Gloria Stuart, Titanic Star and Prolific TV Actress
A familiar face in numerous films of the 1930s, Stuart returned to film and TV in the 1970s, culminating with her Oscar-nominated performance in Titanic.
Gloria Stuart, an actress whose long career in film and television reached its peak late in her life with a key role in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, died September 26, 2010, at her home in Los Angeles. She was 101.
According to news reports, she had been diagnosed with lung cancer several years ago.
In Titanic, Stuart played the key role of a 101-year-old survivor, played as a younger woman by Kate Winslet.
At the time she was offered the role in Titanic, Stuart had done little acting for some years. Director James Cameron was reportedly looking for an actress who had thrived in Hollywood’s golden era, which Stuart had.
Her career had begun in the early 1930s with roles in films such as the 1932 thriller The Old Dark House and the 1933 horror classic The Invisible Man. Both were directed by James Whale, who also directed Frankenstein.
In all, Stuart appeared in more than 40 films during the 1930s, including the Busby Berkeley musical Gold Diggers of 1935 as the romantic interest of Dick Powell. She also appeared in The Prisoner of Shark Island, directed by John Ford, and two films with child star Shirley Temple, Poor Little Rich Girl and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Her first marriage, to sculptor Blair Gordon Newell, ended in divorce. She then married writer Arthur Sheekman, whom she met while appearing in the Eddie Cantor musical Roman Scandals.
She worked less thereafter, and devoted herself to painting. She had her first exhibit in 1961 at the Hammer Gallery in New York.
But still found occasional acting work. In the 1970s she appeared in such television series as The Waltons, and several made-for-TV movies.
In addition, she had small roles in 1980s’ films such as My Favorite Year, Mass Appeal and Wildcats.
In 1999, after Titanic resuscitated her acting career, she published a memoir titled I Just Kept Hoping.
After Titanic, she continued to work on occasion, and had a role as a homeless woman in The Million Dollar Hotel, directed by Wim Wenders. Later TV roles included Touched by an Angel and General Hospital.
Stuart was born July 4, 1910, in Santa Monica, California and graduated from Santa Monica High School. She began performing as a child and eventually worked with the Pasadena Playhouse before signing a contract with Universal Studios.
A few years after her second husband’s death in 1978, Stuart reconnected with a friend she had not seen in years, Ward Ritchie, who worked as a master printer. Ritchie, who became her companion until his death in 1996, taught her the art of letter-press printing, which she pursued with great enthusiasm.
Survivors include her daughter from her second marriage, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.