Ruth Attaway Explained

Ruth Attaway
Birth Date:28 June 1910
Birth Place:Greenville, Mississippi, U.S.
Death Place:New York City, U.S.
Occupation:Actress, social worker
Yearsactive:1936–1979

Ruth Attaway (June 28, 1910 – September 21, 1987) was an American film and stage actress. Among the films she appeared in are Raintree County (1957), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Being There (1979).

Early life

Attaway was born on June 28, 1910, in Greenville, Mississippi.[1] [2] [3] She was the daughter of physician W.A. Attaway, PhD.[4] Her siblings included a sister, Florence, and a brother, novelist and writer William.[5] [6] She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she majored in sociology.[2]

Career

Theatre work

Attaway made her Broadway debut in 1936 in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, You Can't Take It with You.[7]

Attaway was the first director of the New York Players Guild, a black repertory theater company formed in New York in 1945.[2]

From 1954 to 1955, Attaway portrayed Anna Hicks in the play Mrs. Patterson at the National Theater.[8] [9] [10]

From 1964 to 1967, Attaway was with the Repertory Society of Lincoln Center.

Film work

Attaway made her film debut by portraying Moll in The President's Lady (1953), opposite Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston.[11] [12] She went on to play a variety of characters in film such as Philomena in The Young Don't Cry (1957),[13] Serena in Porgy and Bess (1959), Edna in Conrack (1974) and Louise in Being There (1979).[14]

Television work

In 1954, Attaway was within the cast of an unaired pilot titled Three's Company.[15]

She also played Delia in the 1978 television movie, The Bermuda Depths.[16]

Other ventures

In addition to acting, Attaway was also trained as a social worker[17] [18] and, between acting jobs, worked with the American Red Cross, the New York State Department of Social Welfare and New York's Metropolitan Hospital.[2]

Honors

On November 10, 1953, Attaway was one of three people cited by the Coordinating Council For Negro Performers at a special benefit in Harlem.[19]

Personal life and death

Attaway was married to Allan Morrison, an editor of Ebony.[11] [20] He died on May 29, 1968, at the age of 51.[21]

Attaway died on September 21, 1987, in New York Hospital of injuries resulting from a Manhattan apartment fire.[22] She was 77 years old.[23]

Partial filmography

Notes and References

  1. http://music.hollywood.com/celebrities/ruth-attaway-58493144/ Hollywood.com
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927225316/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/2736/Ruth-Attaway/biography Ruth Attaway biography at The New York Times
  3. Book: Peterson, Bernard L.. Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960. 2001. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313295348.
  4. Book: Cruse, Harold. The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership. 1967. New York Review of Books. 9781590171356.
  5. Book: Aschenbrenner, Joyce. Katherine Dunham: Dancing a Life. registration. 23. ruth attaway actress.. 2002. University of Illinois Press. 9780252027598.
  6. Book: Battat, Erin Royston. Ain't Got No Home: America's Great Migrations and the Making of an Interracial Left. 2014. UNC Press Books. 9781469614038.
  7. Book: Tracy, Steven C.. Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance. 2011. University of Illinois Press. 9780252093425.
  8. Eartha Returns to 'Mrs. Patterson' After Fold-Up. February 24, 1955. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. September 26, 2015.
  9. Book: Peterson, Jr., Bernard L.. A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans. 1993. ABC-CLIO. 9780313064548.
  10. Book: Hischak, Thomas S.. Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007. 2009. McFarland. 9780786453092.
  11. News: Ruth Attaway In First Film Role. March 24, 1953. Baltimore Afro-American. September 26, 2015.
  12. Ruth Attaway Scores In First Movie. October 30, 1953. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. October 1, 2015.
  13. Web site: Screen: An Orphan's Life; 'The Young Don't Cry' Opens at the Palace . The New York Times . October 20, 2021 . July 27, 1957.
  14. Web site: Ruth Attaway . https://web.archive.org/web/20190305161042/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baa2ee124 . dead . March 5, 2019 . BFI . October 20, 2021 . en.
  15. Book: Bogle, Donald. Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television. 2015. Macmillan. 9781466894457.
  16. News: Videos: Exploring 'The Bermuda Depths'. January 9, 2012. Bernews. October 10, 2015.
  17. The Negro on Broadway. April 1964. Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. September 26, 2015.
  18. New York Beat. August 9, 1962. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. September 26, 2015.
  19. To Honor 2 Actresses, Playwright at Benefit. November 5, 1953. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. October 10, 2015.
  20. Book: Smith, Judith E.. Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical. 2014. University of Texas Press. 9780292756700.
  21. EDITOR OF EBONY DIES. June–July 1968. The Crisis. April 20, 2016.
  22. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/6733%7C136725/Ruth-Attaway/ Ruth Attaway at Turner Classic Movies
  23. News: Ruth Attaway, Actress, Dies Of Injuries in Apartment Fire. September 24, 1987. The New York Times. September 26, 2015.

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