Josephine Whittell

Josephine Whittell (November 30, 1883 – June 1, 1961) was an American character actress of the silent and sound film eras. Born on November 30, 1883 in San Francisco, California, she began her film career during the silent era, appearing in a featured role in 1917s Alimony. She would only appear in four silent films, between 1917 and 1921, before taking a hiatus from the film industry. In 1931 Whittell would return to films, with supporting roles in two Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, Caught Plastered and Peach OReno. During her 43 year career, she would appear in over 70 films. In the early 1930s, she would appear frequently as the older seductress in films, prior to the enactment of the film code in the mid-1930s.Over her career she would appear in many notable films, either in supporting or small roles. Some of those films include: Stage Door (1938), starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Adolphe Menjou; 1939s The Women, with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell; the 1945 version of State Fair, starring Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews; King Vidors The Fountainhead, the film version of the Ayn Rand novel of the same name, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal; the musical, In the Good Old Summertime, with Judy Garland and Van Johnson; George Stevens A Place in the Sun, starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters; the Cecil B. De Mille epic, The Greatest Show on Earth; and the classic 1954 version of A Star is Born, directed by George Cukor, and starring Judy Garland and James Mason.She remained active in films till very late in life, making her last appearance in 1959s The Buccaneer, directed by Anthony Quinn (his only directing credit), and starring Yul Brynner, Claire Bloom, Charles Boyer, and Inger Stevens. She would die less than three years after working on The Buccaneer, on June 1, 1961. She was cremated and interred in Chapel Of The Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

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