Martha Wentworth
Martha Wentworth | |
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![]() Wentworth (standing, center) in 1946's The Stranger | |
Born | Verna Martha Wentworth June 2, 1889 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Died | March 8, 1974 Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. | (aged 84)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1920s–1963 |
Verna Martha Wentworth (June 2, 1889 – March 8, 1974) was an American actress. Her vocal variety led to her being called the "Actress of 100 Voices".[1]
Biography[]
Wentworth was born in New York City. After graduating from public schools, she attended the National School of Expression. She was one of Minnie Maddern Fiske's proteges and appeared in several stage productions, beginning when she was 17 years old.[2]
Wentworth's long radio career began in the early 1920s. She played The Wintergreen Witch on The Cinnamon Bear (1937) radio program,[3]:76 Annie Wood and Mrs. Littlefield on Crime Classics (1953), and Ma Danields on The Gallant Heart (1944). She portrayed Joe Penner's mother on The Park Avenue Penners.[3]:265 She also had semi-regular roles on Broadway Is My Beat, On Stage, The Witch's Tale,[3]:356 The Baby Snooks Show,[3]:32 and The Abbott and Costello Show.[3]
Wentworth also did the voices for Mama Katzenjammer in the Katzenjammer Kids adaptation of The Captain and the Kids.
She later became a film actress in the 1940s, starring in several Red Ryder Western films. She was in "Lassie" as neighbor Bertha aired on March 22, 1959 in season 5 episode 29. Two of her well known roles is when she worked as a voice artist for Walt Disney Productions; as Nanny, Queenie the Cow and Lucy the Goose in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and as Madame Mim in The Sword in the Stone (1963), her final credited film appearance two years later.
She died on March 8, 1974, at age 84.
Selected filmography[]
- Prison Shadows (1936) - Mrs. Murphy (uncredited)
- I Love to Singa (1936, Merrie Melodies short) - Mother Owl (voice, uncredited)
- At Your Service Madame (1936, Merrie Melodies short) - Mrs. Hamhock (voice, uncredited)
- Don't Look Now (1936, Merrie Melodies short) - Lady Woodpecker (voice, uncredited)
- He Was Her Man (1937, Merrie Melodies short) - Widow Mouse (voice, uncredited)
- Pigs Is Pigs (1937, Merrie Melodies short) - Mrs. Hamhock (voice, uncredited)
- Waterloo Bridge (1940) - Tart on Bridge at the End (uncredited)
- Wildcat Bus (1940) - Mrs. Waters (uncredited)
- Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940) - Housekeeper (uncredited)
- Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941) - Mrs. Brady
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) - Landlady (uncredited)
- Fraidy Cat (1942, Tom and Jerry short) - woman in "witching hour" radio program. (voice, uncredited)
- The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942) - Proprietress (uncredited)
- Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (1942) - White Hood (voice, uncredited)[4]
- Clancy Street Boys (1943) - Mrs. Molly McGinnis
- Strange Affair (1944) - Proprietress (uncredited)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) - Sheila's Mother (uncredited)
- Fallen Angel (1945) - Hotel Maid (uncredited)
- Adventure (1945) - Woman (uncredited)
- The Stranger (1946) - Sara
- Santa Fe Uprising (1946) - The Duchess
- Stagecoach to Denver (1946) - The Duchess (Red's Aunt)
- Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947) - Duchess Wentworth
- Oregon Trail Scouts (1947) - The Duchess
- Rustlers of Devil's Canyon (1947) - The Duchess
- Marshal of Cripple Creek (1947) - The Duchess
- His Bitter Half (1950, Merrie Melodies short) - Daffy Duck's wife (voice, uncredited)
- Love Nest (1951) - Mrs. Thompson (uncredited)
- She Couldn't Say No (1952) - Mrs. Holbert (uncredited)
- Young Man with Ideas (1952) - Mrs. Hammerty
- You for Me (1952) - Lucille's Mother (uncredited)
- O. Henry's Full House (1952) - Mrs. O'Brien (segment "The Last Leaf") (uncredited)
- My Man and I (1952) - Nancy's Landlady (uncredited)
- The Clown (1953) - Neighbor (uncredited)
- One Girl's Confession (1953) - Old Lady
- The Human Jungle (1954) - Marcy, Janitress (uncredited)
- Jupiter's Darling (1955) - Widow Titus
- Blackboard Jungle (1955) - Mrs. Lucy Brophy (uncredited)
- Artists and Models (1955) - Fat Lady (uncredited)
- Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) - Annie Holloway (uncredited)
- The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) - Vangie (uncredited)
- The Killer Is Loose (1956) - Apartment House Manager's Wife (uncredited)
- Rock Around the Clock (1956) - Miss Anna Dunlap - Chaperone (uncredited)
- The Desperados Are in Town (1956) - Mrs. Joan Tawson (uncredited)
- Monkey on My Back (1957) - Landlady (uncredited)
- The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957) - Mrs. Felicity Merchant
- Go, Johnny, Go! (1959) - Mrs. Kimberley McGillicuddy
- The Beatniks (1960) - Nadine
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) - Nanny / Queenie / Lucy (voice)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963) - Old Lady Squirrel / Madam Mim (voice) (final film role)
References[]
- ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 221. ISBN 9780786486946. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ "Ether Etchings". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. August 26, 1934. p. Part II - Page 4. Retrieved January 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
- ^ https://leonardmaltin.com/a-mel-blanc-discovery/
- Wollstein, Hans J., AllMovie.
External links[]
- 1889 births
- 1974 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from New York City
- American film actresses
- Warner Bros. Cartoons voice actors
- American radio actresses
- American television actresses
- American voice actresses
- Disease-related deaths in California