CHATTERTON, RUTH

(1893-1961)

   Born in New York, Ruth Chatterton made her stage debut in 1909 in stock in Washington, D.C. Her Broadway debut in The Great Name (1911) flopped, but with the guidance of producer Henry Miller, Chatterton revived her fortunes with The Rainbow (1912). Her grace and beauty were praised by critics, who also admired her acting in Daddy Long-Legs (1914), a long-running hit that made her a star. A series of popular successes followed: Come Out of the Kitchen (1916), Moonlight and Honeysuckle (1919), Mary Rose (1920), La Tendresse (1922), and The Changelings (1923). An ill-advised switch to musicals with The Magnolia Lady (1924), an adaptation of her previous hit, Come Out of the Kitchen, failed, but she rebounded in a tour of Michael Arlen's The Green Hat (1926). Lured to Hollywood, she starred in nearly 30 motion pictures in the first decade of sound; these included Madame X (1929), Charming Sinners (1929), and Dodsworth* (1936). Chatterton made periodic returns to the stage until 1951.