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Born · November 8, 1883
Died · November 9, 1942 (59 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Malden, Massachusetts, USA
Edna May Oliver (November 9, 1883 – November 9, 1942) was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters. She was born Edna May Nutter in Malden, Massachusetts. The daughter of Ida May and Charles Edward Nutter, Edna was a descendant of the 6th American president John Quincy Adams. Miss Oliver took an early interest in the stage, and she would quit school at the age of 14 to pursue her ambitions in the theater. Despite abandoning traditional schooling, Edna continued to study the performing arts, including speech and piano. One of her first jobs was as pianist with an all female orchestra which toured America around the turn of the century. By 1917 she had achieved success on Broadway in the hit play "Oh, Boy". By 1923 she had appeared in her first film. Edna May Oliver seems to have been born to play the classics of American and British literature. Some of her most memorable film roles were in adaptations of works of Charles Dickens. Although some have described her as plain or "horse faced", Edna May Oliver's comedic talents lent a beautiful droll warmth to her characters. She was usually called upon to play less glamorous roles such as a spinsters, but she played them with such soul, wit, and depth that to this day she remains one of the best loved of Hollywood's character actresses. A fine example of her comedic talent can be found in Laugh and Get Rich (1931). Here we find her playing a role almost autobiographical in nature, that of a proud woman with Boston roots who has married "down". As the plot unwinds, she is invited to a society gala despite her modest circumstances. At the gala she becomes tipsy. With a frolicsome air Edna May seems to use the role to gently mock her real self. Her slightly drunk character seizes upon a bit of flattery, and alluding to her old New England family, proudly proclaims to each who will listen, "I am a Cranston. That explains everything!". In real life, Edna May Oliver was a Nutter, and perhaps that explains everything. Edna May Oliver married stock broker David Pratt in 1928, but the marriage ended in divorce five years later. In 1939 she received an Oscar nomination for her supporting role as Widow McKlennar in the picture Drums Along the Mohawk (1939). That was to be one of her last films. Miss Oliver was struck ill in August of 1942. Although she seemed to recover briefly, she was re-admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars of Lebanon hospital in October Her dear friend actress Virginia Hammond flew out from New York to stay by her bedside. Edna May Oliver died on her 59th birthday, 9th November 1942. Virginia Hammond was with her and said, "She died without ever being aware of the gravity of her condition. She just went peacefully asleep."
Self (from The Saturday Night Kid [1929]) (archive footage)
7.7
1999
Sarah MacMillan
6.4
1941
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
6.9
1940
Mrs. Mc Klennar
6.5
1939
Countess de Mavon
6.4
1939
Aunt Phoebe
4.5
1939
Maggie Sutton
7.0
1939
Sarah Wendling
6.6
1938
Mrs. Kunkel
6.8
1938
Queen of Romanza
5.5
1937
Mrs. Atherton
6.1
1937
Aunt Ben Wood
4.6
1937
Juliet's Nurse
6.2
1936
Miss Pross
6.8
1935
Fanny 'Grandma' Townsend
5.1
1935
Hildegarde Withers
6.2
1935
Aunt Betsey Trotwood
6.6
1935
Maude Stanley
4.0
1934
Hildegarde Withers
5.7
1934
Augusta Pritchard, Cabot's sister
3.0
1934
Harriet Spottiswood
0.0
1934
Red Queen
6.1
1933
Aunt March
6.8
1933
Leona
6.8
1933
Dean Primrose
4.3
1933
Malvina Wormser
5.9
1933
Dr. Prodwell
5.0
1933
Madame Talma
0.0
1933
Miss Hildegarde Martha Withers
5.6
1932
Matilda Blake
5.7
1932
Violet Jones
6.8
1932
Mrs. Livingston Baldwin Crane
6.4
1932
Fanny Foley
0.0
1931
Bessie Tate
3.0
1931
Aunt Minnie Van Varden
7.0
1931
Sarah Cranston Austin
4.7
1931
Mrs. Tracy Wyatt
5.6
1931
Mrs. Marshall
6.0
1930
Miss Streeter
4.4
1929
J.W. Smith
0.0
1926
Mrs. Niles
0.0
1926
Amelia Pincent
0.0
1925
Mrs. McDee
6.5
1925
0.0
1925
Mrs. Trapes
6.0
1924
Hannah
0.0
1924
Benson's Secretary
0.0
1924
Hetty
0.0
1923
Mrs. Dornham
0.0
1923