Career
Born as Violet McNaughton in Hamilton, Ontario, she worked primarily on stage but also made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of Cary Grant"s dotty old aunts in Arsenic and Old Lace, a role she originated on Broadway. Her final performance was as the beloved matriarch Rebecca Nurse in the original production of The Crucible. Like many stage actresses of her era, she also appeared in vaudeville.
She was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and died in New York City, New York, at age 79.
lieutenant"s a Boy! (1922-?)
The Jay Walker (1926)
Devils (1926)
The Good Fellow (1926)
Machinal (1928) (*with a young unknown Clark Gable)
That Ferguson Family (1928-1929)
Scarlet Pages (1929)
Everything"s Jake (1930)
Rock Maine, Julie (1931)
Blessed Event (1932)
Best Years (1932)
Black Sheep (1932)
The Show Office (1932-1933)
Foreign Services Rendered (1933)
Murder at the Vanities (1933-1934)
Broomsticks, Amen! (1934)
Picnic (1934-?)
Mid-West (1936-?)
Sun Kissed (1937-?)
On Borrowed Time (1938)
Morning"s at Seven (1939-1940)
Goodbye in the Night (1940)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1941-1944)
Star-Spangled Family (1945)
The Next Half Hour (1945)
Detective Story (1949-1950)
Bell, Book and Candle (1950-1951)
The Crucible (1953).