Lurene Tuttle

Among her best known film appearances were in Heaven Only Knows, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho.

• Name — Lurene Tuttle • Born — 19 August 1907 • Birthplace — Pleasant Lake, Indiana, U.S. • Died — 28 May 1986 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1934–1985 • Children — Barbara Ruick • Relatives — Joseph Williams (grandson)

Tuttle was born August 29, 1907, in Pleasant Lake, Indiana, into a family with strong ties to entertainment. Her father, Clair Vivien Tuttle (1883–1950), had been a performer in minstrel shows, then became a station agent for a railroad. Her grandfather, Frank Tuttle, managed an opera house and taught drama. Her mother was Verna Sylvia (née Long) Tuttle. Lurene discovered her knack for acting after moving with her family to Glendale, Arizona. She later credited a drama coach there for "making me aware of life as it really is—by making me study life in real situations." After her family moved to Southern California, Tuttle appeared in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse, then joined the vaudeville troupe Murphy's Comedians. By the time of the Great Depression, Tuttle had put her versatility with dialogue to work in radio, and within a decade, she became an in-demand actress in the medium.

Tuttle's radio debut came in 1936 when she appeared on Hollywood Hotel with Dick Powell. Despite having never performed before a microphone, Tuttle's audition won her a three-year contract with the program. Thirteen years later, one newspaper columnist called her "quite possibly the most-heard woman in America." On radio's The Adventures of Sam Spade she played just about every female role, including Spade's secretary Effie Perrine. She appeared in such shows as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and concurrently appeared on The Great Gildersleeve as the niece Marjorie Forrester. Tuttle had regular roles in such shows as Brenthouse, Dr. Christian, Duffy's Tavern, One Man's Family, The Red Skelton Show (as Junior's mother and as Daisy June, roles that she shared with Harriet Nelson), Hollywood Hotel, and Those We Love. Dr. Christian was unusual in that the show, according to critic Leonard Maltin in The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age, solicited scripts from listeners (one of whom was a young Rod Serling) and put them on the air—with a little help. Tuttle recalled: The real writers on the show had to fix them quite often a lot, because they were really quite amateurish. But they had nice thoughts, they had nice plots. They just needed fixing; the dialogue didn't work too well. Tuttle guest starred on the radio police series Dragnet, starring Jack Webb, Lux Radio Theatre, The Screen Guild Theater and Suspense, in the episode "The Sisters", with Rosalind Russell. In The Whistler, she played good and evil twins and used separate microphones to stay in character for each twin. It was during her time on Hollywood Hotel that Tuttle became involved in the founding of the American Federation of Radio Artists. According to Maltin, Tuttle's male counterpart on the show, Frank Nelson (a frequent guest performer on Jack Benny's program), tried to get both a raise to $35 per show—at a time when the show paid $5,000 per appearance to headlining guest stars. Nelson eventually got the raises, but the negotiations prompted him to become an AFRA co-founder and one of its active members. Tuttle later became the first female president of the federation's Hollywood local.

In 1944, Tuttle received Radio Life magazine's Distinguished Achievement Award for Best Supporting Feminine Player. Tuttle has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – "Star of Radio" at 1760 Vine Street and "Star of Television" at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard. Both stars were dedicated February 8, 1960.

Tuttle married Melville Ruick, an actor whom she had met during her radio years; the couple had a daughter, Barbara (1930–1974), who was married to film composer John Williams. Tuttle and Ruick eventually divorced. She then married Frederick W. Cole, an engineer, on November 27, 1950, in Pasadena, California. She sued him for divorce on January 4, 1956. She became a respected acting coach and teacher, even making time for it at the height of her acting career. She often re-trained radio actors who had been away from the craft during service in World War II. Tuttle had a hobby of collecting toy dogs. A 1930 newspaper article reported "Her dressing room shelf is filled with more than 200 miniature replicas of every variety of dog known."

Tuttle died from cancer on May 28, 1986, at a hospital in Encino, California. Memorial services were held June 2, 1986, at Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Her Sam Spade co-star Howard Duff, who delivered her eulogy, remembered Tuttle: She could just take hold of a part and do something with it...I think she never met a part she didn't like. She just loved to work; she loved to act. She's a woman who was born to do what she was doing and loved every minute of it.

• Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) – Stenographer (uncredited) • Tom, Dick and Harry (1941) – Girl Lead in Movie (voice, uncredited) • Heaven Only Knows (1947) – Mrs. O'Donnell • Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) – Mary • Homecoming (1948) – Miss Stoker • Macbeth (1948) – Witch / Gentlewoman to Lady Macduff • The Admiral Was a Lady (1950) – Unemployment Clerk (uncredited) • A Life of Her Own (1950) – Secretary (uncredited) • Watch the Birdie (1950) – Millie (uncredited) • Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) – Ellen Griswold • Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951) – Stella Dawson • The Whip Hand (1951) – Molly Loomis • Room for One More (1952) – Miss Kenyon • Don't Bother to Knock (1952) – Ruth Jones • Niagara (1953) – Mrs. Kettering • Never Wave at a WAC (1953) – Capt. Murchinson, Company CO • The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953) – Mrs. Eleanor Hammer • Give a Girl a Break (1953) – Mrs. Doolittle • The Glass Slipper (1955) – Cousin Loulou • Sincerely Yours (1955) – Mrs. McGinley • Slander (1957) – Mrs. Doyle • Untamed Youth (1957) – Judge Cecilia Steele Tropp • Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – Loretta Bartha (uncredited) • Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960) – Ma Barker • Psycho (1960) – Mrs. Chambers • Critic's Choice (1963) – Mother in "Sisters Three" • The Shoplifters (1964) – The Shoplifter • Nightmare in the Sun (1965) – Gideon's wife • The Restless Ones (1965) • The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) – Mrs. Natalie Miller • The Fortune Cookie (1966) – Mother Hinkle • The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) – Aunt Martha • Walking Tall (1973) – Grandma • "Down and Dirty Duck" (1974) – Duck's Mother (voice) • Walking Tall Part 2 (1975) – Grandma Pusser • The World Through the Eyes of Children (1975) – Tuttle • Evil Town (1977) – Mildred Phelps • Walking Tall: Final Chapter (1977) – Grandma Pusser • The Manitou (1978) – Mrs. Herz • The Story of Heidi (1979) – Clara's Grandmother (voice) • Nutcracker Fantasy (1979) – Aunt Gerda (voice) • Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979) – Anna Noble • Human Experiments (1979) – Granny • The Dukes of Hazzard (1979–1985) – Annie Cargill • White Mama (1980) – Mrs. McIntyre • Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1981) – Mollie Heller • Testament (1983) – Rosemary Abhart • It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (1984) – Mrs. Hunt

Tuttle played the swallow in "The Happy Prince", an adaption of Oscar Wilde's short story with Orson Welles and Bing Crosby (1946). The story had been adapted for radio by Orson Welles in 1944, featuring a musical score by Bernard Herrmann. It aired on the Philco Radio Hall of Fame broadcast on December 24, 1944 with Lurene Tuttle playing The Swallow and featuring Bing Crosby alongside Orson Welles, with Herrmann's music conducted by Victor Young.

• The Great Gildersleeve, "Marjorie's Cake" (7 September 1941) • The Adventures of Sam Spade, "The Dry Martini Caper" (1 August 1948) • Suspense, "Can't We Be Friends?" (25 July 1946) • Suspense, "The Sisters" (with Rosalind Russell, 9 December 1948)

Lurene Tuttle is recorded as actress.

• Frank Buxton and Bill Owen, The Big Broadcast 1920–1950. • Leonard Maltin, The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age. New York: Dutton, 1997. • Gerald Nachman, Raised on Radio. New York: Pantheon, 1998.