Ruth Attaway

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Ruth Attaway
Born(1910-06-28)June 28, 1910
Greenville, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedSeptember 21, 1987(1987-09-21) (aged 77)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, social worker
Years active1936–1979
Spouse
Allan Morrison
​
(died 1968)​

Ruth Attaway (June 28, 1910 – September 21, 1987) was an American film and stage actress. Among the films she appeared in are Raintree County (1957), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Being There (1979).[1]

Early life[edit]

Attaway was born on June 28, 1910, in Greenville, Mississippi.[1][2][3][4] She was the daughter of physician W.A. Attaway, PhD.[5] Her siblings included a sister, Florence,[1] and a brother, novelist and writer William.[6][7] She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she majored in sociology.[1][3][8]

Career[edit]

Theatre work[edit]

Attaway made her Broadway debut in 1936 in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, You Can't Take It with You.[1][9]

Attaway was the first director of the New York Players Guild, a black repertory theater company formed in New York in 1945.[1][3]

From 1954 to 1955, Attaway portrayed Anna Hicks in the play Mrs. Patterson at the National Theater.[10][11][12]

From 1964 to 1967, Attaway was with the Repertory Society of Lincoln Center.[1]

Film work[edit]

Attaway made her film debut by portraying Moll in The President's Lady (1953), opposite Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston.[8][13] She went on to play a variety of characters in film such as Philomena in The Young Don't Cry (1957),[14] Serena in Porgy and Bess (1959), Edna in Conrack (1974) and Louise in Being There (1979).[15]

Television work[edit]

In 1954, Attaway was within the cast of an unaired pilot titled Three's Company.[16]

She also played Delia in the 1978 television movie, The Bermuda Depths.[17]

Other ventures[edit]

In addition to acting, Attaway was also trained as a social worker[18][19] and, between acting jobs, worked with the American Red Cross, the New York State Department of Social Welfare and New York's Metropolitan Hospital.[1][3]

Honors[edit]

On November 10, 1953, Attaway was one of three people cited by the Coordinating Council For Negro Performers at a special benefit in Harlem.[20]

Personal life and death[edit]

Attaway was married to Allan Morrison, an editor of Ebony.[8][21] He died on May 29, 1968, at the age of 51.[22]

Attaway died on September 21, 1987, in New York Hospital of injuries resulting from a Manhattan apartment fire.[1][23] She was 77 years old.[1]

Partial filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ruth Attaway, Actress, Dies Of Injuries in Apartment Fire". The New York Times. September 24, 1987. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Hollywood.com
  3. ^ a b c d Ruth Attaway biography at The New York Times
  4. ^ Peterson, Bernard L. (2001). Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313295348.
  5. ^ Cruse, Harold (1967). The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership. New York Review of Books. ISBN 9781590171356.
  6. ^ Aschenbrenner, Joyce (2002). Katherine Dunham: Dancing a Life. University of Illinois Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780252027598. ruth attaway actress.
  7. ^ Battat, Erin Royston (2014). Ain't Got No Home: America's Great Migrations and the Making of an Interracial Left. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469614038.
  8. ^ a b c "Ruth Attaway In First Film Role". Baltimore Afro-American. March 24, 1953. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  9. ^ Tracy, Steven C. (2011). Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252093425.
  10. ^ "Eartha Returns to 'Mrs. Patterson' After Fold-Up". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. February 24, 1955. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  11. ^ Peterson, Jr., Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, or Involving African Americans. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313064548.
  12. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2009). Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007. McFarland. ISBN 9780786453092.
  13. ^ "Ruth Attaway Scores In First Movie". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. October 30, 1953. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  14. ^ "Screen: An Orphan's Life; 'The Young Don't Cry' Opens at the Palace". The New York Times. July 27, 1957. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "Ruth Attaway". BFI. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  16. ^ Bogle, Donald (2015). Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television. Macmillan. ISBN 9781466894457.
  17. ^ "Videos: Exploring 'The Bermuda Depths'". Bernews. January 9, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  18. ^ "The Negro on Broadway". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. April 1964. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  19. ^ "New York Beat". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. August 9, 1962. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  20. ^ "To Honor 2 Actresses, Playwright at Benefit". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. November 5, 1953. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  21. ^ Smith, Judith E. (2014). Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292756700.
  22. ^ "EDITOR OF EBONY DIES". The Crisis. June–July 1968. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  23. ^ Ruth Attaway at Turner Classic Movies

External links[edit]

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