Ruth Hussey, R.I.P.

[BERIGAN]

Sad to say, I didn't even know she was still alive!

Oscar nominee for "Philadelphia Story" dies at 93

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Ruth Hussey, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as James Stewart's wise-cracking girlfriend in 1940's "The Philadelphia Story," has died. She was 93.

Hussey died Tuesday at a convalescent home in Newbury Park in Ventura County of complications from an appendectomy, according to her son, John Longnecker.

From the late 1930s through 1960 Hussey made dozens of films and appeared with such leading men as Spencer Tracy, Melvyn Douglas and Robert Taylor.

She also was a stage actress, appearing on Broadway in 1945 in the hit "State of the Union" and in 1949 in the comedy "Goodbye, My Fancy."

Born Oct. 30, 1911, in Providence, R.I., Hussey graduated from Pembroke Women's College at Brown University and the drama school at the University of Michigan.

She began her show-business career as a local radio fashion commentator. Later, she moved to New York and became a model for the famed Powers agency. She toured with stage companies and won an MGM contract when she was spotted by a talent agent during a road production in Los Angeles.

Her first movie role, in the 1937 Tracy film "Big City," was uncredited. Three years later, she was Tracy's leading lady in "Northwest Passage."

She received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for playing Elizabeth Imbrie, the sassy photographer who accompanies James Stewart to cover a socialite's wedding in "The Philadelphia Story."

She lost to Jane Darwell, who was Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath."

Her last feature film role was in 1960 in "The Facts of Life," playing Bob Hope's wife.

Hussey also had a long career in television, including guest appearances in "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Time Out for Ginger."

She also played the love interest of Robert Young in the 1973 television movie "My Darling Daughters' Anniversary."

Hussey is survived by her sons, John, of Beverly Hills and Rob, of Houston; daughter Mary Hendrix of Oak Park, Calif.; four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

[Christiern]