Ruth Terry

Ruth Terry
Terry pictured in 1940
Born	Ruth Mae McMahon October 21, 1920 Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S.
Died	March 11, 2016 (aged 95) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City)
Occupation	Film actress, singer
Years active	1937–1964
Spouse(s)	John Martin(1942-?) John P. Gilmour (1947-?) John Ledbetter (1966–2016)[1]

Ruth Mae Terry (born Ruth Mae McMahon, October 21, 1920 – March 11, 2016)^[2] was an American singer and actress in film and television from the 1930s to the 1960s. She claimed her stage name came from Walter Winchell, who combined the names of two then-famous baseball players, Babe Ruth and Bill Terry.^[3]

Early years[]

Terry was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan,^[2] the daughter of Irish-American parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. E. McMahon.^[4] She attended St John's Catholic School in Benton Harbor.^[5]

Terry won a number of prizes for singing before singing with the Paul Ash Theater Orchestra at the age of twelve. At that same age, she left her hometown to sing with Clyde McCoy's orchestra.^[5]

Career[]

Terry's first movie was Love and Hisses in 1937 with Walter Winchell, at which time she was earning $400 per week. Her first western was Call of the Canyon with Gene Autry. She appeared in several Roy Rogers movies. Her best-known movie was Pistol Packin' Mama, based on the song of the same name with Robert Livingston. She retired when she married her second husband in 1947.^[6]

While making films, Terry continued her singing career in a limited way. On August 15, 1943, she appeared as guest female singer on The Bob Crosby Show on NBC radio.^[7]

Personal life[]

On June 20, 1942, Terry and test pilot John Martin eloped and were married in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[5] On October 25, 1947, she married John P. Gilmour, a Canadian. A November 8, 1947, article in her hometown newspaper, The News-Palladium, reported, "She has given up her career as an actress and she and her husband and her four-year-old son by a previous marriage will make their home at St. Genevieve de Pierre Fonds, Quebec."^[8]

Terry was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.^[9]

Death[]

Terry died on March 11, 2016 at the age of 95.^[10]

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruth Terry.

• Ruth Terry at IMDb
• Ruth Terry at Find a Grave
• Ruth Terry at the American Film Institute