| Alma Kruger | |
| Birth Date: | 13 September 1871 |
| Birth Place: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1907–1947 |
Alma Kruger (September 13, 1871[1] - April 5, 1960) was an American actress.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1871 (or 1868 according to other sources), Kruger had a long career on stage before appearing in films. From 1907 to 1935, she featured in theatre plays on Broadway, mostly in Shakespearean plays such as Hamlet (as Gertrude), Twelfth Night (as Olivia), Taming of the Shrew (Widow), and The Merchant of Venice (Nerissa).
Kruger was brought to Hollywood by Samuel Goldwyn.[2] She appeared in her first film These Three (1936) while in her 60s. She then proceeded to act in over 40 films in the space of little more than a decade. Among her notable roles was Nurse Molly Byrd, the superintendent of nurses in the popular Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie film series, appearing in all but the first two of the 16 movies.
She portrayed Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in Marie Antoinette (1938)[3] and the almost mother-in-law of Rosalind Russell's lead character in His Girl Friday (1940), after already playing an in-law to Russell's character four years earlier in Craig's Wife. In 1942, she appeared as the subversive society matron Henrietta Sutton in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942). Kruger's last film appearance was in the film Forever Amber (1947).
On radio, Kruger played Emily Mayfield on Those We Love and the captain's wife on Show Boat.[4]
Kruger died of natural causes April 5, 1960 in a nursing home in Seattle, Washington.[5]