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Jessie Royce Landis

 
Actor: Jesse Royce Landis
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Nov 25, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois
  • Died: Feb 02, 1972 in Danbury, Connecticut
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief, Aimez-Vous Brahms?
  • First Major Screen Credit: Derelict (1930)

Biography

As elucidated by the title of her 1954 autobiography You Won't Be So Pretty, Jesse Royce Landis concluded early on that she was not the ingenue type. Landis became a character actress, thereby outlasting many of her more attractive contemporaries. A solitary film appearance in 1930's Derelict convinced Landis that the stage would remain her forte. She would not appear onscreen on a regular basis until 1949, and then only when her theatrical schedule permitted it. Most often playing outspoken society matrons, Landis was amusingly cast in maternal roles in two Hitchcock films, To Catch a Thief (1955) and North By Northwest (1959); in the latter, she portrayed the mother of Cary Grant, who was exactly the same age as she. Jesse Royce Landis' final appearance was in the made-for-television Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones (1971). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Jessie Royce Landis
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Jessie Royce Landis
Born Jessie Royce Medbury
November 25, 1896(1896-11-25)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died February 2, 1972 (aged 75)
Danbury, Connecticut
Spouse(s) Perry Lester Landis (1923-1935)
Rex Smith (1937-1944)
Maj. Gen. J. F. R. Seitz (1956-1972)

Jessie Royce Landis (November 25, 1896 [1] - February 2, 1972) was an American actress.

She was born Jessie Royce Medbury in Chicago, Illinois. Landis was a stage actress for much of her career. In the 1950s, she began appearing in movies as a character actress, most notably in To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959), both starring Cary Grant and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In North by Northwest she played Grant's character's mother (she was only 8 years older than Grant), and in To Catch a Thief she played Grace Kelly's mother. She also made many television appearances.

She was married three times. Her third husband was Major General J.F.R. "Jeff" Seitz. He died in 1978.[2] Her autobiography, titled You Won't Be So Pretty (But You'll Know More) was published in 1954. Landis died of cancer in Danbury, Connecticut, aged 75.

Contents

Filmography

Year Film
1949 Mr. Belvedere Goes to College
It Happens Every Spring
My Foolish Heart
1955 To Catch a Thief
1956 The Swan
1957 My Man Godfrey
1958 I Married a Woman
1959 North by Northwest
1961 Goodbye Again
1962 Boys' Night Out
1963 Critic's Choice
Gidget Goes to Rome
1970 Airport

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Jessie Royce Landis". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484829/. Retrieved 2009-03-27.  Some sources give the year of birth as 1904.
  2. ^ See http://www.unithistories.com/officers/US_Army_officers_S01.html

External links


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