Gordon [Jones], Ruth (1896–1985), actress and playwright. Born in Wollaston, Massachusetts, she was determined to become an actress after watching Hazel
Dawn in
The Pink Lady. To this end she studied at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making her stage debut as Nibs opposite Maude
Adams in a 1915 revival of
Peter Pan. One of her first important assignments was as Lola Pratt in
Seventeen (1918), after which she played Cora Wheeler in the road company of
Clarence (1920). Subsequent important roles included Bobby in
Saturday's Children (1927); the guileless
Serena Blandish (1929); the tragic Mattie Silver in
Ethan Frome (1936); Mrs. Pinchwife in a revival of
The Country Wife (1936); Nora in
A Doll's House (1937); Natasha in
The Three Sisters (1942); writer Paula Wharton in her own comedy,
Over 21 (1944); and Dolly Levi in
The Matchmaker (1955). Brooks
Atkinson, writing of the tiny, gravel‐voiced actress's performance as Dolly, suggested she gave “her most extravagant performance—sweeping wide, growling, leering, cutting through her scenes with sharp gestures.” Gordon also wrote a successful, semiautobiographical play about a stagestruck young girl,
Years Ago (1946). Her last New York appearances were as the actress Zina in
Dreyfus in Rehearsal (1974) and the title role in
Mrs. Warren's Profession (1976). One of the last old‐school performers to demand footlights whenever she appeared, she was married to the promising young actor Gregory
Kelly and, after his death, to playwright Garson
Kanin. Autobiography:
Myself Among Others, 1971.
