- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Switching from Broadway to Hollywood in 1931, actress Esther Howard was an expert at portraying frumpy old crones, man-hungry spinsters and oversexed dowagers. Utilizing her wide, expressive eyes and versatile voice for both broad comedy and tense drama, Howard was equally at home portraying slatternly toss-pot Mrs. Florian in Murder, My Sweet (1944) as she was in the role of genteelly homicidal Aunt Sophie in Laurel and Hardy's The Big Noise (1944). She was a regular participant in the films of writer/director Preston Sturges, playing everything from an addled farm woman in Sullivan's Travels (1941) to the bejeweled wife of "The Wienie King" in The Palm Beach Story (1942). From 1935 to 1952, Esther Howard was a fixture of Columbia's short-subject unit, usually cast as the wife or sweetheart of comedian Andy Clyde.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesArthur Albertson(October 14, 1919 - October 26, 1926) (his death)Walter Taylor, DDS (divorced)
- Playing Tough, Assertive Old Ladies, Usually Drunk
- Her husband Arthur Albertson died in 1926 from undisclosed causes. She never remarried nor had any children.
- Beginning in the early 1940s, Howard was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by him.
- She appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) and Detour (1945).
- Is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California Plot: Eventide, L-724.
- She started her career on the New York stage in 1917 playing a supporting role in a show called "Eve's Daughter", which was a tremendous flop.
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