Phyllis Thaxter
Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Martha Kent in Superman (1978). She also appeared in Bewitched (1945), Blood on the Moon (1948), and The World of Henry Orient (1964).
Phyllis Thaxter | |
|---|---|
 Thaxter in 1955 | |
| Born | Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter November 20, 1919[1][2] Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | August 14, 2012 (aged 92) Longwood, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1940–1992 |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 2 |
Early life
Thaxter was born in Portland, Maine, one of three children of Phyllis (née Schuyler) Thaxter, a former actress, and Sidney St. Felix Thaxter, who later served as a Justice of the Maine Supreme Court.[2]
Phyllis Thaxter's siblings were Sidney Thaxter and Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter Niss Gignoux.
Her grandfather was Major Sidney W. Thaxter, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the American Civil War.
Career
Before appearing in movies, Thaxter was on the stage. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Thaxter replaced her in the Broadway play Claudia.[3] In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the 1944 wartime film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.[2] In the 1945 film-noir Bewitched, Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman suffering from split personality. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter in Blood on the Moon.
At MGM, she routinely portrayed the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men. She moved to Warner Brothers in the 1950s, but usually played the same type of roles. Her career stalled after an attack of polio in 1952. She made a comeback in television series such as Rawhide, portraying Pauline Cushman in the episode "The Blue Spy" (1961), Wagon Train ("The Christine Elliott Story" and "The Vivian Carter Story "), The Twilight Zone ("Young Man's Fancy"), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
She returned to Broadway, appearing in Take Her, She's Mine at the Biltmore in 1961.[4]
In 1978, Thaxter was cast with Glenn Ford as Jonathan and Martha Kent in the blockbuster film Superman. The film was produced by her daughter Skye Aubrey's husband Ilya Salkind and father-in-law Alexander Salkind.
Personal life
Patricia Bosworth, in her biography of Montgomery Clift, tells of Thaxter's close relationship with Clift in the early 1940s, writing that they "seemed so close that a great many people assumed they would eventually marry".[3]
While at MGM, Thaxter married James T. Aubrey Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. They divorced in 1962. They had two children: Susan Schuyler "Skye" Aubrey, an actress, and James Watson Aubrey. In 1962, Thaxter married Gilbert Lea. They were married for 46 years until his death on May 4, 2008.[5]
A Republican, she supported the campaign of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.[6]
Death
Thaxter died on August 14, 2012 aged 92, in Longwood, Florida after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.[2][7]
In keeping with her wishes, she was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea. Her name was added to her husband's tombstone (as a cenotaph) at Saint Mary the Virgin Cemetery in Falmouth, Maine, where she had lived for many years.[8]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | Ellen Lawson |
| 1945 | Bewitched | Joan Alris Ellis |
| Week-End at the Waldorf | Cynthia Drew | |
| 1947 | The Sea of Grass | Sara Beth Brewton |
| Living in a Big Way | Peggy Randall | |
| 1948 | Tenth Avenue Angel | Helen Mills |
| The Sign of the Ram | Sherida Binyon | |
| Blood on the Moon | Carol Lufton | |
| Act of Violence | Ann | |
| 1950 | No Man of Her Own | Patrice Harkness |
| The Breaking Point | Lucy Morgan | |
| 1951 | Fort Worth | Flora Talbot |
| Jim Thorpe – All-American | Margaret Miller | |
| Come Fill the Cup | Paula Copeland | |
| 1952 | She's Working Her Way Through College | Helen Palmer |
| Springfield Rifle | Erin Kearney | |
| Operation Secret | Maria Corbet | |
| 1955 | Women's Prison | Helene Jensen |
| 1957 | Man Afraid | Lisa Collins |
| 1964 | The World of Henry Orient | Mrs. Avis Gilbert |
| 1978 | Superman | Ma Kent |
Selected television appearances
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-1956 | Lux Video Theatre | various characters | 6 episodes |
| 1954 | The Motorola Television Hour | Gladys Mitchell | Episode: "Atomic Attack" |
| 1955 | Stage 7 | Muriel Blandings | Episode: "The Hayfield" |
| 1956-1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | various characters | 6 episodes |
| 1957 | Studio One | Laura Morgan | Episode: "The Dark Corner" |
| 1958 | The Frank Sinatra Show | Jean Armstrong | Episode: "The Seedling Doubt" |
| 1959-1960 | Wagon Train | Christine Elliot/Vivian Carter | |
| 1961 | Rawhide | Pauline Cushman | Episode: "The Blue Spy" |
| 1962 | The Twilight Zone | Virginia Lane Walker | Episode: "Young Man's Fancy" |
| 1963-1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | various characters | 3 episodes |
| 1964 | The Fugitive | Enid Langer | Episode: "Detour on a Road Going Nowhere" |
| 1967 | Coronet Blue | Eleanor Barclay | Episode: "Faces" |
| 1968 | The Invaders | Sarah Concannon | Episode: "The Peacemaker" |
| 1969 | Bonanza | Ruth Manning | Episode: "The Clarion" |
| 1970 | Medical Center | Celia Jennings | Episode: "Junkie" |
| 1971 | Incident in San Francisco | Lois Harmon | TV movie |
| 1972 | The Longest Night | Norma Chambers | TV movie |
| 1974 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Kate Tannahill | Episode: "A Full Life" |
| 1975 | Barnaby Jones | Aunt Meg Catlin | Episode: "Murder Once Removed" |
| 1976 | Once an Eagle | Alma Caldwell | |
| 1985 | American Playhouse | Rebecca Nurse | 3 episodes |
| 1992 | Murder, She Wrote | Emily Weymouth | Episode: "Family Secrets" |
Radio appearances
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Stars in the Air | Christmas in Connecticut[9] |
| 1953 | Lux Radio Theatre | Close to My Heart[10] |
| 1953 | Lux Radio Theatre | The Bishop's Wife[11] |
| 1955 | Lux Radio Theatre | The Bishop's Wife[12] |
References
- "Phyllis Thaxter - 1930 United States Federal Census". Ancestry.com.
- Grady, Denise (August 18, 2012). "Phyllis Thaxter, Actress Who Played Superman's Mother, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
- Patricia Bosworth (2004). Montgomery Clift: A Biography. Limelight Editions. p. 80. ISBN 978-0879101350.
- Ken Bloom (2004). Broadway: Its History, People, and Places: an Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-415-93704-7.
- "Obituary: Gilbert Lea". Town Topics. Princeton, New Jersey. May 21, 2008. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
- Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers
- Barnes, Mike (August 15, 2012). "Actress Phyllis Thaxter, Superman's Mom, Dies at 92". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
- Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3d ed.). McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7 – via Google Books.
- Kirby, Walter (March 16, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 44. Retrieved 2015-05-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- Kirby, Walter (March 1, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved 2015-06-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- Kirby, Walter (May 10, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved 2015-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 42 (3): 32. Summer 2016.
External links
