Actress. She enjoyed a more than sixty-year career on stage, television and in films, often cast in roles of lively and spirited women. Born Estelle Ruth Goodwin, in Lee, Kent, England, she chose to pursue a career in acting at an early age, which her father, a civil engineer strongly disapproved. In spite of this, she was trained at the Lyric Stage Academy in London and made her professional stage debut in Johannesburg, South Africa. She served as director of the Liverpool Repertory Company, during World War I, which was overseen by George Bernard Shaw. Following a consistence presence on the London stage, she moved across the Atlantic and made her Broadway debut in the play "Hush." This began a forty-year association with the Great White Way. Her first substantial film role was in the picture "House of Trent" (1932) and would go on to such movies as "The Swan" (1956), "The Magic Sword" (1962), "Jenny" (1970) and "Murdered By Death" (1976). Among her television credits include "Perry Mason," "Batman," "Love, American Style," "Barnaby Jones," and "Police Woman." Her husbands included Broadway directors Gunthrie McClintic, Robert Henderson and stage actor Arthur Chesney.
Actress. She enjoyed a more than sixty-year career on stage, television and in films, often cast in roles of lively and spirited women. Born Estelle Ruth Goodwin, in Lee, Kent, England, she chose to pursue a career in acting at an early age, which her father, a civil engineer strongly disapproved. In spite of this, she was trained at the Lyric Stage Academy in London and made her professional stage debut in Johannesburg, South Africa. She served as director of the Liverpool Repertory Company, during World War I, which was overseen by George Bernard Shaw. Following a consistence presence on the London stage, she moved across the Atlantic and made her Broadway debut in the play "Hush." This began a forty-year association with the Great White Way. Her first substantial film role was in the picture "House of Trent" (1932) and would go on to such movies as "The Swan" (1956), "The Magic Sword" (1962), "Jenny" (1970) and "Murdered By Death" (1976). Among her television credits include "Perry Mason," "Batman," "Love, American Style," "Barnaby Jones," and "Police Woman." Her husbands included Broadway directors Gunthrie McClintic, Robert Henderson and stage actor Arthur Chesney.
Bio by: C.S.
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