Thelma Leeds ( Goodman; December 18, 1910 – May 27, 2006) was an American actress.

Life and career

Toast of New York Cary Grant Thelma Leeds

Leeds was born Thelma Goodman in New York City, to Katie and Joseph Goodman,

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants. She was the mother of actor/director

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...

Bob Einstein Stewart Robert Einstein (November 20, 1942January 2, 2019) was an American actor, comedy writer, and producer. He created and performed the satirical stuntman character Super Dave Osborne, and was also known for his roles as Marty Funkhouser in ' ...

(TV's " Super Dave Osborne"), and Clifford Einstein, chairman of Dailey & Associates Advertising in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

and chairman of the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

. In the early 1930s, Leeds sang light opera on the radio. She also performed in New York City nightclubs as Thelma Goodman, her birth name. One night in the mid-1930s a RKO

talent scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports, and they determine whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the s ...

caught her nightclub act. The studio signed her to a contract and gave her the name Thelma Leeds. She had an uncredited role in the 1936

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

musical ''

Follow the Fleet ''Follow the Fleet'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, wi ...

''. She later had supporting roles in '' The Toast of New York'' (1937) and '' New Faces of 1937''. She met her husband Harry "Parkyakarkus" Einstein, a dialect comedian, while filming ''New Faces of 1937''. Leeds retired from show business after marrying Einstein in 1937. Two years after Einstein's death in 1958, she married Irving "Bernie" Bernstein; he died in 1983. In 1981, Leeds played Brooks' mother in '' Modern Romance''. She reportedly was the inspiration for Brooks' 1996 comedy ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'', which starred

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 ...

. Clifford Einstein told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'':

I think mom was bugged that she couldn't play (Brooks' mother in ''Mother'') ... She loved to laugh at herself and loved the portrayal of ''Mother'' that, while not her story, was certainly loosely based on her: the kind of mother that loves to control everything.

Death

Leeds died at her home in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

of natural causes, aged 95. She was entombed at Home of Peace Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Thelma 1910 births 2006 deaths American people of Russian-Jewish descent American radio actresses American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Einstein family (show business) Jewish American actresses Actresses from New York City Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women