Jessie Ralph

Known For

Acting

Born

Nov 04, 1864

Died

May 30, 1944

Place of Birth

Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA

Credits

55 titles

Jessie Ralph

Biography

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.

Known For

Filmography

1955

MGM Parade

self

Tv
1941

They Met in Bombay

Duchess of Beltravers

Movie
1941

The Lady from Cheyenne

Mrs. McGuinness

Movie
1940

The Bank Dick

Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch

Movie
1940

I Want a Divorce

Grandma Brokaw

Movie
1940

The Girl from Avenue A

Mrs. Van Dyne

Movie
1940

I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby

Mama McGann

Movie
1940

Star Dust

Aunt Martha Parker

Movie
1940

The Blue Bird

Fairy Berylune

Movie
1939

Drums Along the Mohawk

Mrs. Weaver

Movie
1939

Mickey the Kid

Veronica Hudson

Movie
1939

The Kid From Texas

Aunt Minetta

Movie
1939

Cafe Society

Mrs. De Witt

Movie
1939

St. Louis Blues

Aunt Tibbie

Movie
1939

Four Girls in White

Miss Tobias

Movie
1938

Port of Seven Seas

Honorine

Movie
1938

Hold That Kiss

Aunt Lucy

Movie
1938

Love Is a Headache

Sheriff Janet Winfield

Movie
1937

Double Wedding

Mrs. Kensington-Bly

Movie
1937

The Romance of Celluloid

Self

Movie
1937

The Good Earth

Cuckoo

Movie
1937

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

The Duchess of Ebley

Movie
1936

Camille

Nanine

Movie
1936

After the Thin Man

Katherine Forrest

Movie
1936

Walking on Air

Evelyn Bennett

Movie
1936

San Francisco

Mrs. Maisie Burley

Movie
1936

Bunker Bean

Grandmother

Movie
1936

The Unguarded Hour

Lady Agatha Hathaway

Movie
1936

Yellow Dust

Mrs. Brian

Movie
1936

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Applewoman

Movie
1936

The Garden Murder Case

Mrs. Hammle

Movie
1935

Captain Blood

Mrs. Barlow

Movie
1935

I Found Stella Parish

Nana

Movie
1935

Metropolitan

Charwoman

Movie
1935

I Live My Life

Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's Grandmother

Movie
1935

Jalna

Gran Whiteoaks

Movie
1935

Paris in Spring

Countess de Charelle

Movie
1935

Mark of the Vampire

Midwife

Movie
1935

Les Misérables

Madame Magloire

Movie
1935

Vanessa: Her Love Story

Lady Mullion

Movie
1935

Enchanted April

Mrs. Phoebe Fisher

Movie
1935

David Copperfield

Clara Peggotty

Movie
1934

Evelyn Prentice

Mrs. Blake

Movie
1934

We Live Again

Matrona Pavlovna

Movie
1934

The Affairs of Cellini

Beatrice

Movie
1934

One Night of Love

Angelina

Movie
1934

Murder at the Vanities

Mrs. Helene Smith

Movie
1934

Coming Out Party

Nora

Movie
1934

Nana

Zoe

Movie
1933

Cocktail Hour

Princess

Movie