American actress (1922?1999)
Ruth Roman
|
---|
Roman in 1951
|
Born
| (
1922-12-22
)
December 22, 1922
|
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Died
| September 9, 1999
(1999-09-09)
(aged 76)
|
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Occupation
| Actress
|
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Years active
| 1943?1989
|
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Spouse(s)
|
Jack Flaxman
(
m.
1939;
div.
1941)
[2]
Mortimer Hall
(
m.
1950;
div.
1956)
Bud Burton Moss
(
m.
1956;
div.
1960)
William Ross Wilson
(
m.
1976)
|
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Children
| 1
|
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Relatives
| Dorothy Schiff
(mother-in-law)
|
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Awards
| 1959
Sarah Siddons Award
|
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Ruth Roman
(born
Norma Roman
; December 22, 1922 – September 9, 1999)
[3]
was an American actress of film, stage, and television.
After playing stage roles on the East Coast, Roman moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in films. She appeared in several uncredited bit parts before she was cast as the leading lady in the western
Harmony Trail
(1944) and in the title role in the
serial film
Jungle Queen
(1945), her first credited film performances.
Roman first starred in the title role of
Belle Starr's Daughter
(1948). She achieved her first notable success with a role in
The Window
(1949) and a year later was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year ? Actress
for her performance in
Champion
(1949).
[4]
In the early 1950s, she was under contract to
Warner Bros.
, where she starred in a variety of films, including the
Alfred Hitchcock
thriller
Strangers on a Train
(1951).
In the mid-1950s, after leaving Warner Bros., Roman continued to star in films and also began playing guest roles for television series. She also worked abroad and made films in England, Italy, and Spain. She was also a passenger aboard the
SS
Andrea Doria
when it collided with another ship and sank in 1956. In 1959, she won the
Sarah Siddons Award
for her work in the play
Two for the Seesaw
. Her numerous television appearances earned her a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
[5]
Early life and stage experience
[
edit
]
Norma Roman was born in
Lynn, Massachusetts
, to Lithuanian Jewish parents, Mary Pauline (nee Gold) and Abraham "Anthony" Roman.
[1]
[6]
She was renamed "Ruth" when a fortune teller told her mother that "Norma" was an unlucky name. Her mother was a dancer, and her father a
barker
in a carnival sideshow that they owned at
Revere Beach
,
Massachusetts
. She had two older sisters, Ann and Eve.
[1]
Her father died when Ruth was eight, and her mother sold the sideshow. Later, she attended the William Blackstone School and
Girls' High School
in Boston.
[7]
She then pursued her desire to become an actress by enrolling in the prestigious Bishop Lee Dramatic School in Boston. After further enhancing her skills performing with the New England Repertory Company and the Elizabeth Peabody Players,
[8]
Roman moved to
New York City
, where she hoped to find success on
Broadway
. Instead, she worked as a cigarette girl, a hat check girl, and a model to make a living and save money.
[7]
Career
[
edit
]
Roman moved to Hollywood, where she obtained bit parts in several films such as
Stage Door Canteen
(1943),
Ladies Courageous
(1944),
Since You Went Away
(1944),
Song of Nevada
(1944), and
Storm Over Lisbon
(1944). She had a featured role in
Harmony Trail
(1944), but continued to be mostly unbilled in films such as
She Gets Her Man
(1945).
Roman was cast in the title role in the 13-episode serial
Jungle Queen
(1945).
[9]
Her roles, though, remained small in such films as
See My Lawyer
(1945),
The Affairs of Susan
(1945),
You Came Along
(1945),
Incendiary Blonde
(1945),
Gilda
(1946),
Without Reservations
(1946),
A Night in Casablanca
(1946), and
The Big Clock
(1948). While waiting for an opportunity in movies, Roman wrote short stories based on her experiences living in a theatrical boarding house. She sold two of them:
The House of the Seven Garbos
and
The Whip Song.
[7]
Roman's career began to improve in the late 1940s when she was cast in a featured role in the 1948 release
Good Sam
. The next year, she was chosen for the title role in
Belle Starr's Daughter
, as a killer in the thriller
The Window
, and as the wife of the central character in
Champion
, starring
Kirk Douglas
.
Warner Bros.
[
edit
]
In recognition of Roman's rising status as an actress,
Warner Bros.
signed her to a long-term contract in 1949, casting her first as a supporting player for
Bette Davis
in
Beyond the Forest
and then for
Milton Berle
and
Virginia Mayo
in
Always Leave Them Laughing
. The studio in 1950 cast her as the female lead in
Barricade
with
Dane Clark
and
Colt .45
with
Randolph Scott
.
Warners gave her a starring role in
Three Secrets
(1950) with
Eleanor Parker
and
Patricia Neal
. She played a distraught mother waiting to learn whether or not her child survived an airplane crash. This was followed by
Dallas
(1950), where she was
Gary Cooper
's leading lady. The May 1, 1950, issue of
Life
magazine featured Roman in a cover story "The Rapid Rise of Ruth Roman".
[10]
Roman got top billing in
Lightning Strikes Twice
(1951), directed by
King Vidor
with
Richard Todd
. She was
Farley Granger
's love interest in
Strangers on a Train
(1951), directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
. Roman was top-billed as well in the 1951 thriller
Tomorrow Is Another Day
, co-starring
Steve Cochran
. That year, she was also one of many Warners stars in
Starlift
, the studio's musical tribute to United States military personnel fighting in the Korean War.
She was loaned to MGM for
Invitation
(1952), then co-starred with
Errol Flynn
in
Mara Maru
(1952). She went back to MGM to play
Glenn Ford
's love interest in
Young Man with Ideas
(1952) and was reunited with Cooper in
Blowing Wild
(1953), only this time she was billed beneath
Barbara Stanwyck
.
Post-Warners
[
edit
]
Roman went to Universal to play
Van Heflin
's love interest in
Tanganyika
(1954). At Universal she was a love interest to
James Stewart
in the
Anthony Mann
-directed western
The Far Country
(1955) and at Republic was top billed in
The Shanghai Story
(1954) with
Edmond O'Brien
.
Roman did
Down Three Dark Streets
(1954) with
Broderick Crawford
, and started appearing on TV in shows like
Lux Video Theatre
,
The Red Skelton Hour
,
Producers' Showcase
,
Climax!
,
General Electric Theatre
,
Celebrity Playhouse
,
The Ford Television Theatre
and
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
.
Roman had a good part in England in
Joe MacBeth
(1955) playing Lady MacBeth, and she was with
Van Johnson
in
The Bottom of the Bottle
(1956) and Mayo in
Great Day in the Morning
(1956).
Roman appeared in the western
Rebel in Town
(1956) and was top-billed in
5 Steps to Danger
(1957). She was in
Bitter Victory
(1957) and went to Italy to star in
Desert Desperados
(1959).
Continuing work in theatre
[
edit
]
In 1959, Roman won the
Sarah Siddons Award
for her work in
Chicago theatre
. She was selected from among 47 nominees based on her performance in
Two for the Seesaw
.
[11]
Back in Hollywood, she played
Paul Anka
's mother in
Look in Any Window
(1961).
Television
[
edit
]
Roman worked regularly in films well up to the late 1950s. Then she began making appearances on television shows. These included recurring roles in NBC's 1965?1966
The Long, Hot Summer
, and toward the end of her career, recurring roles in the 1986 season of
Knots Landing
and several episodes of
Murder, She Wrote
, both on CBS.
[
citation needed
]
She guest-starred in NBC's
Bonanza
and
Sam Benedict
, ABC's
The Bing Crosby Show
sitcom
and its
circus
drama
The Greatest Show on Earth
starring
Jack Palance
, as well as
Burke's Law
starring
Gene Barry
and
I Spy
featuring
Robert Culp
and
Bill Cosby
. She also appeared as a fiery redhead in an episode of
Gunsmoke
.(Gunsmoke, 1971 "Waste-Part 1" S17,Ep03.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0594577/fullcredits
)
She appeared in the early 1960s in the medical dramas
The Eleventh Hour
and
[
clarification needed
]
Breaking Point
. She starred in a season 3 episode of
Mission: Impossible
(1968) titled "The Elixir" as Riva Santel as well as a Season 2 episode of
Naked City
. Many other series featured guest appearances by Roman, including
Route 66
,
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
,
Mannix
,
Cannon (TV series)
,
Marcus Welby, M.D.
,
The Mod Squad
,
The FBI
,
Tarzan
, and
The Outer Limits - episode Moonstone - 1964
In 1971 Roman appeared as Marjorie Worth on "The Men from Shiloh" (rebranded name for the TV western
The Virginian
) in the episode titled "The Angus Killer."
In 1960, Roman was honoured with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6672 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to television.
[12]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Roman was married four times. She had one son, Richard Roman Hall on November 12, 1952,
[13]
[14]
[15]
with husband Mortimer Hall, son of publisher
Dorothy Schiff
.
[16]
She married Hall on December 17, 1950. In 1956, she sued him for divorce,
[17]
and the divorce decree became final on April 15, 1957.
[18]
Roman was a
Democrat
who supported
Adlai Stevenson
's campaign during the
1952 presidential election
.
[19]
SS Andrea Doria
sinking
[
edit
]
In July 1956, Roman was just finishing a trip to Europe with her three-year-old son Richard. At the port of Cannes they boarded the Italian passenger liner
SS
Andrea Doria
as first-class passengers for their return passage to the United States. On the night of July 25, the vessel collided with the Swedish passenger liner
MS
Stockholm
.
Roman was in the Belvedere Lounge when the collision happened and immediately took off her high heels and scrambled back to her cabin barefoot to retrieve her sleeping son. Several hours later, they were both evacuated with the other passengers from the sinking liner. Richard was lowered first into a waiting lifeboat, but before she could follow, the lifeboat departed. Ruth stepped into the next boat and was eventually rescued along with 750 other survivors from the
Andrea Doria
by the French passenger liner
SS
Ile de France
. Richard was rescued by the
Stockholm
and was reunited with his mother in New York.
[20]
Death
[
edit
]
Roman died at the age of 76 in her sleep of natural causes at her beachfront villa on Crescent Bay in
Laguna Beach
,
California
, on September 9, 1999.
[3]
Partial filmography
[
edit
]
Radio appearances
[
edit
]
Awards and nomination
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Ruth Roman"
.
Motion Picture
. 81?82: 37. 1951
. Retrieved
April 25,
2020
.
- ^
Vallance, Tom (14 September 1999).
"Obituary: Ruth Roman"
.
The Independent
. London
. Retrieved
22 February
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Obituaries: Ruth Roman; Former Warner Bros. Actress"
.
Los Angeles Times
. September 11, 1999
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
.
- ^
"Ruth Roman"
.
Golden Globe Awards
. Retrieved
August 5,
2019
.
- ^
"Ruth Roman - Hollywood Star Walk"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
August 5,
2019
.
- ^
Bergan, Ronald (September 16, 1999).
"Ruth Roman: Hollywood actress who displayed a degree of vulnerability under a worldly exterior"
.
The Guardian
. London.
- ^
a
b
c
Stevenson, L.L. (August 18, 1950).
"Lights of New York"
.
The Decatur Daily Review
. p. 6
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Bernstein, Albert (February 12, 1956).
"Cinema-Scoop"
.
The Progress-Index
. Petersburg, VA. p. 21
. Retrieved
June 4,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Ruth Roman"
.
Glamour Girls
. Retrieved
March 29,
2015
.
- ^
"The Rapid Rise of Ruth Roman"
.
Life
. May 1, 1950. pp. 51?52, 55?56
. Retrieved
November 30,
2016
.
- ^
"Ruth Roman Receives Sarah Siddon Award"
.
Chicago Tribune
. July 9, 1959
. Retrieved
5 June
2015
.
- ^
"Ruth Roman"
.
Walk of Fame
. Retrieved
November 22,
2015
.
- ^
Ruth Roman: A Career Portrait By Derek Sculthorpe, page 72
- ^
"[Ruth Roman and her son, Richard Roman Hall, shown after their reunion following the sinking of the Andrea Doria] / World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick de Marsico"
.
Library of Congress
.
- ^
"Son Born To Ruth Roman"
.
Logansport Pharos-Tribune
.
United Press
. November 13, 1952. p. 1
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Names in the News"
.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner
. June 14, 1962. p. 1
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Ruth Roman Sues"
.
Chester Times
.
Associated Press
. February 24, 1956. p. 1
. Retrieved
June 5,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Gets Divorce Decree"
.
The News-Herald
. Franklin, Penn. United Press. April 16, 1957. p. 1
. Retrieved
June 6,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Motion Picture and Television Magazine
, November 1952, page 33.
- ^
Honan, William H.
(September 11, 1999).
"Ruth Roman, 75, Glamorous and Wholesome Star, Dies"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Kirby, Walter (February 10, 1952).
"Better Radio Programs for the Week"
.
The Decatur Daily Review
. p. 38
. Retrieved
June 2,
2015
– via Newspapers.com.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Sculthorpe, Derek (2022)
Ruth Roman A Career Portrait
. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc.
ISBN
978-1-4766-8824-4
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Ruth Roman
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