Happy birthday, Mildred Natwick
by chuckofish
Character actress Mildred Natwick was born on June 18, 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland.
She didn’t actually make that many movies, but the ones she made were memorable. She was in four John Ford movies: The Long Voyage Home (1940), 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and The Quiet Man (1952). In all four she co-starred with John Wayne–lucky lady.
She was also in two other favorite films of mine: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry (1955) with Shirley MacLaine and Jerry Mathers and Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) with Debbie Reynolds. According to IMDB.com, Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams “adored her” and cast her often in their plays. Well.
She always lent humor and authenticity to any role she played. She was nominated for two Tony Awards and finally in 1967 she received her only Oscar nomination for supporting actress in Barefoot in the Park.
A devout Christian Scientist and all-around class act, she died in 1994. She is interred next to the remains of her sister (and dual personality?) in Lorraine Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
dual personalities 
I love the scene in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon where they’re doing surgery in the back of the wagon and the soldier keeps saying “after YOU ma’am” when they try to give him whiskey. She gets a lil tipsy. It’s sort of sweet when John Wayne rides by and pats her on the head and says something like “well done, trooper…” as she’s noticeably sick. 🙂
She makes the confederate flag out of her red petticoat for “trooper Smith” and gets to kiss John Wayne goodbye when he leaves. Such a great part!
I love Mildred Natwick — she’s one of my role models!
I know–me too!