Biography

Mary Nash

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When her Hollywood career began in 1934, Mary Nash was already a veteran performer, having appeared in vaudeville and on Broadway. Following a brief appearance as a dancer in 1904, she joined Ethel Barrymore in a 1905 off- Broadway production, 'Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire'. This was followed by 'Captain Jinks' and 'The Silver Box' with the same company, and in 1915 she acted in George Bernard Shaw's play 'Major Barbara' at the Playhouse Theatre. The versatile actress was as adept at comedy ('Captain Applejack',1921-22) as she was in drama (Cassie in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,1933).

She is best remembered on screen for being nasty to Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937) and The Little Princess (1939), and for playing Katharine Hepburn's elegant and proper society mother in The Philadelphia Story (1940). In addition, she gave excellent value-for-money in the role of Emma Louise in Come and Get It (1936) and as the ill-fated queen in the technicolor adventure Cobra Woman (1944). Mary Nash was briefly married to the actor José Ruben ((1888-1969).
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis

Veteran stage character actress who came to Hollywood and settled in 1934, best known as Kate Hepburn's socialite mom in The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Shirley Temple's cruel nemesis in both Heidi (1937) and The Little Princess (1939)."
Sister of actress Florence Nash.
Stage debut in 1904 with "The Girl from Kay's."
Educated at the Convent of St. Anne in Montreal and trained for acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Art..

[on her role as Anna Valeska in the play Captain Applejack] You don't know what fun it is. It feels, every night, as if I were stepping forth to a party. All the sobbing and gnashing of teeth that I have been doing had almost worn me out, and this part came along like a gust of wind that could blow you away if you'd let it, but it is very refreshing, just the same. It is perfectly true that emotional roles do exhaust you. I used to leave the theater tired to death. I don't know what fatigue means in this part.

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