Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1902, Thelma appeared in plays at her high school, then with stock companies. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts only briefly because of financial difficulties. While becoming established as a stage actress, she married Joseph Moran, and retired temporarily to raise their two children.
Woman Confronts Macy’s Santa Claus
Her first movie role was in Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street (1947). The brief, uncredited performance as the exhausted mother in Macy’s Store caught the attention of audiences and filmmakers. Her more substantial role in A Letter to Three Wives (1949) for Joseph L. Mankiewicz definitely made its mark.
When Mankiewicz was casting for All About Eve (1950), Ritter was the only actress considered for the role of Birdie. As a former actress, and the maid for Bette Davis’ Margo Channing, she more than held her own. The only real criticism of her participation in the film was that there wasn’t enough. She received her first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress for the performance.
Thelma’s portrayal of the wise-cracking nurse Clancy in the Susan Hayward film, With a Song in My Heart (1952) earned her another Oscar nomination.
Academy Award Nominations
In all, she received six Academy Award nominations for best actress in a supporting role:
- All About Eve (1950)
- The Mating Season (1951)
- With a Song in My Heart (1952)
- Pickup on South Street (1953)
- Pillow Talk (1959)
- Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Ritter appeared frequently in anthology programs. The original television version of A Catered Affair by Paddy Chayefsky was first broadcast in May, 1955. Thelma Ritter, Pat Henning, and J. Pat O’Malley were the stars in that Television Playhouse presentation.
Thelma plays a disillusioned mother who wants a catered wedding for her daughter, though the family cannot afford it. She received a best actress Emmy nomination for her outstanding performance. Years later, in a tribute to Ritter, Chayefsky highly praised the great performance she was able to give despite his play’s pitfalls.
Broadway Show
New Girl in Town was a Broadway musical that opened in 1957. In it, Thelma portrayed a jealous drunk. Voting for the Tony Award for best actress in a musical produced a tie that year. Ritter and her co-star Gwen Verdon were the honored recipients.
In her many roles, Ritter portrayed a variety of characters who were hard-boiled, outspoken, or wisecracking. She has sometimes been compared to the great actress Marie Dressler. Besides the toughness of some of her characters, Thelma showed their vulnerabilities. Following her death in 1969, Paddy Chayefsky wrote a tribute to her in the New York Times. He acknowledged her talent, and then added, “She was never properly publicly recognized as an actress.”
Sources:
Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces From the Thirties to the Fifties by Axel Nissen, McFarland & Co Inc Publishers2006
The New Yorker, April 28, 2008
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