Phyllis Thaxter
Phyllis Thaxter | |
---|---|
Born | Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter November 20, 1921[1][2] Portland, Maine, U.S. |
Died | August 14, 2012 Longwood, Florida, U.S. | (aged 90)
Cause of death | Alzheimer's disease |
Resting place | Cremated |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1940–1992 |
Known for | Martha Kent in Superman, Ellen Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo |
Spouse(s) |
(divorced), (his death) |
Children | Skye Aubrey, James Aubrey |
Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1921 – August 14, 2012)[2] was an American stage and movie actress. She was known for playing Superman's mother in the 1978 movie Superman, and as Ellen Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.
Early life
[change | change source]Thaxter was born on November 20, in 1921.[3] in Portland, Maine to Sidney Thaxter and to his wife.
Career
[change | change source]She had worked a lot on Broadway since 1940. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Phyllis replaced her in the play Claudia. In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her first movie was with Van Johnson in the wartime movie Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.[2] Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman suffering from split personality in the movie Bewitched in 1945. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter alongside Barbara Bel Geddes in Blood on the Moon.
At MGM, she routinely portrayed the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men. She moved to Warner Brothers in the 1950s, but usually played the same type of roles.
Thaxter's career ended for a while after being ill of polio in 1952. She made a comeback on the television series in Rawhide. She would later appear on other television programs such as; Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1978, Thaxter was cast along with Glenn Ford as Ma and Pa Kent in Superman.
Personal life
[change | change source]Thaxter was married to James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. from 1944 until they divorced in 1962. They had a son and a daughter. She was married to Gilbert Lea from 1962 until his death in 2008.
Death
[change | change source]Thaxter died on August 14, 2012 in her home in Longwood, Florida from Alzheimer's disease, aged 90.[2] She had the disease for eight years. She was cremated and her ashes were thrown to the sea.
Movies
[change | change source]- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
- Bewitched (1945)
- Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
- Tenth Avenue Angel (1946)
- The Sea of Grass (1947)
- Living in a Big Way (1947)
- Blood on the Moon (1948)
- Act of Violence (1948)
- No Man of Her Own (1950)
- The Breaking Point (1950)
- Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951)
- Fort Worth (1951)
- Springfield Rifle (1952)
- Wagon Train (1959)
- Women's Prison (1955)
- The World of Henry Orien (1964)
- The Invaders (TV series), Season 2/21, Episode: "The Peacemaker" (1968)
- Superman (1978)
References
[change | change source]- ↑ 1920 U.S. Census
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Denise Grady (August 18, 2012). "Phyllis Thaxter, Actress Who Played Superman's Mother, Dies at 92". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Skye Aubrey, who said that Ms. Thaxter had had Alzheimer's disease for the last eight years. ...
- ↑ Some sources say she was born 1921, while other sources incorrectly say she was born in 1919.