Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and two

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

Early life

Natwick was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, the daughter of Mildred Marion (née Dawes) and Joseph Natwick of Wisconsin. Her father was a sawmill baron and dairy farmer who owned Dunloggin Dairy Farm. He established the farm on land that was cleared of its white oaks; the community of Dunloggin in Ellicott City, Maryland, was so named because Natwick was "done logging" the land. Her grandfather, Ole Natwick, was one of the earliest Norwegian immigrants to the United States, arriving in Wisconsin in 1847. Her first cousin was animator and cartoonist Grim Natwick. Natwick attended the

Bryn Mawr School Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Pa ...

in Baltimore and later graduated from Bennett College.

Career

Natwick began performing on the stage at age 21 with "The Vagabonds", a non-professional theatre group in Baltimore. She soon joined the University Players on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. Natwick made her Broadway debut in 1932 playing Mrs. Noble in Frank McGrath's play ''Carry Nation'', about the famous temperance crusader

Carrie Nation Caroline Amelia Nation (November 25, 1846June 9, 1911), often referred to as Carrie, Carry Nation, Carrie A. Nation, or Hatchet Granny, was an American who was a radical member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol before the advent ...

. Throughout the 1930s she starred in a number of plays, frequently collaborating with friend and actor-director-playwright

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical '' South Pacific'' and was involved in writing ...

. On Broadway, she played "Prossy" in

Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by cri ...

's production of '' Candida''. She made her film debut in

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

's ''

The Long Voyage Home ''The Long Voyage Home'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell and Ian Hunter. It features Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildred Natwick, and Ward Bond, among others. The ...

'' as a Cockney slattern, and portrayed the landlady in '' The Enchanted Cottage'' (1945). Natwick is remembered for small but memorable roles in several

film classics, including '' 3 Godfathers'' (1948), '' She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' (1949), and '' The Quiet Man'' (1952). She played Miss Ivy Gravely, in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''

The Trouble with Harry ''The Trouble with Harry'' is a 1955 American Technicolor black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Na ...

'' (1955), and a sorceress in '' The Court Jester'' (1956). Mildred Natwick in The Trouble With Harry trailer

She continued to appear onstage, and made regular guest appearances in television series. On May 30, 1950, she starred in "Listen, Listen" on ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

''. She was twice nominated for

s: in 1957 for ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'', the same year she also starred in ''

Tammy and the Bachelor ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Debbie Reynolds as Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree, Walter Brennan as Grandpa Dinwitty and Leslie Nielsen as Peter Brent. It is the first of the four ...

'' with

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

and

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926November 28, 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. He made his a ...

and in 1972 for the musical ''70 Girls 70''. She returned to film in ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy stage play by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ...

'' (1967) as the mother of the character played by

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

. The role earned Natwick her only Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting actress. One of Natwick's memorable roles was in '' The House Without a Christmas Tree'' (1972), which starred

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accola ...

and Lisa Lucas. The program's success spawned three sequels: ''The Thanksgiving Treasure'', ''The Easter Promise'', and ''Addie and The King of Hearts''. In 1971, Natwick co-starred with

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

in the ''

ABC Movie of the Week The ''ABC Movie of the Week'' is an American weekly television anthology series featuring Television film, made-for-TV movies that aired on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network in various permutations from 1969 in television, 1969 t ...

'', '' Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate'', in which their characters worked together as amateur sleuths. The success of that telefilm resulted in a similar team-up the next year, portraying two mystery-writing and solving sisters; this spawned the 1973-74 series '' The Snoop Sisters'', which was part of '' The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie''. For her performance, Natwick won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. In 1981, Natwick joined Hayes as the first members of the Board of Advisors to the Riverside Shakespeare Company. Both attended and supported several fund raisers for that

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

theatre company. She guest-starred on such television series as ''

McMillan & Wife ''McMillan & Wife'' (known simply as ''McMillan'' from 1976 to 1977) is an American police procedural television series that aired on NBC from September 17, 1971, to April 24, 1977. Starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in the title roles, ...

'', ''

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

'', ''

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'', '' Hawaii Five-O'', ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American television sitcom produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychol ...

'' and ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''. She made her final film appearance at age 83 in the historical drama '' Dangerous Liaisons'' (1988).

Personal life and death

Natwick, who never married or had children, lived in a duplex on

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

for the majority of her life. She was a devout Christian Scientist. A Republican, she supported

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

during the 1952 presidential election.''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 34, Ideal She lived in Moorefield, WV on Natwick Circle- (which was named after her family)Publishers On October 25, 1994, Natwick died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at her home in Manhattan at age 89. She is interred at Lorraine Park Cemetery in Baltimore.

Broadway credits

Filmography

Partial television credits

References

External links

* * * * *
Mildred Natwick papers, 1932-1985
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natwick, Mildred 1905 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Actresses from Baltimore American Christian Scientists American film actresses American people of Norwegian descent American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Bennett College (New York) alumni Bryn Mawr School people California Republicans Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners Western (genre) film actresses Maryland Republicans New York (state) Republicans