BEULAH BONDI

'Beulah Bondi' (May 3, 1888 – January 11, 1981) was an Emmy Award winning and Oscar-nominated American actress, born 'Beulah Bondy' in Chicago, Illinois.

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Career

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Career

Of slight stature, with a gaunt, pale face, dark hair and deep-set, penetrating eyes, she was a veteran actress who worked well into her 80s. She is probably best remembered for her role as Mrs. Bailey, the mother of George Bailey, in ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946). She was one of the first five women to be nominated for an Academy Award in the newly-created category of "Best Supporting Actress" for her work in ''The Gorgeous Hussy'', although she lost the award to Gale Sondergaard. Two years later, she was nominated again for ''Of Human Hearts'', and lost again, but her reputation as a character actress kept her employed.
Bondi began her acting career on the stage at age 7, playing the title role in the play Little Lord Fauntelroy in a production at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso, Indiana. She gained her Bachelors and Masters degrees in oratory at Valparaiso University in 1916 and 1918, and moved to film in the 1930s. Her debut movie role was as "Emma Jones" in Elmer Rice's ''Street Scene'' (1931), which starred Sylvia Sidney, and in which Bondi reprised her stage role, followed by "Mrs. Davidson" in ''Rain'' (1932), which starred Joan Crawford and Walter Huston. She would most often be seen in the role of the mother of the star of the film for the rest of her career.
Her greatest role is considered to be in 1937's ''Make Way for Tomorrow'' as the abandoned Depression-era 'Ma' Cooper, and her own personal favorite performance was as the bigoted "Ma Bridges" in 1957's ''Track of the Cat'', no doubt because it was so different from her own personal character and any role she had played on film.
She often played mature roles in her early film career even though she was only in her early 40s. Bondi played James Stewart’s mother in four films: ''It's a Wonderful Life'', ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'', ''Of Human Hearts'', and ''Vivacious Lady''. She made her final appearances as "Aunt Martha Corinne Walton" on the television series ''The Waltons'', in the episodes "The Conflict" (9/73) & "The Pony Cart" (12/76). She received an Emmy award for her performance in the latter episode. When her name was called it appeared that
she was not in attendance but all of a sudden there she was. She walked slowly up to the podium to
receive the award and was given a standing ovation. It meant a lot to her and she thanked everyone for honoring her while she was still alive.
Despite the fact that she was known for playing mother figures, Bondi never married in real life. She died at the age of 92, from pulmonary complications due to broken ribs suffered when she fell over her cat on January 11, 1981.

External links

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★ Great Character Actors

★ What-A-Character

★ Early Photo