- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRuth Gordon Jones
- Height5′ (1.52 m)
- When Ruth Gordon convinced her father, a sea captain, to let her pursue acting she came to New York and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She acted in a few silents made at Fort Lee, New Jersey, in 1915. She made her Broadway debut in "Peter Pan" as Nibs the same year. The next 20 years she spent on stage, even appearing at the Old Vic in London in the successful run of "The Country Wife" in 1936. Nearly 25 years after her film debut, she returned to movies briefly. Her most memorable role during this period in the early 1940s was as Mary Todd in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940).
She left Hollywood to return to theater. Back in New York, she married Garson Kanin in 1942 (her first husband Gregory Kelly, a stage actor, died in 1927). She began writing plays, and, later, her husband and she collaborated on screenplays for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, whose screen relationship was modeled on their own marriage. She returned to film acting during the 1960s. It is during this last period of her career that she became a movie star, with memorable roles in Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Harold and Maude (1971). She wrote several books during the mid-1970s and appeared on TV. She won an Emmy for her role on Taxi (1978) in 1979.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Amy Harper <LookItUp1@aol.com>
- SpousesGarson Kanin(December 4, 1942 - August 28, 1985) (her death)Gregory Kelly(December 23, 1918 - July 9, 1927) (his death)
- ChildrenJones Gordon Harris
- ParentsClinton JonesAnnie Tapley
- Was excited about returning to films after 22 years with a role in "The Loved One" in 1965 and looked forward to having a movie career despite her advanced age. When her role was cut from the final release print, it was a major disappointment, but she persevered and won an Oscar three years later for "Rosemary's Baby.".
- Was a close friend of actor Bud Cort, with whom she costarred in Harold and Maude (1971).
- Natalie Wood was so fond of her that she named her the godmother to her firstborn Natasha Gregson Wagner.
- Had an illegitimate son named Jones, born October 16, 1929. The father was Austrian-born film and stage producer Jed Harris. This led to the breakup of Harris' first marriage, which produced no children.
- Twice married, she gave birth to her only child at age 32, to a son, Jones Harris on October 16, 1929. The child's father was Jed Harris, to whom she was not married. Her only grandchild was Jack Gwynne Emmet Harris (b. March 17, 1972).
- The great have no friends. They merely know a lot of people.
- Why should ruts be so comfortable and so unpopular?
- The kiss. There are all sorts of kisses, lad, from the sticky confection to the kiss of death. Of them all, the kiss of an actress is the most unnerving. How can we tell if she means it or if she's just practicing?
- The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.
- Never give up; and never, under any circumstances, no matter what - never face the facts.
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