Thea Foss
Encyclopedia
Thea Christiansen Foss was the founder of Foss Maritime
Foss Launch and Tug Company
Foss Launch and Tug Company was founded in 1889 by Thea Foss and her husband Andrew Foss. The company, now known as Foss Maritime, is now the largest tug and towing concern on the west coast of the United States.-Course of business:...

, the largest tugboat company in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She was the real-life person on which the fictional character "Tugboat Annie
Tugboat Annie
For the 1957 syndicated television series, see The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.Tugboat Annie is a 1933 movie starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat...

" was based.

Biography

Thea Christiansen Foss came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from Eidsberg
Eidsberg
Eidsberg is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mysen. Neighboring municipalities are Rakkestad, Askim, Skiptvet, Trøgstad, and Marker in Østfold, and Aurskog-Høland in Akershus....

, Ostfold, Norway Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and married Norwegian immigrant Andrew Foss in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 in 1881. Thea Foss launched the future tugboat firm on the Tacoma waterfront in the summer of 1889. She started the Foss Launch Company, which eventually became the Seattle-based Foss Maritime.

The fictional character of Tugboat Annie, which were based on the life of Thea Foss, first appeared during the late 1920s in a series of stories in the Saturday Evening Post written by the author Norman Reilly Raine
Norman Reilly Raine
Norman Reilly Raine was the creator of Tugboat Annie and a prolific screenwriter who won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Life of Emile Zola .-Early years:...

. The movie, Tugboat Annie
Tugboat Annie
For the 1957 syndicated television series, see The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.Tugboat Annie is a 1933 movie starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat...

starring Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American actress and Depression-era film star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930-31 in Min and Bill.-Early life and stage career:...

 and Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...

 as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat followed during 1933. The Arthur Foss
Arthur Foss
The Arthur Foss, built in 1889, is one of the oldest wooden-hulled tugboats afloat in the United States. In 1898, in response to the Alaskan gold rush, she transported barges full of gold seeking miners and supplies up the Inside Passage. There are no other Alaskan Gold Rush vessels still...

, one of the oldest wooden-hulled tugboats afloat in the United States, was cast by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 movie studio to play in its 1933 production Tugboat Annie.

A sequel called Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again was a 1940 sequel to the classic 1933 film Tugboat Annie. Marjorie Rambeau takes over the late Marie Dressler's role, and the supporting cast includes Alan Hale, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan...

was released in 1940 followed by another called Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie is a 1945 second sequel to the classic Tugboat Annie , this time starring Jane Darwell as Annie and Edgar Kennedy as Horatio Bullwinkle. The movie was directed by Phil Rosen....

in 1945. There is also a 1957 Canadian-filmed television series, The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie is a 1957 Canadian-filmed television series starring Minerva Urecal as Annie Brennan, the role originated by Marie Dressler in the 1932 screen classic Tugboat Annie....

, starring Minerva Urecal
Minerva Urecal
Minerva Urecal was an American actressBorn as Minerva Holzer, Urecal was originally a radio and stage performer. She made her film debut in 1933...

.

Thea and Andrew Foss had three sons: Arthur, Weddell, and Henry Foss
Henry Foss
Henry O. Foss was an elected official, businessman and civic leader in Tacoma, Washington.Henry Foss was one of four children born to Norwegian immigrant parents, Andrew and Thea Foss, first owners and operators of Foss Launch and Tug Company...

. Their sons grew up into the business. Members of the Foss family, including Thea's three sons, continued to operate Foss Maritime for many decades. Henry Foss became a civic leader in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

. Thea Foss died in Tacoma on the day before her 70th birthday.

Legacy

  • The Thea Foss Waterway
    Thea Foss Waterway
    The Thea Foss Waterway is a waterway running roughly north-south immediately east of downtown Tacoma, Washington. It is an inlet of Commencement Bay.Tacoma was the site of an early sawmill in 1853.The deepwater port began to boom in the 1870s, sailing...

    , a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) mile inlet in Tacoma's industrial area, and connected to Puget Sound
    Puget Sound
    Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

    , is named after Foss.
  • The USS Amber (PYc-6)
    USS Amber (PYc-6)
    USS Amber was a patrol boat in the United States Navy.Amber started life as the yacht Infanta built for the actor John Barrymore, but was later sold and renamed Polaris...

    , which had served as a patrol vessel in World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

    , was renamed the Thea Foss after being purchased by Foss Marine Company.
  • Thea Foss Lodge of the Daughters of Norway was instituted on May 29, 2004. Lodge #45 meets in the Chimacum, Washington
    Chimacum, Washington
    Chimacum is an unincorporated community in eastern Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It lies on the Olympic Peninsula. It was named after the Chimakum group of Native Americans that lived there until the late 19th century.Chimacum is the home of Chimacum Schools' main campus, which...

    .

External links

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