| Florence Ravenel | |
| Birth Date: | 18 March 1896 |
| Birth Place: | Michigan, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education: | Hunter College, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre |
| Othername: | Florence Ray, Florence Ravanel, Florence Ravenal |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1923–1966 |
Florence Ravenel (March 18, 1896 – December 18, 1975)[1] [2] also known as Florence Ray,[3] [4] was an American stage, radio and film actress, perhaps best known for her work on the radio series The Court of Missing Heirs,[5] and on the TV sitcom The Farmer's Daughter.[6]
Born in Michigan,[2] but raised primarily in Brooklyn, New York,[7] Ravenel attended Hunter College and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.[8]
Ravenel made her professional dramatic debut—billed as Florence Ravanel—in the fall of 1923 with the William Augustin Players in Gloucester, Massachusetts.[7] Of her performance in Avery Hopwood's Fair and Warmer, Billboard reported, "Florence Ravanel made a hit as Laura Bartlett".[9] Shortly thereafter, Ravenel found more lucrative employment with the Al Luttringer Players. Towards the end of a three-week engagement with that troupe at the Music Hall Theatre in Akron, Ohio (featuring The Cat and the Canary, Getting Gertie's Garter, Guy Bolton's Polly, Preferred, and My Irish Cinderella[10] [11] [12]), The Beacon Journal singled out Ravenel's contribution, noting that the actress had tackled "hard roles and won praise from her audience."[13]
Between 1925 and 1927, Ravenel appeared in stock company revivals of Lightnin' (portraying Mildred Buckley, "and doing it with a certain charm"),[14] Parlor, Bedroom and Bath as Angelica Irving[15] (a role previously played onscreen by Kathleen Kirkham,[16] and subsequently by Dorothy Christy[17]) and, as Madeleine, in the Goodman-Knoblock adaptation of Robert Keable's Simon Called Peter.[18] Also in 1927, she appeared "to splendid advantage" alongside Jack Davis and William Rath as Keala Leilani in the premiere of Tropical Love, a South Seas-set melodrama staged at the Majestic Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois.[19] At that same venue the following month, Ravenel was the main attraction in Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, "giv[ing] an absorbing performance of the part—i.e. Lorelei Lee—which was played by June Walker in New York"[20]
As of February 1928, Ravenel appears to have taken up residence in Chicago, Illinois, where her membership in that city's Associate Players was advertised in the Southtown Economist.[21] In March, the company's production of Avery Hopwood's The Alarm Clock featured Ravenel as Mrs. Dunsmore.[22] That summer, Ravenel toured with Jeanne Eagels' company in a vaudeville recreation of scenes from Eagels' recent vehicle, The Cardboard Lover.[23] [24] The following year, she gave a well-received performance as Arlette in a revival of Seventh Heaven staged by the Guy and Eloda Beach stock company in La Crosse, Wisconsin.[25]
In 1933, Ravenel was promoted from the ranks of KYW staffers to host the station's daily noontime dance program featuring Rex Maupin's orchestra.[26] Beginning in the fall of 1937, Ravenel was heard, alongside Jack Brinkley, Elizabeth Reller, Dorothy Day, Henry Saxe, John Goldsworthy, Bob Middleton, and others in The Court of Missing Heirs.[5] [27] She was also featured as Mrs. Sniffer on Arnold Grimm's Daughter.[28] On January 30, 1943, Ravenel was one of the few non-singing performers heard in Chicago Theater of the Airs production of Victor Herbert's Sweethearts.[29] In 1948, Ravenel, Parley Baer, Jerry Farber and announcer Patrick McGeehan were among those featured on the Catholic program, The Hour of St. Francis.[30] Beginning in 1951, she co-starred with Lamont Johnson, Raymond Burr and Ruth Swanson in The Pendleton Story, produced by the Armed Forces Radio Service, described as the service's "first family series for overseas release."[31]
Between 1950 and 1952, Ravenel also appeared in at least two episodes each of Dr. Christian and NBC Theater,[32] [33] [34] [35] most notably in the latter's production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, starring Virginia Christine and featuring Ravenel as Aunt Julie.[32]
In the fall of 1951, Ravenel joined 12 fellow former radio actors in the cast of Arch Oboler's The Twonky.[36]
Making a brief return to the stage in 1956, Ravenel appeared with Naomi Stevens and many others in what The Hollywood Reporter's Marvin Smith judged a much-improved revival of Sumner Locke Elliott's unsuccessful Broadway comedy, Buy Me Blue Ribbons, providing an ideal showcase for the show's star, a young Paul Smith.[37]
| 1952 | Love Is Better Than Ever | Mother | uncredited | |
| 1953 | By the Light of the Silvery Moon | Gossip | ||
| 1953 | The Twonky | Nurse | uncredited | |
| 1955 | Violent Saturday | Miss Shirley | uncredited | |
| 1955 | I'll Cry Tomorrow | Stage Mother | uncredited | |
| 1958 | Going Steady | Mrs. Potter | ||
| 1961 | All in a Night's Work | Matron | uncredited | |
| 1965 | Zebra in the Kitchen | Town Gossip | uncredited | |
| 1966 | The Ghost and Mr. Chicken | Minor role | uncredited |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Big Town | Episode: "Father and Son" | ||
| 1952 | I Married Joan | Episode: "Jitterbug" | ||
| 1953 | I Married Joan | Mrs. Miller | Episode: "Little Girl" | |
| 1953 | Schlitz Playhouse | Eunice (uncredited) | Episode: "The Governess" | |
| 1955 | The Mickey Rooney Show | Maggie | Episode: "Scoop Mulligan" | |
| 1956 | The Adventures of Superman | Mrs. Cooper - Landlady | Episode: "Jimmy the Kid" | |
| 1956 | Star Stage | Episode: "The Man in the Black Robe" | ||
| 1956 | Studio 57 | Caroline | Episode: "Little Miss Bedford"[38] | |
| 1957 | Official Detective | Mrs. Richards | Episode: "Take Him Alive" | |
| 1960 | The Millionaire | Mrs. Tenney (as Florence Ravenal) | Episode: "Millionaire Margaret Stoneham" | |
| 1961 | Day in Court | NA | Episode: NA[39] | |
| 1961 | Day in Court | NA | Episode: NA[40] | |
| 1962 | The Brighter Day | NA | Episode: NA[41] | |
| 1963 | The Farmer's Daughter | Cook | Episode: "The Speechmaker" | |
| 1964 | The Farmer's Daughter | Cook (as Florence Ravenal) | Episode: "Mrs. Golden's Opportunity" | |
| 1964 | The Farmer's Daughter | Millie | Episode: "Nobody's Perfect" | |
| 1964 | The Farmer's Daughter | Cook | Episode: "Rendezvous for Two" | |
| 1964 | The Farmer's Daughter | Cook (as Florence Ravenal) | Episode: "The Waiting Game" | |
| 1965 | My Three Sons | Woman | Episode: "Monsters and Junk Like That" |
On December 18, 1975, Ravenel died at age 79 in Los Angeles of undisclosed causes,[2] predeceased by her mother.[42]