1903-1994
Born in Seattle Washington, her mother Leona Roberts must have had ambitions for her daughter in the form of acting. Apparently, Leona had some sort of connections in the theater/movie world and it is said that it was she that got Josephine her very first film role, and the only one in the silent era. That came in a 1917 Mary Pickford film The Little Princess. Josephine went on to study The Cornish School of Music and Drama in her home town, and later moved to New York City to begin acting on the stage. She never had another silent era film appearance. Her next film came in the 1934 Happiness Ahead in which she had a starring role. There is one thing of that I can not pass up mentioning, and that is that her mother followed her into acting, not the other way around. Apparently she had talent, but not to the extent of her daughter. Leona Roberts' (credited by her maiden name) is best remembered for her role as the gossip in Gone With The Wind (1939). Josephine, herself, went on to have an extensive career in both film and television, including a part in Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959) and guest staring on tons of television programs starting in the mid-1950's. For Countdown to Halloweeners out there, she was in a rather iconic episode of the original The Twilight Zone,--"I Sing The Body Electric," assaying the role of "Grandma Robot." More importantly, she took the role of Elsa von Frankenstein in Son Of Frankenstein (1939)--same year as Gone With The Wind....
 |
| As Elsa von Frankenstein (1939) |
Hutchinson passed away in a New York City nursing home 4 June 1998 at the age of 94. Her last acting appearance having come in 1974 on an episode of Little House On The Prairie. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered, at her request, in Oregon.
 |
| As "Grandma Robot" (1962) |
No comments:
Post a Comment