Jessie Ralph

• Name — Jessie Ralph • Born — 5 November 1864 • Birthplace — Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S. • Died — 30 May 1944 • Place of death — Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S. • Birth Name — Jessie Ralph Chambers • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1880–1941 • Spouse — William Patton (1901–?; his death)

Ralph was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1864, the 13th child of sailing captain James Chambers and his wife. She made her acting debut in stock theater in 1880, at age 16.

Ralph made her Broadway debut in The Kreutzer Sonata (1906) and her final appearance on Broadway was in The Good Earth (1932). In 1915, Ralph debuted in two-reel films in New York, not arriving in Hollywood until 1933. She was nearly 70 then, so her parts were limited to matronly roles, but her ability to steal scenes captured the attention of moviegoers of the time. Ralph's best-known roles include Nurse Pegotty in David Copperfield (1935), Nanine, Greta Garbo's maid in Camille (1936), as Myrna Loy's Aunt Katherine (in a state of permanent high dudgeon) in After the Thin Man (1936) and as Mrs. Hermosillo Brunch, battle-axe mother-in-law to W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick (1940). From 1933 to 1941, Ralph appeared in 55 films, 11 of them released during 1935.

Ralph married actor William Patton on August 21, 1901 in Manhattan, New York. They remained married until his death. They had no children.

Ralph retired from Hollywood in 1941 after having her leg amputated. She died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1944, aged 79 and was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

• Year — Film — Role — Director — Notes • 1915 — A Ringer for Max — short • 1915 — The Galloper — Sybil • 1915 — Mary's Lamb — Mary Lamb • 1916 — New York — Mrs. Macey — George Fitzmaurice — Lost film • 1919 — The Madonna of the Slums — short • 1921 — Such a Little Queen — Mary — George Fawcett — Lost film • 1933 — Child of Manhattan — Aunt Minnie — Edward Buzzell • 1933 — Elmer, the Great — Sarah Crosby — Mervyn LeRoy — uncredited • 1933 — Cocktail Hour — Princess de Longville — Victor Schertzinger • 1933 — Ann Carver's Profession — Terry (Graham's Maid) — Edward Buzzell • 1934 — Nana — Zoe — George Fitzmaurice • 1934 — Coming Out Party — Nora — John G. Blystone • 1934 — Murder at the Vanities — Mrs. Helene Smith — Mitchell Leisen • 1934 — The Affairs of Cellini — Beatrice — Gregory La Cava • 1934 — One Night of Love — Angelina — Victor Schertzinger • 1934 — We Live Again — Matrona Pavlovna — Rouben Mamoulian • 1934 — Evelyn Prentice — Mrs. Blake — William K. Howard • 1935 — David Copperfield — Nurse Peggotty — George Cukor • 1935 — Enchanted April — Mrs. Phoebe Fisher — Harry Beaumont • 1935 — Vanessa: Her Love Story — Lady Mullion — William K. Howard • 1935 — Les Misérables — Madame Magloire — Richard Boleslawski • 1935 — Mark of the Vampire — Midwife — Tod Browning • 1935 — Paris in Spring — Countess de Charelle — Lewis Milestone • 1935 — Jalna — Gran Whiteoak — John Cromwell • 1935 — I Live My Life — Mrs. O.H.B. Gage, Kay's grandmother — W.S. Van Dyke • 1935 — Metropolitan — Charwoman — Richard Boleslawski • 1935 — I Found Stella Parish — Nana — Mervyn LeRoy • 1935 — Captain Blood — Mrs. Barlow — Michael Curtiz • 1936 — The Garden Murder Case — Mrs. Hammle — Edwin L. Marin • 1936 — Yellow Dust — Mrs. Bryan — Wallace Fox • 1936 — Little Lord Fauntleroy — The Applewoman — John Cromwell • 1936 — The Unguarded Hour — Lady Hathaway — Sam Wood • 1936 — Bunker Bean — Grandmother — Edward Killy • 1936 — San Francisco — Mrs. Maisie Burley — W.S. Van Dyke • 1936 — Walking on Air — Evelyn Bennett — Joseph Santley • 1936 — Camille — Nanine — George Cukor • 1936 — After the Thin Man — Aunt Katherine Forrest — W.S. Van Dyke • 1937 — The Good Earth — Cuckoo — Sidney Franklin • 1937 — The Last of Mrs. Cheyney — Duchess — Richard Boleslawski • 1937 — Double Wedding — Mrs. Kensington-Bly — Richard Thorpe • 1938 — Love Is a Headache — Sheriff Janet Winfield — Richard Thorpe • 1938 — Hold That Kiss — Aunt Lucy — Edwin L. Marin • 1938 — Port of Seven Seas — Honorine — James Whale • 1939 — Four Girls in White — Miss Tobias — S. Sylvan Simon • 1939 — St. Louis Blues — Aunt Tibbie — Raoul Walsh • 1939 — Cafe Society — Mrs. De Witt — Edward H. Griffith • 1939 — The Kid from Texas — Aunt Minetta — S. Sylvan Simon • 1939 — Mickey the Kid — Veronica M. Hudson — Arthur Lubin • 1939 — Drums Along the Mohawk — Mrs. Weaver — John Ford • 1940 — The Blue Bird — Fairy Berylune — Walter Lang • 1940 — Star Dust — Aunt Martha Parker — Walter Lang • 1940 — I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby — Mama McGann — Albert S. Rogell • 1940 — Girl from Avenue A — Mrs. Van Dyne — Otto Brower • 1940 — I Want a Divorce — Grandma Brokaw — Ralph Murphy • 1940 — The Bank Dick — Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch — Edward F. Cline • 1941 — The Lady from Cheyenne — Mrs. McGuinness — Frank Lloyd • 1941 — They Met in Bombay — Duchess of Beltravers — Clarence Brown