Ruth Warrick
Encyclopedia
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005), DM
, was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler on All My Children
, which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005.
She celebrated her 80th birthday by attending a special screening of Citizen Kane
to a packed, standing-room-only audience, to which she spoke afterward. (She made her film debut as Kane's first wife.) Over the years, she collected several books about Orson Welles
and Citizen Kane, in which she would write "Property of Ruth Warrick, Mrs. Citizen Kane".
. By writing an essay in high school called "Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis", Warrick won a contest to be Miss Jubilesta, Missouri
's paid ambassador to New York City
. Popular legend says that she made her debut in New York City
on the steps of city hall with an armful of turkeys for Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.
Warrick began her career in the 1940s as a radio singer where she met her first husband Eric Rolf, but her first big break was being hired by a young Orson Welles
for Citizen Kane, where she played Emily Monroe Norton. When she auditioned for the part, she read with Welles. She said that because she was so new to the acting business, she was not aware that it was very rare to actually read with the star. What she also didn't realize was that this was also Welles' first film role. Citizen Kane proved to be a major moment of her life and the long term success of the film would follow her for the rest of her life.
Welles hired her again for his film Journey into Fear alongside fellow Kane actor Joseph Cotten
. She worked alongside Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
, in the film The Corsican Brothers
and had a role in the Academy Award
winning Disney
film Song of the South
; she also appeared in Daisy Kenyon
, which starred Joan Crawford
and Henry Fonda
, but by the late 1940s her film roles were becoming infrequent and less notable.
In the 1950s, she befriended soap opera
creator Irna Phillips
and her protégé, Agnes Nixon
. Warrick became a cast member on the soap opera The Guiding Light
, playing Janet Johnson, R. N. from 1953 to 1954. Phillips was impressed by Warrick's performance and hired her for her new soap opera, As the World Turns
when the show debuted in 1956. Her character, Edith Hughes, was madly in love with a married man, Jim Lowell. Phillips wanted the characters to live happily ever after, but Procter & Gamble
, which owned the show, demanded that the characters not endorse adultery
, so Jim "died". Warrick stayed on the show until 1960, and was so popular with fans that she would return several times for holiday visits. Her character married another doctor, Dr. Frye.
From 1959-1960, she was the understudy for Una Merkel
and future All My Children co-star Eileen Herlie
in the Broadway
production of Take Me Along
.
During the 1961-62 television season, she starred in the Father of the Bride
television series. Then, in 1965, she joined the cast of the primetime serial, Peyton Place
, playing Hannah Cord. While there had been previous primetime serials (such as One Man's Family
), none had enjoyed the phenomenal success of Peyton Place. Warrick received an Emmy Award
nomination for her work on this show in 1967, the same year she left the show.
In 1969, she made her last major film, Disney's
The Great Bank Robbery
.
During this time, Agnes Nixon
had been moving up the daytime television ranks. She had created her own show, One Life to Live
, in 1968. ABC approved her new show, All My Children
, in 1969, which was based on a treatment
that Procter & Gamble had rejected a few years earlier.
nominations in 1975 and 1977. In 1985, she played Hannah Cord in the television film Peyton Place: The Next Generation
.
She was on Broadway with Debbie Reynolds
in the 1973 stage play Irene
.
Due to health problems, actor Louis Edmonds
, who portrayed Warrick's All My Children husband, left the show in 1995. Combined with Warrick's own health problems from old age, that signaled a reduction in her screen time in the 1990s. Warrick broke her hip while on vacation in Greece
in 2001 and thenceforth used a wheelchair.
Rumors circulated that head writer Richard Culliton
was planning to kill off Phoebe and that Warrick would be dropped from the show for budgetary reasons (General Hospital
had done this twice to Anna Lee
, who had played matriarch Lila Quartermaine). Phoebe was not seen on screen until All My Childrens 35th anniversary show on January 5, 2005. This brief appearance would ultimately be Warrick's final screen appearance. When she was wheeled into the building, the cast and crew gave her a standing ovation
to welcome her back after such a long absence. This episode featured not only a rare appearance from Warrick, but the return of her stepdaughter Verla, played by comedic legend Carol Burnett
. This episode also featured Agnes Nixon
.
She published her autobiography
, The Confessions of Phoebe Tyler (co-written by Don Preston
) in 1980, the same year she won a Soapy Award (a prelude to the Soap Opera Digest Awards
).
She received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
and was on hand to receive her Daytime Emmy Award
for Lifetime Achievement in 2004.
Warrick was a member of the Democratic Party, working with the administrations of John F. Kennedy
, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter
on labor and education issues. Upon Carter's 1980 defeat, she sent him a long letter thanking him for his efforts. He replied, telling her that if he had hired her as a speechwriter, he would have been reelected. Warrick had generally liberal
political views. In her first years at All My Children, Warrick was flustered by her character's strong right wing politics and support of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
, which Warrick personally adamantly opposed.
In July 2000, she refused to accept a lifetime achievement award from the South Carolina Arts Commission because she was offended by legislators' decision to move the Confederate flag from the state Capitol dome to another spot on the grounds in response to a boycott of the state by flag opponents. A lifelong supporter of African-American rights, she felt the flag should be removed completely, and commented, "In my view, this was no compromise. It was a deliberate affront to the African-Americans, who see it as a sign of oppression and hate."
Warrick's name popped up in television infotainment shows and supermarket
racks in 2002 in connection with the highly publicized courtship and marriage of Liza Minnelli
and David Gest
. Gest had long been spreading the rumor that he and Warrick, 38 years his senior, were romantically involved. Confronted by a reporter to confirm or deny this, Warrick predicted that Minnelli would be disappointed on her honeymoon. Minnelli and Gest escalated the tabloid war by scolding Warrick for her insinuation about Gest's sexuality. Eventually, while not recanting her statement, Warrick apologized.
In her senior years, she became a spokeswoman for the rights of senior citizens as well as the disabled and was appointed to the U.N. World Women's Committee on Mental Health.
She died of complications related to pneumonia
, aged 88, on January 15, 2005.
She received a memorial tribute at the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
. The day after the 2005 Academy Award
ceremony, former castmate Kelly Ripa
expressed her outrage on her national television show Live with Regis and Kelly
that Warrick had not been included in the annual memorial tribute to actors who had died in the previous year on the telecast.
Film historian Scott Feinberg conducted the final interview with Warrick on August 14, 2004, at her apartment in New York City.
After her death, her family put much of her estate in an auction. This auction included her extensive collection of art and photographs, as well as books signed by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Signed scripts from Peyton Place and All My Children as well as her Broadway
appearances were also in the catalog. The centerpiece of the catalog was the 25th anniversary reprint script of Citizen Kane, signed by Warrick, Joseph Cotten
and Orson Welles, one of only 100 printed.
Her family donated her 2004 Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award to a museum in her hometown of Saint Joseph, Missouri
.
Doctor of Management
Doctor of Management is an academic degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in management.The D.M. degree is awarded by some American and international universities, and is similar to a PhD degree in management and business-related sciences...
, was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler on All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005.
She celebrated her 80th birthday by attending a special screening of Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
to a packed, standing-room-only audience, to which she spoke afterward. (She made her film debut as Kane's first wife.) Over the years, she collected several books about Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
and Citizen Kane, in which she would write "Property of Ruth Warrick, Mrs. Citizen Kane".
Early life
She was born in Saint Joseph, MissouriSaint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
. By writing an essay in high school called "Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis", Warrick won a contest to be Miss Jubilesta, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
's paid ambassador to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Popular legend says that she made her debut in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the steps of city hall with an armful of turkeys for Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.
Warrick began her career in the 1940s as a radio singer where she met her first husband Eric Rolf, but her first big break was being hired by a young Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
for Citizen Kane, where she played Emily Monroe Norton. When she auditioned for the part, she read with Welles. She said that because she was so new to the acting business, she was not aware that it was very rare to actually read with the star. What she also didn't realize was that this was also Welles' first film role. Citizen Kane proved to be a major moment of her life and the long term success of the film would follow her for the rest of her life.
Welles hired her again for his film Journey into Fear alongside fellow Kane actor Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
. She worked alongside Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
, in the film The Corsican Brothers
The Corsican Brothers
The Corsican Brothers is a novella by Alexandre Dumas, père first published in 1844. It has been adapted many times on the stage and in film.-Adaptations:*The Corsican Brothers , directed by film pioneer and inventor George Albert Smith...
and had a role in the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
winning Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
; she also appeared in Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon is a 20th Century Fox feature film starring Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, and Dana Andrews in a story about a post-World War II romantic triangle. The screenplay by David Hertz was based upon a 1945 novel by Elizabeth Janeway. The film was directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Daisy...
, which starred Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, but by the late 1940s her film roles were becoming infrequent and less notable.
In the 1950s, she befriended soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
creator Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips was an American actress and most notably writer who created and scripted many of the first American soap operas.Phillips created radio and TV soap operas including:...
and her protégé, Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
. Warrick became a cast member on the soap opera The Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
, playing Janet Johnson, R. N. from 1953 to 1954. Phillips was impressed by Warrick's performance and hired her for her new soap opera, As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
when the show debuted in 1956. Her character, Edith Hughes, was madly in love with a married man, Jim Lowell. Phillips wanted the characters to live happily ever after, but Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, which owned the show, demanded that the characters not endorse adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
, so Jim "died". Warrick stayed on the show until 1960, and was so popular with fans that she would return several times for holiday visits. Her character married another doctor, Dr. Frye.
From 1959-1960, she was the understudy for Una Merkel
Una Merkel
Una Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928...
and future All My Children co-star Eileen Herlie
Eileen Herlie
Eileen Herlie was a Scottish-American actress.-Life and career:Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother in Glasgow, Scotland, and was one of five children. Herlie was trained as a theatre actress. Among her West End London theatre successes were The...
in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Take Me Along
Take Me Along
Take Me Along is a musical based on the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness, with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.-Background:...
.
During the 1961-62 television season, she starred in the Father of the Bride
Father of the Bride (TV series)
Father of the Bride is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1961-62 season. Produced by MGM Television, the series was based on the 1950 film of the same title...
television series. Then, in 1965, she joined the cast of the primetime serial, Peyton Place
Peyton Place (TV series)
Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...
, playing Hannah Cord. While there had been previous primetime serials (such as One Man's Family
One Man's Family
One Man's Family, is a long-running American radio soap opera. It was heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted serial in the history of American radio...
), none had enjoyed the phenomenal success of Peyton Place. Warrick received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination for her work on this show in 1967, the same year she left the show.
In 1969, she made her last major film, Disney's
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
The Great Bank Robbery
The Great Bank Robbery
The Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke...
.
During this time, Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
had been moving up the daytime television ranks. She had created her own show, One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
, in 1968. ABC approved her new show, All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, in 1969, which was based on a treatment
Film treatment
A film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
that Procter & Gamble had rejected a few years earlier.
All My Children
When All My Children debuted on January 5, 1970, Warrick was among the contracted cast, playing Phoebe Tyler (the character's full name via her marriages would eventually be Phoebe English Tyler Wallingford Matthews Wallingford). The show was an instant hit and Phoebe became a popular daytime character. Warrick received Daytime Emmy AwardDaytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
nominations in 1975 and 1977. In 1985, she played Hannah Cord in the television film Peyton Place: The Next Generation
Peyton Place: The Next Generation
Peyton Place: The Next Generation is a 1985 television film directed by Larry Elikann. The film is based on the TV series Peyton Place, which aired from 1964 to 1969, and the plot is set twenty years after the original sage...
.
She was on Broadway with Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
in the 1973 stage play Irene
Irene (musical)
Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney.Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when...
.
Due to health problems, actor Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds was an American actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was best known for his roles in Dark Shadows and All My Children....
, who portrayed Warrick's All My Children husband, left the show in 1995. Combined with Warrick's own health problems from old age, that signaled a reduction in her screen time in the 1990s. Warrick broke her hip while on vacation in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 2001 and thenceforth used a wheelchair.
Rumors circulated that head writer Richard Culliton
Richard Culliton
Richard Culliton is an American television writer known for his work on soap operas. He has won four Writers Guild of America Awards, including one as a Head Writer, and two Daytime Emmy Awards. He is an alumnus of Northwestern University...
was planning to kill off Phoebe and that Warrick would be dropped from the show for budgetary reasons (General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
had done this twice to Anna Lee
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
, who had played matriarch Lila Quartermaine). Phoebe was not seen on screen until All My Childrens 35th anniversary show on January 5, 2005. This brief appearance would ultimately be Warrick's final screen appearance. When she was wheeled into the building, the cast and crew gave her a standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
to welcome her back after such a long absence. This episode featured not only a rare appearance from Warrick, but the return of her stepdaughter Verla, played by comedic legend Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
. This episode also featured Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
.
She published her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, The Confessions of Phoebe Tyler (co-written by Don Preston
Don Preston
Donald Ward Preston also known as Dom DeWilde or Biff Debrie born September 21, 1932 in Flint, Michigan. Preston is an American jazz and rock and roll musician.-Biography:Preston was born into a family of musicians and began studying music at an early age...
) in 1980, the same year she won a Soapy Award (a prelude to the Soap Opera Digest Awards
Soap Opera Digest Awards
The Soap Opera Digest Awards were an awards show held by the daytime television magazine Soap Opera Digest. The awards were founded in 1984 to replace the less-lavish Soapy Award; those awards shows had run since 1977. The Soap Opera Digest Awards are meant to promote excellence in the soap opera...
).
She received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
and was on hand to receive her Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
for Lifetime Achievement in 2004.
Warrick was a member of the Democratic Party, working with the administrations of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
on labor and education issues. Upon Carter's 1980 defeat, she sent him a long letter thanking him for his efforts. He replied, telling her that if he had hired her as a speechwriter, he would have been reelected. Warrick had generally liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
political views. In her first years at All My Children, Warrick was flustered by her character's strong right wing politics and support of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, which Warrick personally adamantly opposed.
In July 2000, she refused to accept a lifetime achievement award from the South Carolina Arts Commission because she was offended by legislators' decision to move the Confederate flag from the state Capitol dome to another spot on the grounds in response to a boycott of the state by flag opponents. A lifelong supporter of African-American rights, she felt the flag should be removed completely, and commented, "In my view, this was no compromise. It was a deliberate affront to the African-Americans, who see it as a sign of oppression and hate."
Warrick's name popped up in television infotainment shows and supermarket
racks in 2002 in connection with the highly publicized courtship and marriage of Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
and David Gest
David Gest
David Alan Gest is an American concert promoter and media personality, perhaps best known for his turbulent marriage to Liza Minnelli, friendship with The Jackson 5 and appearance on the 2006 series of the British reality television show I'm a Celebrity.....
. Gest had long been spreading the rumor that he and Warrick, 38 years his senior, were romantically involved. Confronted by a reporter to confirm or deny this, Warrick predicted that Minnelli would be disappointed on her honeymoon. Minnelli and Gest escalated the tabloid war by scolding Warrick for her insinuation about Gest's sexuality. Eventually, while not recanting her statement, Warrick apologized.
In her senior years, she became a spokeswoman for the rights of senior citizens as well as the disabled and was appointed to the U.N. World Women's Committee on Mental Health.
She died of complications related to pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, aged 88, on January 15, 2005.
She received a memorial tribute at the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
. The day after the 2005 Academy Award
78th Academy Awards
The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer...
ceremony, former castmate Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa is an American actress and television host. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin and now solo host of Live! With Kelly...
expressed her outrage on her national television show Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
that Warrick had not been included in the annual memorial tribute to actors who had died in the previous year on the telecast.
Death
The January 24, 2005 episode of All My Children was dedicated "In Loving Memory of Ruth Warrick". Phoebe died off screen on January 15. Phoebe's funeral was aired May 12, 2005. The episode featured many of Warrick's most notable performances as flashbacks, and included the return of many of the characters who had been heavily involved in her storylines over the years.Film historian Scott Feinberg conducted the final interview with Warrick on August 14, 2004, at her apartment in New York City.
After her death, her family put much of her estate in an auction. This auction included her extensive collection of art and photographs, as well as books signed by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Signed scripts from Peyton Place and All My Children as well as her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
appearances were also in the catalog. The centerpiece of the catalog was the 25th anniversary reprint script of Citizen Kane, signed by Warrick, Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
and Orson Welles, one of only 100 printed.
Her family donated her 2004 Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award to a museum in her hometown of Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
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Partial filmography
- Citizen KaneCitizen KaneCitizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
(1941) - The Corsican BrothersThe Corsican Brothers (1941 film)The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 swashbuckler film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in a dual role as the title Siamese twins, separated at birth and raised in completely different circumstances. Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents, both fall in love with the same woman,...
(1941) - Forever and a Day (1943)
- Journey into FearJourney into Fear (1943 film)Journey into Fear is an American spy film based on the Eric Ambler novel of the same name. The 1943 film broadly follows the plot of the book, but the protagonist was changed to an American engineer....
(1943) - Mr. Winkle Goes to WarMr. Winkle Goes to WarMr. Winkle Goes to War is a 1944 war comedy film starring Edward G. Robinson and Ruth Warrick, based on a novel by Theodore Pratt.-Plot:On June 1, 1942, after fourteen years, mild-mannered 44-year-old Wilbert G. Winkle quits his boring bank job to follow his dream, to open a repair shop...
(1944) - Guest in the HouseGuest in the HouseGuest in the House is an American film noir directed by John Brahm. The drama features Anne Baxter, Ralph Bellamy, Aline MacMahon, among others.-Cast:* Anne Baxter as Evelyn Heath* Ralph Bellamy as Douglas Proctor* Aline MacMahon as Aunt Martha...
(1944) - Song of the SouthSong of the SouthSong of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
(1946) - Swell GuySwell GuySwell Guy is a 1946 American film that was directed by Frank Tuttle. The film's screenplay by Richard Brooks is based on the play of the same name by Gilbert Emery...
(1946) - Daisy KenyonDaisy KenyonDaisy Kenyon is a 20th Century Fox feature film starring Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, and Dana Andrews in a story about a post-World War II romantic triangle. The screenplay by David Hertz was based upon a 1945 novel by Elizabeth Janeway. The film was directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Daisy...
(1947) - Arch of TriumphArch of Triumph (1948 film)Arch of Triumph is a 1948 American war romance film made by Enterprise Productions. The film was directed by Lewis Milestone and adapted from the 1945 Erich Maria Remarque novel Arch of Triumph....
(1948) - The Great Dan PatchThe Great Dan PatchThe Great Dan Patch is a 1949 American film directed by Joseph M. Newman about the trotting horse Dan Patch. The film is also known as Ride a Reckless Mile .- Cast :*Dennis O'Keefe as David Palmer...
(1949) - Let's DanceLet's Dance (1950 film)Let's Dance is a 1950 musical romantic comedy film starring Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire. A war widow returns to work with her former dancing partner, but her upper class mother-in-law is aghast that her grandson is being exposed to show business and takes legal steps to gain custody.-Cast:*Betty...
(1950) - One Too ManyOne Too ManyOne Too Many, also known as Killer With a Label, Mixed-Up Women, and The Important Story of Alcoholism, was an exploitation film produced by Kroger Babb in 1950...
(1950) - Ride Beyond VengeanceRide Beyond VengeanceRide Beyond Vengeance is a 1966 western film. It stars Chuck Connors, Michael Rennie, Kathryn Hays and Bill Bixby.The film was directed by Bernard McEveety and produced by Andrew J. Fenady from the story "The Night of the Tiger" by Al Dewlen. Glenn Yarbrough sang the title song vocals. It was...
(1966) - The Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke...
(1969)
Video
- Ruth Warrick's video obituary from ABC News
- Tribute by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences