along the Mohawk 1939
as Mrs. Weaver
Mickey the Kid 1939
as Veronica Hudson
The Kid From Texas 1939
as Aunt Minetta
Cafe Society 1939
as Mrs. De Witt
St. Louis Blues 1939
as Aunt Tibbie
Four Girls in White 1939
as Miss Tobias
Port of Seven Seas 1938
as Honorine
Hold That Kiss 1938
as Aunt Lucy
Love Is a Headache 1938
as Sheriff Janet Winfield
Double Wedding 1937
as Mrs. Kensington-Bly
The Romance of Celluloid 1937
as Self
The Good Earth 1937
as Cuckoo
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney 1937
as The Duchess of Ebley
Camille 1936
as Nanine
After the Thin Man 1936
as Katherine Forrest
Walking on Air 1936
as Evelyn Bennett
San Francisco 1936
as Mrs. Maisie Burley
Bunker Bean 1936
as Grandmother
The Unguarded Hour 1936
as Lady Agatha Hathaway
Yellow Dust 1936
as Mrs. Brian
Little Lord Fauntleroy 1936
as Applewoman
The Garden Murder Case 1936
as Mrs. Hammle
Captain Blood 1935
as Mrs. Barlow
I Found Stella Parish 1935
as Nana
Metropolitan 1935
as Charwoman
I Live My Life 1935
as Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's Grandmother
Jalna 1935
as Gran Whiteoaks
Paris in Spring 1935
as Countess de Charelle
Mark of the Vampire 1935
as Midwife
Les Misérables 1935
as Madame Magloire
Vanessa: Her Love Story 1935
as Lady Mullion
Enchanted April 1935
as Mrs. Phoebe Fisher
David Copperfield 1935
as Clara Peggotty
Evelyn Prentice 1934
as Mrs. Blake
We Live Again 1934
as Matrona Pavlovna
The Affairs of Cellini 1934
as Beatrice
One Night of Love 1934
as Angelina
Murder at the Vanities 1934
as Mrs. Helene Smith
Coming Out Party 1934
as Nora
Nana 1934
as Zoe
Cocktail Hour 1933
as Princess
Ann Carver's Profession 1933
as Terry
Elmer, the Great 1933
as Sarah Crosby (uncredited)
Child of Manhattan 1933
as Aunt Minnie
Such a Little Queen 1921
as Mary
The Madonna of the Slums 1919
Actor
Credits from TMDB.