Phyllis Povah

Phyllis Povah (July 21, 1893 – August 7, 1975) was an American stage and film actress born in Detroit, Michigan, whose Broadway career spanned from 1921 to 1954.

Povah made her Broadway debut in Mr. Pim Passes By in 1921, subsequently taking on minor roles in several productions over the following years before landing one of the leads in the 1923 play Icebound. Her Broadway credits during this period also included the plays Hospitality and Windows. A significant career turning point came with the stage production of The Women, in which she earned a featured role. The play ran for eighteen months between 1936 and 1938, and when George Cukor directed the 1939 film adaptation, Povah and Marjorie Main were the only cast members retained from the stage production to reprise their roles.

Despite the success of The Women film, Povah remained primarily a stage performer. She also appeared in the 1943 film Let's Face It alongside Bob Hope and Betty Hutton, as well as the stage production Co-respondent Unknown. Her most prominent work of the 1940s came with Dear Ruth, in which she starred alongside John Dall and Virginia Gilmore. The production ran on Broadway from 1944 to 1946.

In 1952, Povah appeared in two films, both directed by George Cukor: The Marrying Kind, starring Judy Holliday and Aldo Ray, and Pat and Mike, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Her final Broadway appearance was in Anniversary Waltz in 1954 and 1955, a production that featured MacDonald Carey and Kitty Carlisle. The film adaptation of that play, retitled Happy Anniversary and starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor, was released in 1959 and served as her final screen appearance.

Povah died of a heart attack in Port Washington, New York, on August 7, 1975, at the age of 82. Her cremains are interred at Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington, New York.