Esther Dale

Esther Dale

Known For

The Awful Truth

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top.

On the stage, Dale starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway in 1933. Her other Broadway credits include Harvest of Years (1947), And Be My Love (1944), and Another Language (1932).

Dale's first film was Crime Without Passion (1934) in an uncredited role. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dames and ladies of the aristocracy.

Dale played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse, and she appeared in the 1957 Maverick episode "According to Hoyle" opposite James Garner.

Movies Featuring Esther Dale

North to Alaska

North to Alaska (1960)

as Woman at Picnic
The Sound and the Fury

The Sound and the Fury (1959)

as Mrs. Maud Mansfield
The Oklahoman

The Oklahoman (1957)

as Mrs. Fitzgerald
Betrayed Women

Betrayed Women (1955)

as Head Matron Ballard
Monkey Business

Monkey Business (1952)

as Mrs. Rhinelander
Ma and Pa Kettle

Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)

as Mrs. Birdie Hicks
Margie

Margie (1946)

as Grandma McSweeney
Smoky

Smoky (1946)

as Mrs. 'Gram' Richards
Bedside Manner

Bedside Manner (1945)

as Martha Gravitt
Swing Your Partner

Swing Your Partner (1943)

as Caroline Bird, aka Anna Robbins
Wrecking Crew

Wrecking Crew (1942)

as Mike O'Glendy
Maisie Gets Her Man

Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)

as Mrs. McIntyre (Uncredited)
You're Telling Me

You're Telling Me (1942)

as Aunt Fannie Handley
What's Cookin'?

What's Cookin'? (1942)

as Mrs. Murphy (uncredited)
Blondie Goes to College

Blondie Goes to College (1942)

as Mrs. Carrie Dill, the Landlady
Dangerously They Live

Dangerously They Live (1941)

as Dawson, Goodwin's Housekeeper
All-American Co-Ed

All-American Co-Ed (1941)

as Aunt Matilda Collinge
Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

as Mrs. Krausheimer
Untamed

Untamed (1940)

as Mrs. Smith
Opened by Mistake

Opened by Mistake (1940)

as Mrs. Anthony DeBorest
Forty Little Mothers

Forty Little Mothers (1940)

as Mrs. Mason the Landlady
Women Without Names

Women Without Names (1940)

as Head Matron Ingles
Abe Lincoln in Illinois

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

as Lincoln's Cook (uncredited)
Convicted Woman

Convicted Woman (1940)

as Chief Matron Brackett
Laddie

Laddie (1940)

as Sarah, the Housekeeper
Swanee River

Swanee River (1939)

as Temperance Woman
A Child Is Born

A Child Is Born (1939)

as Prison Matron (uncredited)
Bad Little Angel

Bad Little Angel (1939)

as Miss Brown, Orphanage Secretary (uncredited)
The Women

The Women (1939)

as Ingrid (uncredited)
6,000 Enemies

6,000 Enemies (1939)

as Prison Matron
Broadway Serenade

Broadway Serenade (1939)

as Mrs. Olsen, the Landlady
Sergeant Madden

Sergeant Madden (1939)

as Mrs. McGillivray
Made for Each Other

Made for Each Other (1939)

as Annie (uncredited)
How to Sub-Let

How to Sub-Let (1939)

as Mrs. Mustavas
Prison Farm

Prison Farm (1938)

as Cora Waxley
Condemned Women

Condemned Women (1938)

as Mrs. Clara Glover, Head Matron
Dead End

Dead End (1937)

as Mrs. Fenner
On Such a Night

On Such a Night (1937)

as Miss Belinda Fentridge
Wild Money

Wild Money (1937)

as Jenny Hawkins
Outcast

Outcast (1937)

as Hattie Simmerson
Fury

Fury (1936)

as Mrs. Whipple
I Dream Too Much

I Dream Too Much (1935)

as Mrs. Dilley (uncredited)
In Old Kentucky

In Old Kentucky (1935)

as Dolly Breckenridge
I Live My Life

I Live My Life (1935)

as Brumbaugh, Mrs. Gage's Housekeeper
Curly Top

Curly Top (1935)

as Genevieve Graham
The Wedding Night

The Wedding Night (1935)

as Mrs. Kaise Novak
Crime Without Passion

Crime Without Passion (1934)

as Miss Keeley (uncredited)