Esther Dale
Encyclopedia
Esther Dale was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935
Shirley Temple
vehicle, Curly Top.
She was born in Beaufort, South Carolina
, November 10, 1885, and attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townsend, Vermont. In Berlin, Germany, she studied music and enjoyed a successful career as a singer of lieder on the concert stage.
In America, she transferred to the acting stage and cultivated a career as an actress in summer stock
. She starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway
in 1933.
Her first film was Crime Without Passion
in 1934. She became a big star in just a year. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dame
s and ladies of the aristocracy
.
She played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show
, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse.
She was married to writer and director Arthur J. Beckhard. Dale died July 23, 1961 following surgery in Queen of Angels Hospital in Hollywood, California.
1935 in film
-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
vehicle, Curly Top.
She was born in Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
, November 10, 1885, and attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townsend, Vermont. In Berlin, Germany, she studied music and enjoyed a successful career as a singer of lieder on the concert stage.
In America, she transferred to the acting stage and cultivated a career as an actress in summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
. She starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1933.
Her first film was Crime Without Passion
Crime Without Passion
Crime Without Passion is a 1934 American drama film directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, starring Claude Rains. It is the first of four pictures written, produced and directed by Hecht and MacArthur for Paramount Pictures...
in 1934. She became a big star in just a year. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dame
Grande dame
A grande dame is a stock character designed to represent a stereotype of an elderly high society socialite.In popular culture, the grande dame is usually portrayed as a slightly flamboyant woman, prone to extravagant and eccentric fashion, such as feather boas, large hats, and excessive costume...
s and ladies of the aristocracy
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
.
She played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...
, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse.
She was married to writer and director Arthur J. Beckhard. Dale died July 23, 1961 following surgery in Queen of Angels Hospital in Hollywood, California.