Lucile Gleason

• Name — Lucile Gleason • Birth Name — Lucile Webster • Born — February 6, 1888 • Birthplace — Pasadena, California, U.S. • Died — February 6, 1888 • Place of death — Brentwood, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Children — Russell Gleason

Lucile Webster was born on February 6, 1888, in Pasadena, California.

• Illustration — Lucile Gleason and James Gleason in the Broadway production of The Shannons of Broadway (1927) Lucile Webster went on stage as a teen working with her father's stock company. After she married actor James Gleason, she realized stage success in New York City in a production of The Shannons of Broadway (1927), written by her husband. The play was adapted for a 1929 film of the same name, and was later made into the film Goodbye Broadway (1938).

• Illustration — The Gleasons as the Higgins Family in the 1939 film, The Covered Trailer Their son, Russell, was paired with his parents in the farcical family comedy, The Higgins Family, in 1938. The story centers around Lucile's performance in two radio programs which threaten to derail her husband's advertising business. The trio was also featured in Grandpa Goes to Town, another Higgins saga, in 1940.

She was a vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild and was a member of the Hollywood U.S.O. and the Veterans' Service Council. In 1947 she was named Mother of 1947 in a Mother's Day observance conducted by the U.S.O. In the 1930s Gleason served on the advisory board of the Federal Theater Project. On several occasions she was an unsuccessful candidate for political office. In 1944 Gleason ran for the Assembly from the 59th District in California. In 1946 she was defeated by then incumbent Secretary of State Frank Jordan.

Gleason became the wife of actor James Gleason in 1905, when the couple married in Oakland, California. She took his surname as her professional and legal surname. Her only child was actor Russell Gleason (1908-1945), whose most prominent role came in the Academy Award-winning version of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), in which he played the role of Private Müller. On December 26, 1945, Russell Gleason was in New York City when he fell to his death out of a fourth story window in the Hotel Sutton. He had been awaiting deployment to Europe with his regiment in the hotel, which the army had commandeered to house the troops. Reports varied, some saying the fall was accidental, while others stating it was a suicide.

Gleason died in her sleep, apparently of heart disease in 1947, aged 59, at her home in Brentwood, California.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1929 — The Shannons of Broadway — Emma Shannon • 1931 — The Pagan Lady — Nellie • Girls About Town — Mrs. Benjamin Thomas • Nice Women — Mrs. Girard • 1932 — Girl of the Rio — Matron • 1933 — Don't Bet on Love — Mrs. Gilbert • The Solitaire Man — Mrs. Arthur Peabody • Love, Honor, and Oh Baby! — Flo Bowen • 1934 — Beloved — The Duchess • Woman Unafraid — Augusta Winthrop • I Like It That Way — Mrs. Anderson • A Successful Failure — Mrs. Cushing • 1936 — Klondike Annie — Big Tess • The Ex-Mrs. Bradford — Mrs. Hutchins • Rhythm on the Range — Penelope 'Penny' Ryland • Red Lights Ahead — Molly 'Ma' Wallace • 1937 — Navy Blues — Aunt Beulah • First Lady — Mrs. Ives • 1938 — The Higgins Family — Lillian Higgins • The Nurse from Brooklyn — 'Ma' Hutchins • The Beloved Brat — Miss Brewster • 1939 — My Wife's Relatives — Lil Higgins • Should Husbands Work? • The Covered Trailer • Money to Burn • 1940 — Grandpa Goes to Town • Lucky Partners — Ethel's Mother • Earl of Puddlestone — Lil Higgins • 1941 — The Gay Falcon — Vera Gardner • 1942 — She's in the Army — Sgt. Hannah Walters • 1943 — Stage Door Canteen — Herself • 1944 — Take It Big — Sophie • 1945 — The Clock — Mrs. Al Henry • Don't Fence Me In — Mrs. Prentiss — (final film role)