Esther Dale
Born
November 10, 1885
Died
July 23, 1961 (75 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Beaufort, South Carolina, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top.
On the stage, Dale starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway in 1933. Her other Broadway credits include Harvest of Years (1947), And Be My Love (1944), and Another Language (1932).
Dale's first film was Crime Without Passion (1934) in an uncredited role. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dames and ladies of the aristocracy.
Dale played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse, and she appeared in the 1957 Maverick episode "According to Hoyle" opposite James Garner.
North to Alaska
Woman at Picnic
1960
Thriller
Ellen the Maid · (1 episode)
1960
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
(1 episode)
1959
Lock-Up
(1 episode)
1959
The Sound and the Fury
Mrs. Maud Mansfield
1959
The Donna Reed Show
(1 episode)
1958
Maverick
Ma Braus · (1 episode)
1957
M Squad
Julia Sheldon · (1 episode)
1957
The Oklahoman
Mrs. Fitzgerald
1957
Betrayed Women
Head Matron Ballard
1955
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
Birdie Hicks
1955
December Bride
(1 episode)
1954
A Tale of Two Cities
Pross
1953
Mr. & Mrs. North
(1 episode)
1952
Cavalcade of America
Aunt Tabitha · (1 episode)
1952
Four Star Playhouse
Mrs. Weston · (1 episode)
1952
Monkey Business
Mrs. Rhinelander
1952
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Birdie Hicks
1952
Too Young to Kiss
Mrs. Boykin
1951
On Moonlight Bay
1951
Walk Softly, Stranger
Miss Thompson
1950
Surrender
Aunt May
1950
No Man of Her Own
Josie
1950
Holiday Affair
Mrs. Ennis
1949
Ma and Pa Kettle
Mrs. Birdie Hicks
1949
A Song Is Born
Miss Bragg
1948
The Unfinished Dance
Olga
1947
The Egg and I
Birdie Hicks
1947
Margie
Grandma McSweeney
1946
Smoky
Mrs. 'Gram' Richards
1946
A Stolen Life
Mrs. Johnson
1946
My Reputation
Anna
1946
Behind City Lights
Sarah Lowell
1945
On Stage Everybody
Ma Cassidy
1945
Her Favorite Patient
Martha Gravitt
1945
Old Acquaintance
Harriet
1943
The North Star
Anna Kurin
1943
Swing Your Partner
Caroline Bird, aka Anna Robbins
1943
Murder in Times Square
Longacre Lil
1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943
Wrecking Crew
Mike O'Glendy
1942
A Letter From Bataan
Mrs. Jackson
1942
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
Mrs. Thompson
1942
Maisie Gets Her Man
Mrs. McIntyre (Uncredited)
1942
You're Telling Me
Aunt Fannie Handley
1942
What's Cookin'?
Mrs. Murphy (uncredited)
1942
Blondie Goes to College
Mrs. Carrie Dill, the Landlady
1942
Dangerously They Live
Dawson, Goodwin's Housekeeper
1941
All-American Co-Ed
Aunt Matilda Collinge
1941
Aloma of the South Seas
Tarusa
1941
Unfinished Business
Aunt Mathilda
1941
Back Street
Mrs. Smith
1941
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mrs. Krausheimer
1941
Arise, My Love
Susie
1940
Blondie Has Servant Trouble
Anna Vaughn
1940
Untamed
Mrs. Smith
1940
Cross-Country Romance
Mrs. McGillicuddy
1940
The Mortal Storm
Marta
1940
Opened by Mistake
Mrs. Anthony DeBorest
1940
Forty Little Mothers
Mrs. Mason the Landlady
1940
And One Was Beautiful
Margaret
1940
Women Without Names
Head Matron Ingles
1940
Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Lincoln's Cook (uncredited)
1940
Convicted Woman
Chief Matron Brackett
1940
Village Barn Dance
Minerva Withers
1940
Laddie
Sarah, the Housekeeper
1940
Swanee River
Temperance Woman
1939
A Child Is Born
Prison Matron (uncredited)
1939
Bad Little Angel
Miss Brown, Orphanage Secretary (uncredited)
1939
Blackmail
Sarah
1939
The Women
Ingrid (uncredited)
1939
Tell No Tales
Mrs. Haskins
1939
6,000 Enemies
Prison Matron
1939
Big Town Czar
Ma Daley
1939
Broadway Serenade
Mrs. Olsen, the Landlady
1939
Sergeant Madden
Mrs. McGillivray
1939
Made for Each Other
Annie (uncredited)
1939
How to Sub-Let
Mrs. Mustavas
1939
The Great Man Votes
Mrs. Markham
1939
Girls on Probation
Mrs. Engstrom
1938
Prison Farm
Cora Waxley
1938
Stolen Heaven
Lieschen
1938
Condemned Women
Mrs. Clara Glover, Head Matron
1938
The Awful Truth
Mrs. Leeson
1937
Dead End
Mrs. Fenner
1937
On Such a Night
Miss Belinda Fentridge
1937
Easy Living
Lillian
1937
Wild Money
Jenny Hawkins
1937
Damaged Goods
Mrs. Dupont
1937
Outcast
Hattie Simmerson
1937
Hollywood Boulevard
Martha
1936
Fury
Mrs. Whipple
1936
The Case Against Mrs. Ames
Matilda
1936
The Farmer in the Dell
Ma Boyer
1936
Lady of Secrets
Miss Eccles
1936
Timothy's Quest
Hitty Tarbox
1936
The Great Impersonation
Mrs. Unthank
1935
I Dream Too Much
Mrs. Dilley (uncredited)
1935
In Old Kentucky
Dolly Breckenridge
1935
Mary Burns, Fugitive
Kate
1935
I Live My Life
Brumbaugh, Mrs. Gage's Housekeeper
1935
Curly Top
Genevieve Graham
1935
Private Worlds
Matron
1935
The Wedding Night
Mrs. Kaise Novak
1935
Crime Without Passion
Miss Keeley (uncredited)
1934