Ruth Nelson (actress)

Ruth Nelson (August 2, 1905 – September 12, 1992) was an American film actress. She is known for her roles in such films as Wilson, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 3 Women, and Awakenings. She was the wife of the late John Cromwell, who she acted alongside on multiple occasions.

Early life

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Nelson was the daughter of vaudeville actress Eva Mudge. She attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles and went on to study at the American Laboratory Theatre in New York City during the early 1920s.^[1] Nelson made her New York City stage debut as a member of the theatre collective Group Theatre throughout its run from 1931 to 1941, receiving praise for the role of the chief striker's wife in Clifford Odets' play Waiting for Lefty.^[2]

Career

After Group Theatre ended in 1941, Nelson relocated to Hollywood. Throughout the 1940s, she made a number of movies for 20th Century Fox and other Hollywood studios. Of these films was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), directed by fellow Group Theatre member Elia Kazan. As her career began to take off, she was compelled to put things on hold when her husband John Cromwell was accused of Communism in the 1950s and his career went on to be blacklisted. While offered a New York stage role as a wife in what turned out to be Death of a Salesman, Nelson turned down most acting offers at this time to stay in Los Angeles and support Cromwell.^[3]

Personal life

Nelson was married twice. Nelson married actor William Challee in 1931. The marriage later dissolved and Nelson married actor/director John Cromwell in 1946. The marriage lasted 33 years, when Cromwell died in 1979 of pulmonary embolism.^[4]

She died on September 12, 1992 at her home in New York City from cancer complicated by a stroke and pneumonia.^[3]

Filmography

References

External links

• Ruth Nelson at the Internet Movie Database