Phyllis Thaxter(1919-2012)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
This warm and winning, very non-theatrical brunette was born Phyllis
St. Felix Thaxter in Portland, Maine, on November 20, 1919. The
daughter of Maine Supreme Court Justice Sidney Thaxter, her acting
talent came from her mother's side, who was a one-time Shakespearean
actress. Phyllis was educated for a time at St. Genevieve School in
Montreal and back at Portland's Deering High School.
She apprenticed in summer stock and had joined the Montreal Reperatory Theatre company by
the time she made her Broadway debut at age 17 in "What a Life!" in
1939, the "Henry Aldrich" play. She went on to play a maid and to
understudy the leading ingénue in "There Shall Be No Night" (1940),
which starred America's premiere theatrical couple,
Alfred Lunt and
Lynn Fontanne, then understudied
Dorothy McGuire in the hit
dramatic play, "Claudia", later that year. She eventually played the
title role both on Broadway and on the road, but lost out on the film
role to McGuire.
Hollywood films reached her sights a few years later with the MGM war
film,
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944),
proving quite convincing as
Van Johnson's noble wife. Similar to
Margaret Sullavan,
June Allyson,
Dorothy McGuire and
Teresa Wright, Phyllis was
depended on as a stabilizing factor in melodramas and war pictures,
often the dewy-eyed, altruistic wife, girlfriend or daughter waiting on
the home-front.
Other important films included the girl with a split
personality in Bewitched (1945), and as
a angst-ridden, teary-eyed bride-to-be in
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945).
She was dutifully wholesome as the daughter who reunites
Spencer Tracy and
Katharine Hepburn in the movie
The Sea of Grass (1947) and
evoked tears, yet again, as little
Margaret O'Brien's mother in
Tenth Avenue Angel (1948). So
natural and non-glamorous was she that she tended to blend into the
woodwork while the flashier actresses often stole the thunder and the
notices.
Audiences did not always fully appreciate Phyllis's
understated work. She finished out her MGM contract with
Act of Violence (1948),
ever-faithful to even the bad guy, this time psychotic gangster
Robert Ryan. Phyllis moved to Warner
Brothers in the 1950s and played more of the same. The ever-patient
wife to a slew of top actors including shady boat skipper
John Garfield in
The Breaking Point (1950), an
alcoholic Gig Young in
Come Fill the Cup (1951) and
law-abiding Gary Cooper in
Springfield Rifle (1952), her
nascent career at Warners was suddenly curtailed by illness.
While visiting her family in Portland, she contracted a form of infantile
paralysis. Fortunately, she recovered quickly but the ailment triggered
the termination of her contract. Film roles were few and far between
after this. Still displaying her built-in compassion and concern, her
best-known part came with the touching but relatively minor role of
farm wife "Martha Kent" in the highly popular
Superman (1978) film series with the
late Christopher Reeve as her adopted
superhero son and Glenn Ford as her
husband. She was also a steady guest star on TV with numerous dramatic
appearances including
The Twilight Zone (1959),
The F.B.I. (1965),
Cannon (1971),
Medical Center (1969),
Barnaby Jones (1973) and
several TV movies.
Married for nearly two decades to
James T. Aubrey (1918-1994), who became
president of CBS-TV before taking over MGM, they had three
children--including Schuyler, who would become the actress
Skye Aubrey. Following the couple's divorce
in 1962, Phyllis married Gilbert Lea, who owned Tower Publishing
Company in Portland. They eventually retired to Cumberland, Maine,
where she involved herself in civic/community activities and dedicated
herself to hospital volunteer work.
Phyllis died in Florida on August 14, 2012, at age 92.
St. Felix Thaxter in Portland, Maine, on November 20, 1919. The
daughter of Maine Supreme Court Justice Sidney Thaxter, her acting
talent came from her mother's side, who was a one-time Shakespearean
actress. Phyllis was educated for a time at St. Genevieve School in
Montreal and back at Portland's Deering High School.
She apprenticed in summer stock and had joined the Montreal Reperatory Theatre company by
the time she made her Broadway debut at age 17 in "What a Life!" in
1939, the "Henry Aldrich" play. She went on to play a maid and to
understudy the leading ingénue in "There Shall Be No Night" (1940),
which starred America's premiere theatrical couple,
Alfred Lunt and
Lynn Fontanne, then understudied
Dorothy McGuire in the hit
dramatic play, "Claudia", later that year. She eventually played the
title role both on Broadway and on the road, but lost out on the film
role to McGuire.
Hollywood films reached her sights a few years later with the MGM war
film,
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944),
proving quite convincing as
Van Johnson's noble wife. Similar to
Margaret Sullavan,
June Allyson,
Dorothy McGuire and
Teresa Wright, Phyllis was
depended on as a stabilizing factor in melodramas and war pictures,
often the dewy-eyed, altruistic wife, girlfriend or daughter waiting on
the home-front.
Other important films included the girl with a split
personality in Bewitched (1945), and as
a angst-ridden, teary-eyed bride-to-be in
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945).
She was dutifully wholesome as the daughter who reunites
Spencer Tracy and
Katharine Hepburn in the movie
The Sea of Grass (1947) and
evoked tears, yet again, as little
Margaret O'Brien's mother in
Tenth Avenue Angel (1948). So
natural and non-glamorous was she that she tended to blend into the
woodwork while the flashier actresses often stole the thunder and the
notices.
Audiences did not always fully appreciate Phyllis's
understated work. She finished out her MGM contract with
Act of Violence (1948),
ever-faithful to even the bad guy, this time psychotic gangster
Robert Ryan. Phyllis moved to Warner
Brothers in the 1950s and played more of the same. The ever-patient
wife to a slew of top actors including shady boat skipper
John Garfield in
The Breaking Point (1950), an
alcoholic Gig Young in
Come Fill the Cup (1951) and
law-abiding Gary Cooper in
Springfield Rifle (1952), her
nascent career at Warners was suddenly curtailed by illness.
While visiting her family in Portland, she contracted a form of infantile
paralysis. Fortunately, she recovered quickly but the ailment triggered
the termination of her contract. Film roles were few and far between
after this. Still displaying her built-in compassion and concern, her
best-known part came with the touching but relatively minor role of
farm wife "Martha Kent" in the highly popular
Superman (1978) film series with the
late Christopher Reeve as her adopted
superhero son and Glenn Ford as her
husband. She was also a steady guest star on TV with numerous dramatic
appearances including
The Twilight Zone (1959),
The F.B.I. (1965),
Cannon (1971),
Medical Center (1969),
Barnaby Jones (1973) and
several TV movies.
Married for nearly two decades to
James T. Aubrey (1918-1994), who became
president of CBS-TV before taking over MGM, they had three
children--including Schuyler, who would become the actress
Skye Aubrey. Following the couple's divorce
in 1962, Phyllis married Gilbert Lea, who owned Tower Publishing
Company in Portland. They eventually retired to Cumberland, Maine,
where she involved herself in civic/community activities and dedicated
herself to hospital volunteer work.
Phyllis died in Florida on August 14, 2012, at age 92.