| Ruth Terry | |
| Birth Name: | Ruth Mae McMahon |
| Birth Date: | 1920 10, mf=y |
| Birth Place: | Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cathedral City, California |
| Years Active: | 1937–1964 |
Ruth Mae Terry (born Ruth Mae McMahon, October 21, 1920 - March 11, 2016)[1] was an American singer and actress in film and television from the 1930s to the 1960s. She claimed her stage name came from Walter Winchell, who combined the names of two then-famous baseball players, Babe Ruth and Bill Terry.[2]
Terry was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan,[1] the daughter of Irish-American parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. E. McMahon.[3] She attended St John's Catholic School in Benton Harbor.
Terry won a number of prizes for singing before singing with the Paul Ash Theater Orchestra at the age of twelve. At that same age, she left her hometown to sing with Clyde McCoy's orchestra.
Terry's first movie was Love and Hisses in 1937 with Walter Winchell, at which time she was earning $400 per week. Her first western was Call of the Canyon with Gene Autry. She appeared in several Roy Rogers movies. Her best-known movie was Pistol Packin' Mama, based on the song of the same name with Robert Livingston. She retired when she married her second husband in 1947.[4]
While making films, Terry continued her singing career in a limited way. On August 15, 1943, she appeared as guest female singer on The Bob Crosby Show on NBC radio.[5]
On June 20, 1942, Terry and test pilot John Martin eloped and were married in Las Vegas, Nevada.[6] On October 25, 1947, she married John P. Gilmour, a Canadian. A November 8, 1947, article in her hometown newspaper, The News-Palladium, reported, "She has given up her career as an actress and she and her husband and her four-year-old son by a previous marriage will make their home at St. Genevieve de Pierre Fonds, Quebec."[7]
Terry was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.[8]
Terry died on March 11, 2016, at the age of 95. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City).[9]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Love and Hisses | Hawaiian Specialty Singer | ||
| 1938 | International Settlement | Vera Dale | ||
| Alexander's Ragtime Band | Ruby | 20th Century Fox | ||
| Hold That Co-ed | Edie | |||
| 1939 | Wife, Husband and Friend | Carol | ||
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Betsy Ann | Uncredited | ||
| Hotel for Women | Craig's Receptionist | |||
| Slightly Honorable | Ann Seymour | United Artists | ||
| 1940 | An Angel from Texas | Valerie Blayne | ||
| Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot | Irene | |||
| 1941 | Blondie Goes Latin | Lovey Nelson, the Singer | Columbia | |
| Rookies on Parade | Lois Rogers | |||
| Appointment for Love | Edith Meredith | |||
| 1942 | Sleepytime Gal | Sugar Caston | Republic | |
| The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine | Bonnie Forbes | Republic | ||
| Call of the Canyon | Katherine 'Kit' Carson | Republic | ||
| Youth on Parade | Patty Flynn / Betty Reilly | Republic | ||
| Heart of the Golden West | Mary Lou Popen | Republic | ||
| 1943 | The Man from Music Mountain | Laramie Winters | Republic | |
| Mystery Broadcast | Jan Cornell | Republic | ||
| Pistol Packin' Mama | Vicki Norris / Sally Benson | Republic | ||
| 1944 | Hands Across the Border | Kim Adams | Republic | |
| Jamboree | Ruth Cartwright | |||
| Goodnight, Sweetheart | Caryl Martin | |||
| Three Little Sisters | Hallie Scott | |||
| Sing, Neighbor, Sing | Virginia Blake | |||
| My Buddy | Lola | |||
| Lake Placid Serenade | Susan Cermak | |||
| 1945 | Steppin' in Society | Lola Forrest | ||
| The Cheaters | Therese Pidgeon | |||
| Tell It to a Star | Carol Lambert | Republic Robert Livingston and Aurora Miranda | ||
| 1947 | Smoky River Serenade | Sue Greeley | Columbia | |
| 1962 | Hand of Death | Woman with Packages | ||
| 1964 | The New Interns | Carolyn's Mother | Uncredited, (final film role) |