Ilka Chase (8 April 1900 – 15 February 1978) was an American actress and novelist.
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and educated at convent and boarding schools in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, she was the only child of
Edna Woolman ChaseEdna Woolman Chase was editor in chief of Vogue magazine from 1914-1952. During her years at Vogue, Chase made many contributions to the magazine. She saw Vogue through prosperous times and hard times of war and losing colleagues. Chase was born and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but moved to...
, the editor in chief of
VogueVogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 16 countries + Latin America by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design.-Style and influence:...
magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.
She was married three times and divorced twice: (1)
Louis CalhernLouis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.-Early life:Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
, 1926-1927; (2) William B. Murray, a radio executive, 1935-1946; and (3) Dr.
Ilka Chase (8 April 1900 – 15 February 1978) was an American actress and novelist.
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and educated at convent and boarding schools in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, she was the only child of
Edna Woolman ChaseEdna Woolman Chase was editor in chief of Vogue magazine from 1914-1952. During her years at Vogue, Chase made many contributions to the magazine. She saw Vogue through prosperous times and hard times of war and losing colleagues. Chase was born and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but moved to...
, the editor in chief of
VogueVogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 16 countries + Latin America by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design.-Style and influence:...
magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.
She was married three times and divorced twice: (1)
Louis CalhernLouis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.-Early life:Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
, 1926-1927; (2) William B. Murray, a radio executive, 1935-1946; and (3) Dr. Norton Sager Brown, 1946-1978. She had no children.
Chase made her society debut in 1923 and her
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
debut a year later, in
The Red Falcon. Her stage appearances included roles in
Days Without End,
Forsaking All Others,
While Parents Sleep,
On to Fortune,
Co-Respondent Unknown,
Revenge With Music,
Keep Off the Grass and
In Bed We Cry, which was an adaptation of her novel of the same name. She was in the first Broadway cast of
The Women (1938) and subsequently appeared in
Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
's Broadway hit
Barefoot in the Park- Characters :* Corie Bratter* Telephone Man* Paul Bratter* Mrs. Banks* Victor Velasco* Delivery Man- Act Summaries :Place: Top-floor Apartment in a Brownstone on East Forty-eight Street, New York City...
.
Her films included
Fast and LooseFast and Loose is a romantic comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard and Frank Morgan. The film was written by Doris Anderson, Jack Kirkland and Preston Sturges, based on the 1924 play The Best People by David Gray and Avery Hopwood...
,
Once a Sinner,
The Animal Kingdom,
The Big Knife and
Now, VoyagerNow, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty, who borrowed her title from a line in the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by...
. For several years, she was host of a radio program,
Luncheon at the Waldorf.
In 1957, she performed the role of the Stepmother in the television production of
CinderellaCinderella is a well-known classic folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances which suddenly change to remarkable fortune...
, which starred
Julie AndrewsDame Julie Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is a British film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honours...
. Her last motion picture appearance came in the Rat Pack caper film
Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven is the name of two caper films:*Ocean's Eleven , the original heist film starring all five members of the Rat Pack*Ocean's Eleven , a remake of the above film with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon...
(1960) as the mother of the
Peter LawfordPeter Sydney Vaughn Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English actor, member of the "Rat Pack," and brother-in-law to President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
character.
Her autobiography,
Past Imperfect (Vol I) was published in 1942 and
Free Admission (Vol II), published in 1948. She also wrote more than a dozen other books.
She died in
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Her epitaph reads: "I've finally gotten to the bottom of things."
Chase also played the role of Aunt Pauline, an annoying house guest, in a television episode of the Patty Duke Show.