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Florence Bates
Actor

Florence Bates

13 Apr 1888Born
31 Jan 1954Died
65Age at death
63Credits

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Florence Bates (born Florence Rabe, April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles.

Her path to becoming an actress had many turns. She had a degree in Mathematics, taught school until married, then became the first Texas female lawyer. Then she became a bilingual radio commentator. After her husband lost her fortune, she and her husband opened a bakery in Los Angeles.

In the mid-1930s, Bates auditioned for and won the role of Miss Bates in a Pasadena Playhouse adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.

Read the full biography

When she decided to continue working with the theatre group, she changed her professional name to that of the first character she played on stage. In 1939, she was introduced to Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in her first major screen role, the vain dowager Mrs. Van Hopper, in Rebecca (1940).

Bates appeared in more than sixty films over the course of the next thirteen years. Among her cinema credits are Kitty Foyle, Love Crazy, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Heaven Can Wait, Lullaby of Broadway, Mister Big, Since You Went Away, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Winter Meeting, I Remember Mama, Portrait of Jennie, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, and Les Misérables. In television, Bates had a regular role on The Hank McCune Show and made guest appearances on I Love Lucy, My Little Margie, I Married Joan and Our Miss Brooks.

Known for

Filmography

  1. 1953Paris ModelFilm: Nora Sullivan
  2. 1953Main Street to BroadwayFilm: Mrs. Bessmer in Fantasy Sequence
  3. 1952Four Star PlayhouseSeries: Ottilie (1 episode)
  4. 1952Les MiserablesFilm: Madame Bonnet
  5. 1952The San Francisco StoryFilm: Sadie
  6. 1951I Love LucySeries: Mrs. Pettebone (1 episode)
  7. 1951Havana RoseFilm: Mrs. Fillmore
  8. 1951The Tall TargetFilm: Mrs. Charlotte Alsop
  9. 1951Father Takes the AirFilm: Minerva Bobbin
  10. 1951Lullaby of BroadwayFilm: Mrs. Anna Hubbell
  11. 1950Dick TracySeries: Mrs. Frothingham (1 episode)
  12. 1950County FairFilm: Nora 'Ma' Ryan
  13. 1950The Second WomanFilm: Amelia Foster
  14. 1950Belle of Old MexicoFilm: Nellie Chatfield
  15. 1949On the TownFilm: Madame Dilyovska
  16. 1949The Girl from Jones BeachFilm: Miss Emma Shoemaker
  17. 1949A Letter to Three WivesFilm: Mrs. Manleigh
  18. 1948Portrait of JennieFilm: Mrs. Jekes
  19. 1948My Dear SecretaryFilm: Horrible Hannah Reeve (the landlady)
  20. 1948Texas, Brooklyn & HeavenFilm: Mandy
  21. 1948River LadyFilm: Ma Dunnegan
  22. 1948Winter MeetingFilm: Mrs. Castle
  23. 1948The Inside StoryFilm: Geraldine Atherton
  24. 1948I Remember MamaFilm: Florence Dana Moorhead
  25. 1947The Judge Steps OutFilm: Chita
  26. 1947The Secret Life of Walter MittyFilm: Mrs. Griswold
  27. 1947Love and LearnFilm: Mrs. Bella Davis - Landlady
  28. 1947The Brasher DoubloonFilm: Mrs. Murdock
  29. 1946The Time, The Place and The GirlFilm: Mme. Lucia Cassel
  30. 1946The Man I LoveFilm: Mrs. Thorpe (uncredited)
  31. 1946Cluny BrownFilm: Dowager at Ames's Party
  32. 1946Claudia and DavidFilm: Nancy Riddle
  33. 1946The Diary of a ChambermaidFilm: Rose
  34. 1946Whistle StopFilm: Molly Veech
  35. 1945San AntonioFilm: Henrietta
  36. 1945Saratoga TrunkFilm: Sophie Bellop
  37. 1945Out of This WorldFilm: Harriet Pringle
  38. 1945Tonight and Every NightFilm: May Tolliver
  39. 1944Tahiti NightsFilm: Queen Liliha
  40. 1944Belle of the YukonFilm: Viola Chase
  41. 1944KismetFilm: Karsha
  42. 1944The Mask of DimitriosFilm: Madame Elise Chavez
  43. 1943His Butler's SisterFilm: Lady Sloughberry
  44. 1943Heaven Can WaitFilm: Mrs. Edna Craig (uncredited)
  45. 1943Mr. LuckyFilm: Mrs. Van Every
  46. 1943Mister BigFilm: Mrs. Mary Davis
  47. 1943Slightly DangerousFilm: Mrs. Amanda Roanoke-Brooke
  48. 1943They Got Me CoveredFilm: Gypsy Woman
  49. 1942My Heart Belongs to DaddyFilm: Mrs. Saunders
  50. 1942The Moon and SixpenceFilm: Tiare Johnson
  51. 1942The Tuttles of TahitiFilm: Emily
  52. 1942We Were DancingFilm: Mrs. Elsa Vanderlip
  53. 1942Mexican Spitfire at SeaFilm: Mrs. Baldwin
  54. 1941The Chocolate SoldierFilm: Madame Helene
  55. 1941Love CrazyFilm: Mrs. Cooper
  56. 1941Strange AlibiFilm: Katie
  57. 1941The Devil and Miss JonesFilm: Store Shopper
  58. 1941Road ShowFilm: Mrs. Newton
  59. 1940Kitty FoyleFilm: Customer
  60. 1940Hudson's BayFilm: Duchess (scenes deleted)
  61. 1940The Son of Monte CristoFilm: Countess Mathilde Von Braun
  62. 1940Calling All HusbandsFilm: Emmie Trippe
  63. 1940RebeccaFilm: Edythe Van Hopper

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.