Ruth Gillette

Ruth Gillette (August 16, 1906 – May 13, 1994) was an American actress born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Millard and Goldena Gillette. Her career in film, television, and theater spanned from the 1920s through the 1980s.

Gillette launched her professional career in 1925, working primarily in musical comedy. Her Broadway debut came that year in the musical Gay Paree, and she went on to appear on Broadway across five decades, from 1925 to 1971. Her stage credits included the musical Babes in Toyland, The Pajama Game, the comedy The Gazebo, Mame, and 70, Girls, 70.

Throughout the 1930s, Gillette built a substantial film career, appearing in Stage Mother, Frontier Marshal, David Harum, Three on a Honeymoon, Wild Gold, Convention Girl, Off to the Races, This Is My Affair, and Saratoga, among other productions. Her film work continued into the following decades with roles in The Postman Didn't Ring, Coney Island, Nob Hill, and In a Lonely Place. Later film appearances included The Shaggy D.A. in 1976 and Going Ape! in 1981.

In television, Gillette appeared in episodes of The Partridge Family, Madame's Place, Too Close for Comfort, and The Facts of Life during the 1970s and 1980s, the last of which featured her in a recurring role as a character named Ruth across four episodes between 1985 and 1986.

In her personal life, Gillette was married to composer Harry Archer, with whom she had one son, Robert Gillette Robbins. Archer died in 1960. Gillette died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 1994, at the age of 87. She was cremated.