Marietta Canty

Marietta Canty (September 30, 1905 – July 9, 1986) was an American actress and community activist born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Mary and Henry Canty. Her parents were members of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and active canvassers for the Republican Party.

Canty's stage career brought her to Broadway across a span that extended from 1929 to 1940. Her Broadway credits include Horse Fever, Co-respondent Unknown, the play Run, Little Chillun, Ring Two, and the revue George White's Scandals. The external record places her Broadway debut in 1933.

Between 1940 and 1955, Canty appeared in approximately 40 films, predominantly in supporting roles and bit parts. As was common for African-American actresses of her generation, many of those roles were as domestic servants. Among her earliest film appearances were two 1942 productions featuring Marlene Dietrich in the lead: The Lady is Willing and The Spoilers. She is perhaps most recognized for her role as Delilah, the housemaid of Spencer Tracy's character, in the 1950 comedy Father of the Bride and its 1951 sequel Father's Little Dividend. Her final Hollywood credit was the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean, in which she played the family maid of Sal Mineo's character.

Beyond her performing career, Canty was active in civic life in Hartford, including a campaign for a seat on the Hartford City Council in the early 1960s. She received a Humanitarian Award from the Hartford Section of the National Council of Women and a Certificate of Service and Award Recognition from the American Red Cross. A circa 1897 Queen Anne style house in Hartford, Connecticut, purchased by her parents in 1930, bears her name as the Marietta Canty House.