{{Short description|American actress (1911–1986)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Edith Atwater | image = Edith Atwater1961.JPG | caption = Atwater in 1961 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1911|04|22}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1986|03|14|1911|04|22}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Hugh Marlowe|1941|1946|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Joseph Allen|1951|1953|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Kent Smith|1962|1985|end=died}} }} | years_active = 1936–1985 }} [[File:Love on a Rooftop Cast No 2.jpg|thumb|250px|From TV's ''Love on a Rooftop'': Back row, L-R: Pete Duel, Judy Carne Front: Edith Atwater, Herbert Voland (1966) ]]
'''Edith Atwater''' (April 22, 1911 – March 14, 1986) was an American stage, film, and television actress.
== Career == Born in Chicago, Atwater made her Broadway debut in 1933. In 1939, she starred in ''The Man Who Came to Dinner''. Her film career included roles in ''The Body Snatcher'' (1945), ''Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957), ''It Happened at the World's Fair'' (1963), ''Strait-Jacket'' (1964), ''Strange Bedfellows'' (1965), ''True Grit'' (1969), ''The Love Machine'' (1971), ''Die Sister, Die!'' (1972), ''Mackintosh and T.J.'' (1975), and ''Family Plot'' (1976).
From 1964 to 1965, Atwater appeared in several episodes of the television series ''Peyton Place'' in the role of Grace Morton, wife of Dr. Robert Morton, who was played by her real-life husband Kent Smith. During the 1966–1967 television season, she appeared in the series ''Love on a Rooftop''. She was also a regular on the television series ''Kaz'' during the 1978–1979 season. Her other television work included appearances on ''The Rockford Files'', ''Hazel'', ''Knots Landing'', and numerous other series.
Atwater's work on Broadway included performances in ''Flahooley'' (1951), ''King Lear'' (1950), ''Metropole'' (1949), ''The Gentleman From Athens'' (1947), ''Parlor Story'' (1947), ''State of the Union'' (1945), ''R.U.R.'' (1942), ''Broken Journey'' (1942), ''Johnny on a Spot'' (1942), ''Retreat to Pleasure'' (1940), ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' (1939), ''Susan and God'' (1937), ''The Masque of Kings'' (1937), ''The Country Wife'' (1936), ''This Our House'' (1935), ''Brittle Heaven'' (1934), ''Are You Decent'' (1934), and ''Springtime for Henry'' (1931).<ref>{{cite web |title=Edith Atwater |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/edith-atwater-30323 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=November 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201103220841/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/edith-atwater-30323 |archive-date=November 3, 2020}}</ref>
Atwater was a member of the governing board of Actors' Equity Association.<ref>{{cite news |title=To report on theatre |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/108277401 |access-date=November 3, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=March 18, 1948 |page=36|id={{ProQuest|108277401}} }}</ref>
==Personal life and death== In November 1941, Atwater married actor Hugh Marlowe;<ref>{{cite news |title=Edith Atwater, Actress, Wed |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/105667642 |access-date=November 3, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=November 21, 1941 |page=23|id={{ProQuest|105667642}} }}</ref> they divorced in 1946. She was married to actor Kent Smith from 1962 until his death in 1985. She died of cancer in 1986 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center<ref>{{cite news |title=Edith Atwater Is Dead at 74; Actress in Theater and Film |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/111044239 |access-date=November 3, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=March 17, 1986 |page=B 10|id={{ProQuest|111044239}} }}</ref> at age 74.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3NJn0zF3nQC&q=edith+atwater+actress+Joseph+Allen&pg=PA15 | title=Enter the Players: New York Stage Actors in the Twentieth Century | first=Thomas S. | last=Hischak | date=2003 | publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc. | location=Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford | page=15| isbn=9780810847613 }}</ref> She had no children.
==Legacy== Atwater's likeness was drawn in caricature by Alex Gard for Sardi's, the theatre-district restaurant in New York City. The picture is now part of the collection of the New York Public Library.<ref>[https://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/thesardis.xml The New York Public Library Inventory of Sardi's Caricatures]</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1936 || ''We Went to College'' || Nina || Alternate title: ''The Old School Tie'' |- | 1936 || ''The Gorgeous Hussy'' || Lady Vaughn || Uncredited |- | 1945 || ''The Body Snatcher'' || Meg Cameron || |- | 1949 || ''C-Man'' || Lydia Brundage || |- | 1951 || ''Teresa'' || Mrs. Lawrence || Uncredited |- | 1957 || ''Sweet Smell of Success'' || Mary || |- | 1961 || ''Mr. Sardonicus'' || Nurse || Uncredited |- | 1962 || ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' || Minor Role || Uncredited |- | 1963 || ''It Happened at the World's Fair'' || Miss Steuben || |- | 1964 || ''Strait-Jacket'' || Mrs. Alison Fields || |- | 1965 || ''Strange Bedfellows'' || Mrs. Stevens || |- | 1969 || ''Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' || Hospital Desk Nurse || Uncredited |- | 1969 || ''True Grit'' || Mrs. Floyd || |- | 1970 || ''Pieces of Dreams'' || Mrs. Lind (Gregory's Mother) || |- | 1970 || ''Norwood'' || Angry Bus Passenger || |- | 1971 || ''The Love Machine'' || Mary || |- | 1972 || ''Call Me by My Rightful Name'' || Mrs. Watkins || |- | 1972 || ''Stand Up and Be Counted'' || Sophie || |- | 1974 || ''Our Time'' || Mrs. Margaret Pendleton || |- | 1975 || ''Mackintosh and T.J.'' || Mrs. Webster || |- | 1976 || ''Family Plot'' || Mrs. Clay || |- | 1978 || ''Mean Dog Blues'' || Linda's Mother || |- | 1978 || ''Die Sister, Die!'' || Amanda Price || |- |- ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1948 || ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' || Marian Burnett || Episode: "Parlor Story" |- | 1949 || ''NBC Presents'' || || Episode: "Concerning a Lady's Honor" |- | 1950 || ''Suspense'' || Louise Lord || Episode: "The Man Who Talked in His Sleep" |- | 1951 || ''Somerset Maugham TV Theatre'' || || Episode: "The Outstation" |- | 1955 || ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' || || Episode: "The Honorable Mrs. Jones" |- | 1958 || ''Decoy'' || Lily Conway Flagler || Episode: "High Swing" |- | 1960 || ''The Witness'' || || Episode: "Police Lt. Charles Becker" |- | 1961 || ''Festival'' || Mrs. Moreen || Episode: "The Pupil" |- | 1962 || ''Stoney Burke'' || Ruth Coles || Episode: "A Matter of Pride" |- | 1962 || ''The Eleventh Hour'' || Ann Tabor || 2 episodes |- | 1964 || ''Dr. Kildare'' || Miss Thorton || Episode: "A Day to Remember" |- | 1964–65 || ''Peyton Place'' || Grace Morton || 11 episodes |- | 1965 || ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' || Mrs. Brenner || Episode: "Thou Still Unravished Bride" |- | 1965 || ''Profiles in Courage'' || Mrs. Andrews || Episode: "Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey" |- | 1965 || ''Hazel'' || Edith Stoneham || Episode: "Do Not Disturb Occupants" |- | 1965 || ''The Legend of Jesse James'' || Sarah Todd || Episode: "One Too Many Mornings" |- | 1966–67 || ''Love on a Rooftop'' || Phyllis Hammond || 15 episodes |- | 1967 || ''Judd, for the Defense'' || Mrs. Buckley || Episode: "To Love and Stand Mute" |- | 1969 || ''Ironside'' || Miss Bryan || Episode: "Up, Down and Even" |- | 1969 || ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'' || Mrs. Addy Mason || Episodes: "Ride a Northbound Horse" (Parts 1 & 2) |- | 1969 || ''The Flying Nun'' || Mother General || Episode: "The New Habit" |- | 1970 || ''Nanny and the Professor'' || Miss Dunbar || Episode: "Nanny Will Do" |- | 1970 || ''Bonanza'' || Roberta || Episodes: "The Night Virginia City Died", "The Weary Willies" |- | 1973 || ''Room 222'' || Mrs. Travis || Episode: "Can Nun Be One Too Many?" |- | 1974 || ''Doc Elliot'' || Emma Johnson || Episode: "The Gold Mine" |- | 1975 || ''The Rockford Files'' || Kate Banning || Episode: "The Four Pound Brick" |- | 1975 || ''Insight'' || Alice Jeffries || Episode: "The Pendulum" |- | 1976 || ''Switch'' || Mrs. Wood || Episode: "Round Up the Usual Suspects" |- | 1976 || ''Family'' || Judge Harmon || Episode: "Coming Apart" |- | 1976 || ''Baretta'' || Mrs. Youngstein || Episode: "Dear Tony" |- | 1977 || ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'' || Aunt Gertrude Hardy || 7 episodes |- | 1978–79 || ''Kaz'' || Illsa Fogel || 22 episodes |- | 1981 || ''CBS Afternoon Playhouse'' || Mrs. Rutherford || Episode: "The Great Gilly Hopkins" |- | 1982 || ''Knots Landing'' || Dr. Lillian McCary || Episode: "The Best Kept Secret" |- | 1983 || ''Hart to Hart'' || Dr. Jane Barrett || Episodes: "Pounding Harts", "Harts on the Scent" |- | 1985 || ''Family Ties'' || Gertrude "Aunt Trudy" Harris || Episode: "Auntie Up" |}
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} * List of caricatures at Sardi's restaurant <!-- *Hollywood blacklist no reference in text -->
==References== <references/>
==Sources== * "Edith Atwater Is Dead at 74; Actress in Theater and Film" [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0DB143DF934A25750C0A960948260&scp=1&sq=Edith+Atwater&st=nyt ''New York Times'', March 17, 1986]
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0041138}} * {{IBDB name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwater, Edith}} Category:1911 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Actresses from Chicago Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:Deaths from cancer in California Category:Actresses from Los Angeles Category:20th-century American actresses