Early life

Emerson was born in Hawarden, Iowa

Hawarden, Iowa

Hawarden is a city in Sioux County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,478 at the 2000 census. It is located on the Big Sioux River.-Geography:Hawarden is located at , along the Big Sioux River....

. Following her graduation from West High School in Des Moines in 1916, she moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where she performed in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

.

Career

Emerson made her 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...

 debut in Lysistrata in 1930. She made her film debut in Smiling Faces (1932) but then returned to theater work. In the 1940s, Emerson was well known as the voice of Elsie the Cow

Elsie the Cow

Elsie the Cow has been the spokescow for the Borden Dairy Company since her introduction in 1936.Elsie was created in the 1930s to symbolize the “Perfect Dairy Product,” and made an appearance at the New York World's Fair in 1939. She also starred in a movie, RKO's Little Men, in 1940...

 in Borden Milk commercials on radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

.

Standing 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), Emerson's most memorable roles were as a circus strongwoman testifying in court in Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib is a 1949 American film written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in court. Judy Holliday co-stars in her first substantial film role...

(1949), a malevolent nurse in Cry of the City

Cry of the City

Cry of the City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Robert Siodmak based on the novel by Henry Edward Helseth, The Chair for Martin Rome. Veteran film noir-writer Ben Hecht worked on the film's script, but is not credited...

(1948) and a mail-order bride in Westward the Women

Westward the Women

Westward the Women is a 1951 western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel and John McIntire.-Plot:...

(1952). Her most famous role, as sadistic prison matron Evelyn Harper, in Caged (1950) garnered her an Academy Award

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nomination for Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

.

In television, Emerson guest starred on the series finale of the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 sitcom, It's a Great Life

It's a Great Life

It's a Great Life is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from 1954 to 1956...

in the episode entitled "The Housekeeper." She appeared as a bossy housekeeper who temporarily takes charge while Amy Morgan, played by Frances Bavier

Frances Bavier

Frances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...

, goes on vacation. She also had a regular role in Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator was Blake Edwards...

(1958, for which she received an Emmy nomination) and the sitcom The Dennis O'Keefe Show

The Dennis O'Keefe Show

The Dennis O'Keefe Show is a 1959-1960 sitcom produced by United Artists Television which aired on CBS for sponsor General Motors' Oldsmobile division. It was not a ratings success during its original run, and was largely forgotten until a "Best Of" DVD release by Alpha Video during 2004. Certain...

(1959).

Death

Emerson died of liver disease

Liver disease

Liver disease is a broad term describing any single number of diseases affecting the liver.-Diseases:* Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, caused mainly by various viruses but also by some poisons , autoimmunity or hereditary conditions...

 aged 62 in Hollywood, California. She was interred in Grace Hill Cemetery in her hometown of Hawarden, Iowa.

External links