Marie Josephine Hull (née Sherwood; January 3, 1877 – March 12, 1957) was an American stage and film actress who also was a director of plays. She had a successful 50-year career on stage while taking some of her better known roles to film. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie '' Harvey'' (1950), a role she originally played on the Broadway stage. She was sometimes credited as Josephine Sherwood.

Background

Hull was born January 3, 1877, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, one of four children born to William H. Sherwood and Mary Elizabeth "Minnie" Tewkesbury, but would later shave years off her age. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music and

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and h ...

, both in the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area.

Career

Stage

Hull made her stage debut in stock in 1905, and after some years as a chorus girl and touring stock player, she married actor Shelley Hull (the elder brother of actor Henry Hull) in 1910. After her husband's death as a young man, the actress retired until 1923, when she returned to acting using her married name, Josephine Hull. The couple had no children. She had her first major stage success in George Kelly's Pulitzer-winning ''

Craig's Wife ''Craig's Wife'' is a 1925 play written by American playwright George Kelly. It won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and has been adapted for three feature films. Production ''Craig's Wife'' premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on O ...

'' in 1926. Kelly wrote a role especially for her in his next play, ''Daisy Mayme'', which also was staged in 1926. She continued working in New York theater throughout the 1920s. In the 1930s and 1940s, Hull appeared in three Broadway hits, as a batty matriarch in '' You Can't Take It with You'' (1936), as a homicidal old lady in '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1941), and in '' Harvey'' (1944). The plays all had long runs, and took up ten years of Hull's career. Her last Broadway play, ''The Solid Gold Cadillac'' (1954–55), was later made into a film version with the much younger Judy Holliday in the role.

Film

Hull made only seven films, beginning in 1927 with a small part in the

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to " talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

feature ''Get Your Man'', followed by ''The Bishop's Candlesticks'' in 1929. That was followed by two 1932 Fox features, '' After Tomorrow'' (recreating her stage role) and '' Careless Lady''. She missed out on recreating her ''You Can't Take It With You'' role in 1938, as she was still onstage with the show. Instead,

Spring Byington Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of '' December Bride''. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared i ...

appeared in the film version. Hull played Aunt Abby who, along with Jean Adair as Aunt Martha, was one of the two Brewster sisters in the film version of '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1944) starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

and Priscilla Lane. Hull then appeared in the screen version of '' Harvey'' (1950), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. '' Variety'' credited Hull's performance: "the slightly balmy aunt (actually playing “Elwood's” sister, “Veta”) who wants to have Elwood committed, is immense, socking the comedy for every bit of its worth"."Review: ''Harvey''"
'' Variety'', December 31, 1949. After ''Harvey'', Hull made only one more film, ''The Lady from Texas'' (1951); she had also appeared in the

CBS-TV CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

version of ''Arsenic and Old Lace'' in 1949, with

Ruth McDevitt Ruth Thane McDevitt ( Shoecraft; September 13, 1895 – May 27, 1976) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. Career The daughter of John Barnabas Shoecraft and Elizabeth Imber Shoecraft, McDevitt was born in Coldwater, Mich ...

, an actress who often succeeded Hull in her Broadway roles, as her sister.

Death

Hull died on March 12, 1957, aged 80, from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Broadway performances

* ''The Law and the Man'' (Dec 20, 1906 – Feb 1907, billed as Josephine Sherwood) Role: Cosette (Replacement) * ''The Bridge'' (Sep 4, 1909 – Oct 1909, billed as Josephine Sherwood) * ''Neighbors'' (Dec 26, 1923 – Jan 1924, billed as Josephine Hull) Role: Mrs. Hicks * ''Fata Morgana'' (Mar 3, 1924 – Sep 1924) Role: George's Mother * ''Rosmersholm'' (May 5, 1925 – May 1925) Role: Madame Helseth * ''

'' (Oct 12, 1925 – Aug 1926) Role: Mrs. Frazier * ''Daisy Mayme'' (Oct 25, 1926 – Jan 1927) Role: Mrs. Olly Kipax * ''The Wild Man of Borneo'' (Sep 13, 1927 – Sep 1927) Role: Mrs. Marshall * ''March Hares'' (Apr 2, 1928 – Apr 1928) Role: Mrs. Janet Rodney * ''The Beaux Stratagem'' (Jun 4, 1928 – Jun 1928) Role: Servant in the Inn * ''Hotbed'' (Nov 8, 1928 – Nov 1928) Role: Hattie * ''Before You're 25'' (Apr 16, 1929 – May 1929) Role: Cornelia Corbin * ''Those We Love'' (Feb 19, 1930 – Apr 1930) Role: Evelyn * ''Midnight'' (Dec 29, 1930 – Feb 1931) Role: Mrs. Weldon * ''Unexpected Husband'' (Jun 2, 1931 – Sep 1931) Role: Mrs. Egbert Busty * ''After Tomorrow'' (Aug 26, 1931 – Nov 1931) Role: Mrs. Piper * ''A Thousand Summers'' (May 24, 1932 – Jul 1932) Role: Mrs. Thompson * ''American Dream'' (Feb 21, 1933 – Mar 1933) Role: Martha, Mrs. Schuyler Hamilton * ''A Divine Drudge'' (Oct 26, 1933 – Nov 1933) Role: Frau Klapstuhl * ''By Your Leave'' (Jan 24, 1934 – Feb 1934) Role: Mrs. Gretchell * ''On to Fortune'' (Feb 4, 1935 – Feb 1935) Role: Miss Hedda Sloan * ''

Seven Keys to Baldpate Seven Keys to Baldpate may refer to: * '' Seven Keys to Baldpate'', a novel by Earl Derr Biggers * ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (play), a 1913 play by George M. Cohan based on the novel * ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1916 film), a 1916 Australian si ...

'' (May 27, 1935 – Jun 1935) Role: Mrs. Quinby * ''Night In the House'' (Nov 7, 1935 – Nov 1935) Role: Lucy Amorest * '' You Can't Take It with You'' (Dec 14, 1936 – Dec 3, 1938) Role: Penelope Sycamore * ''An International Incident'' (Apr 2, 1940 – Apr 13, 1940) Role: Mrs. John Wurthering Blackett * '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' (Jan 10, 1941 – Jun 17, 1944) Role: Abby Brewster * '' Harvey'' (Nov 1, 1944 – Jan 15, 1949) Role: Veta Louise Simmons * ''Minnie and Mr. Williams'' (Oct 27, 1948 – Oct 30, 1948) Role: Minnie * ''The Golden State'' (Nov 25, 1950 – Dec 16, 1950) Role: Mrs. Morenas * ''Whistler's Grandmother'' (Dec 11, 1952 – Jan 3, 1953) Role: Kate * '' The Solid Gold Cadillac'' (Nov 5, 1953 – Feb 12, 1955) Role: Mrs. Laura Partridge

Broadway director credits

* ''Why Not?'' (Dec 25, 1922 – Apr 1923, billed as Mrs. Shelley Hull) * '' The Rivals'' (May 7, 1923 – May 1923, billed as Mrs. Shelley Hull) * ''The Habitual Husband'' (Dec 24, 1924 – Jan 1925)

Filmography

Radio appearances

References

External links

* * * *
Papers, 1871–1957.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Josephine 1877 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Boston American film actresses American stage actresses American theatre directors Women theatre directors American television actresses Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Donaldson Award winners New England Conservatory alumni Radcliffe College alumni Actors from Newton, Massachusetts Age controversies