American actress (1908?1976)
Linda Watkins Hess
|
---|
Watkins in 1931
|
Born
| Linda Mathews Watkins
(
1908-05-23
)
May 23, 1908
|
---|
Died
| October 31, 1976
(1976-10-31)
(aged 68)
|
---|
Occupation
| Actress
|
---|
Years active
| 1925–1974
|
---|
Spouse
|
Gabriel Hess
(
m.
1932)
|
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Children
| 1
|
---|
Linda Mathews Watkins
(May 23, 1908 ? October 31, 1976) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actress.
Early years
[
edit
]
Born in
Boston, Massachusetts
, as Linda Mathews Watkins, the daughter of Gardiner and Elizabeth R. (nee Mathews) Watkins.
[1]
Her father was active in real estate in Boston. She was related to physicist
Albert A. Michelson
and painter
Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
.
[2]
Linda married Gabriel Lorie Hess, a prominent motion pictures industry attorney, in January 1932 but maintained her maiden name as her stage name.
She had one son, Adam Hess, and he and his wife Marjorie Hess had three daughters, one of whom, Faye, followed in her grandmother's acting footsteps.
[
citation needed
]
Watkins attended a teachers' college because her parents wanted her to teach. She later went to study at the
Theatre Guild
.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
Stage
[
edit
]
After six months Watkins began to appear with the Theater Guild's summer
repertory
program in
Scarborough, New York
. Three weeks after she finished a course at the Theater Guild's Dramatic School, she had the lead in
The Devil in the Cheese
.
[4]
When producer Charles Hopkins
[5]
asked Watkins if she preferred playing comedy or drama, she replied, "Tragedy". He was casting for a comedy production and Watkins was offered the lead role.
[
citation needed
]
Watkins gained additional acting experience during a season with the Hartman
stock theater
company in Columbus, Ohio, after which
the Shubert Organization
gave her the lead in its Chicago production of
Trapped
.
[3]
Aged 17, she performed in the
Tom Cushing
comedy
The Devil In The Cheese
with
Fredric March
at the Charles Hopkins Theater in
New York City
.
[6]
In 1928, she appeared in the Forest Theater production of
Trapped
by Samuel Shipman. She appeared in a revival of
The Wild Duck
in November 1928, starred in the
George S. Kaufman
/
Ring Lardner
comedy
June Moon
in 1929, and co-starred with
Ralph Morgan
in
Sweet Stranger
in 1930.
[7]
Film
[
edit
]
She debuted in movies in
Sob Sister
(1931), a film in which she plays a female reporter. Reviewer Muriel Babcock remarked that Watkins "is cool, blond, poised, good to look upon. She plays the title role with admirable restraint and gives every evidence of being a comer in films."
[
citation needed
]
Her second movie was
Good Sport
(1931), a screen adaptation of a story by William J. Hurlbut. Produced by the
Fox Film
Company, Watkins played Marilyn Parker, a naive wife caught up in a love triangle. Her co-stars were
Alan Dinehart
and
John Boles
. She appeared in
Charlie Chan's Chance
, a lost 1932 film starring
Warner Oland
as the famous detective.
[
citation needed
]
Edmund Lowe
and Watkins co-starred in
Cheaters at Play
(1932).
Her other film credits included
From Hell It Came
(1957),
Ten North Frederick
(1958),
As Young as We Are
(1958),
Cash McCall
(1960),
Because They're Young
(1960),
The Parent Trap
(1961),
Good Neighbor Sam
(1964),
Huckleberry Finn
(1974) and
Bad Ronald
(1974).
[
citation needed
]
Television
[
edit
]
Watkins appeared in numerous television broadcasts beginning in 1950 with an episode of
The Billy Rose Show
. Other television shows appearances include
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
,
The Asphalt Jungle
,
Bonanza
,
The David Niven Show
,
Death Valley Days
,
The Doris Day Show
,
Gunsmoke
(S7E3 - as Mattie in the episode “Miss Kitty” & S8E10 - as Mrs. Dorf in the episode “The Hunger”),
Hazel
,
How to Marry a Millionaire
,
Ichabod and Me
,
The Investigators
,
M Squad
,
McMillan & Wife
,
The Munsters
,
Perry Mason
,
Peter Gunn
, and
Wagon Train
.
[
citation needed
]
One of her last television roles as a guest star was as Maggie MacKenzie in
The Waltons
in the episode "The Journey" (1973).
[8]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Marriage
[
edit
]
Watkins married lawyer Gabriel Lorie Hess, a widower, at the
Blackstone Hotel
in
Chicago
on January 28, 1932.
[9]
Death
[
edit
]
Watkins died in
Los Angeles
in 1976, aged 68, from undisclosed causes.
[10]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1950
|
The Billy Rose Show
|
|
Season 1 Episode 4: "Tattle Tale Red"
|
1957
|
Wagon Train
|
Lottie Tarback
|
Season 1 Episode 5: "The Les Rand Story"
|
1957
|
M Squad
|
Mrs. Gardner
|
Season 1 Episode 11: "The Alibi Witness"
|
1957
|
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
|
Customer in Bar
|
Season 3 Episode 2: "Mail Order Prophet"
|
1958
|
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
|
Lila Shank
|
Season 3 Episode 20: "On the Nose"
|
1958
|
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
|
Ellie Franklin
|
Season 2 Episode 35: "Bowie's Baby"
|
1958
|
How to Marry a Millionaire
|
Nellie
|
Season 1 Episode 20: "The Maid"
|
1959
|
Perry Mason
|
Grace Runyan
|
Season 2 Episode 28: "The Case of the Spanish Cross"
|
1959
|
The David Niven Show
|
Floss
|
Season 1 Episode 6: "A Day of Small Miracles"
|
1959-60
|
Death Valley Days
|
Hannah
Phoebe Stoner
Kate
|
Season 2 Episode 7: "One in a Hundred" as Hannah
Season 8 Episode 5: "Fair Exchange" as Phoebe Stoner
Season 8 Episode 26: "The Man Everyone Hated" as Kate
|
1959-61
|
Peter Gunn
|
Louise Sinclair
Laura Mitchell
|
Season 1 Episode 23: "Dirty Word" as Louise Sinclair
Season 3 Episode 33: "A Bullet for the Boy" as Laura Mitchell
|
1959–1973
|
Gunsmoke
|
Kate
Elsie
Mattie
Mrs. Dorf
Ma
Abby Shadler
|
Season 4 Episode 23: "Sky" (1959) as Kate
Season 6 Episode 15: "Old Fool" (1960) as Elsie
Season 7 Episode 3 (1961): "Miss Kitty" as Mattie
Season 8 Episode 10: "The Hunger" (1962) as Mrs. Dorf
Season 10 Episode 6: "Take Her, She's Cheap" (1964) as Ma
Season 18 Episode 17: "Shadler" (1973) as Abby Shadler
|
1961
|
The Asphalt Jungle
|
Mrs. Ainslee
|
Season 1 Episode 1: "The Burglary Ring"
|
1961
|
Ichabod and Me
|
Miss Prouty
|
Season 1 Episode 10: "Ichabod's Romance"
|
1961
|
The Investigators
|
Madelaine Fowler
|
Season 1 Episode 12: "Something for Charity"
|
1963–1964
|
Hazel
|
Grace
Gracie
|
Season 3 Episode 2: "An Example for Hazel" as Grace
Season 3 Episode 18: "Scheherazade and Her Frying Pan: Part 1" as Gracie
Season 3 Episode 19: "Scheherazade and Her Frying Pan: Part 2" as Gracie
|
1964
|
The Munsters
|
Lydia Gardner
|
Season 1 Episode 10: "Autumn Croakus"
|
1968
|
The Doris Day Show
|
Maggie Wells
|
Season 1 Episode 11: "The Job"
|
1971–1972
|
McMillan & Wife
|
Emily Hull
|
reoccurring role as mother of Sally McMillan (
Susan St. James
) in 3 episodes
Season 1 Episode 0: "Once Upon a Dead Man"
Season 1 Episode 2: "The Easy Sunday Murder Case"
Season 1 Episode 6: "Till Death Do Us Part"
|
1973
|
The Waltons
|
Maggie MacKenzie
|
Season 2 Episode 1: "The Journey"
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Watkins' parents' names from Massachusetts Vital Records, 1908 births, vol. 577, pg. 101.
- ^
Peak, Mayme Ober (August 20, 1931).
"Selection of 'Baby Stars' Causes Row in Filmdom"
.
The Boston Globe
. Massachusetts, Boston. p. 26
. Retrieved
July 12,
2018
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Linda Watkins Says She Owes Ohio Debt"
.
The Akron Beacon Journal
. Ohio, Akron. October 2, 1931. p. 18
. Retrieved
July 12,
2018
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Sidelights of the Stage and Screen"
.
The Billings Gazette
. Montana, Billings. February 27, 1927. p. 21
. Retrieved
July 12,
2018
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
Charles Hopkins
at the
Internet Broadway Database
- ^
Devil in the Cheese
at the
Internet Broadway Database
- ^
"Linda Watkins"
.
Internet Broadway Database
. The Broadway League. Archived from
the original
on July 13, 2018
. Retrieved
July 13,
2018
.
- ^
TV Guide: Volume 37
. Triangle Publications. 1989
. Retrieved
August 21,
2022
.
- ^
"HOLLYWOOD HEYDAY: January 29, 1932"
. hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com. October 2008
. Retrieved
October 10,
2008
.
- ^
"California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPHT-DLH
: 26 November 2014), Linda M Hess, 31 Oct 1976; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Fresno Bee
, "Linda Watkins Hinted To Be A Bride", January 27, 1932, pg. 5.
- Los Angeles Times
, "Baby Stars Vote Splits Up WAMPAS", August 15, 1931, pg. A1.
- Los Angeles Times
, "New Move Marks War On Wampas", August 24, 1931, pg. A1.
- Los Angeles Times
, "Studios Place Stars Together", August 29, 1931, pg. 11.
- Los Angeles Times
, "Sob Sister Proffered At Loews", October 23, 1931, pg. A11.
- New York Times
, "A New Ingenue", January 9, 1927, pg. X4.
- New York Times
, "Trapped To Open Aug. 7", July 25, 1928, pg. 13.
- New York Times
, "In Sweet Stranger Cast", August 28, 1930, pg. 27.
- New York Times
, "The Screen", December 12, 1931, pg. 23.
- New York Times
, "Linda Watkins Weds G.L. Hess In Chicago", January 29, 1932, pg. 12.
- Zanesville Register
, "Along Broadway", Monday, May 4, 1959, pg. 5.
External links
[
edit
]