Ruth Gordon (1) (1896–1985)

Ruth Gordon, born Ruth Gordon Jones in Quincy, Massachusetts, wanted to become an actress from a young teenager. Despite his skepticism of the suitability of such a career, her father took her to New York City when she was 18 to enroll her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The following year, she made her Broadway debut in a small role in Peter Pan.

In 1918, she won a starring role in the Broadway adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel Seventeen, and later married her co-star Gregory Kelly. The couple moved to Indianapolis and started a repertory theater company.

Kelly died suddenly of heart disease in 192,7 and Ruth returned to New York City. In 1929, she had a son with the famous producer Jed Harris. Her stage career continued to thrive on Broadway and in London, and she also made a successful move into films, mostly as a supporting actress, beginning in 1941. She made more than two dozen films and later made numerous appearances in television series. In 1942, she married writer Garson Kanin and collaborated with him on the screenplays for A Double Life (1947), Adam's Rib (1949) and Pat and Mike (1952). She also wrote an autobiographical play, Years Ago, which was adapted into the film

The Actress (1953). Later in life, she published three volumes of memoirs, Myself Among Others (1972), My Side (1976), and An Open Book (1980).
In 1969, at age 72, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rosemary's Baby.