Leona Roberts

Leona Roberts, born Leona Celinda Doty on July 26, 1879, in Monroe Center, Ashtabula County, Ohio, was an American actress who worked extensively in both stage and film. She died on January 29, 1954, at the age of 74, and was the mother of actress Josephine Hutchinson.

Roberts made her Broadway debut in 1926 and went on to appear in approximately 40 productions between that year and 1945, working primarily in supporting roles. Her verified stage credits include The Would-Be Gentleman, The Lady from Alfaqueque, Mademoiselle Bourrat, The Cherry Orchard, and the drama Uncle Harry. After a period away from the stage, she returned to Broadway in 1941 and continued performing there through the mid-1940s.

Her screen career began in 1926 when she appeared as the lead in Poor Mrs. Jones, a film produced by the United States Department of Agriculture. Roberts relocated to Hollywood in 1937 and accumulated credits in more than 40 films, most frequently cast in motherly supporting parts. Among her most recognized screen appearances was the role of Mrs. Meade, described as a society gossip, in Gone with the Wind in 1939. That same year she appeared in Bringing Up Baby alongside Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, playing the house servant Mrs. Gogarty. She also had roles in Of Human Hearts with James Stewart and The Blue Bird with Shirley Temple, both released in 1938 and 1940 respectively. Following her return to Hollywood after her final Broadway years, Roberts took a small part in The Loves of Carmen in 1948 and made her last film appearance in 1949.

In her later years, Roberts was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church and devoted herself to charitable and religious causes following her retirement from performing.