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Ellen Corby

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Ellen Corby
Born Ellen Hansen
June 3, 1911(1911-06-03)
Racine, WisconsinDied April 14, 1999(aged 87)
Woodland Hills, CaliforniaSpouse(s) Francis Corby (1934-1944) Awards won Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series
1973 The Waltons
1975 The Waltons
1976 The Waltons Golden Globe AwardsBest Supporting Actress
1948 I Remember Mama
Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
1974 The WaltonsOther Awards Golden Boot
1989

Ellen Corby (June 3, 1911 – April 14, 1999) was an American Academy Award-nominated actor. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Walton" on the television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Corby was born Ellen Hansen in Racine, Wisconsin, the daughter of Danish parents. She grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An interest in amateur theater while in high school led her to Atlantic City in 1932 where she briefly worked as a chorus girl. She moved to Hollywood that same year and got a job as a script girl at RKO Studios and Hal Roach Studios, where she frequently worked on the Our Gang Comedies, next to her husband, cinematographer Francis Corby. She held that position for the next twelve years and took acting lessons on the side.

Career

Corby began her career as a writer, working on the Paramount Western Twilight on the Trail and 1947's Hoppy's Holiday. She landed her first acting job in 1945, playing a maid in RKO's Cornered.

In 1948 she received an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress playing a lovelorn aunt in I Remember Mama (1948). Over the next four decades, she worked steadily in both film and television, often playing maids, secretaries, waitresses or gossips. She was a favorite in western films (including Shane, 1953) and had a recurring role as "Henrietta Porter" in the western television series Trackdown (1957 – 1959). Other television appearances included Wagon Train, The Rifleman, I Love Lucy, The Virginian, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Get Smart, " Beverly Hillbillies" and The Andy Griffith Show.

1976 TV Guide cover featuring Corby with her Waltons costars, Richard Thomas and Will Geer

Her most famous role came on CBS in 1971 when she was cast as "Grandma Esther Walton" on the made-for-TV film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which served as the pilot for The Waltons. Corby would go on to resume the role on The Waltons, which became a weekly series from 1972-1981, and resulted in several sequel films. For her work in The Waltons, she won her three Emmy Awards and three more nominations as Best Supporting Actress. She left the show early in 1977, due to a massive stroke she suffered, which impaired her speech. She did come back at the beginning of the 1978 season, and had limited roles, but was forced out of the show for good in 1979.

Private life

Corby was married to Francis Corby from 1934 until his death in 1944; they had no children. She was an early practitioner and advocate of the Transcendental Meditation Program, as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and appeared with the Maharishi on The Merv Griffin Show in the mid '70s.

She suffered a serious stroke in 1977 but recovered and went on to appear in several television films based on The Waltons. Her stroke was written into the show, with Grandma Walton also suffering a stroke, and struggling to regain her speech. Her last appearance was in A Walton Easter (1997).

She died at the age of 87 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Filmography

1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s

Writer

  • The Broken Coin (1936) (as Ellen Hansen)
  • Twilight on the Trail (1941) (screenplay)
  • Hoppy's Holiday (1947) (story)

Miscellaneous Crew

  • Swiss Miss (1938) (script supervisor) (uncredited)


External links


Awards Preceded by
Celeste Holm
for Gentleman's AgreementGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1949
for I Remember MamaSucceeded by
Mercedes McCambridge
for All the King's Men
v • d • ePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series

Barbara Hale (1959) · Pamela Brown (1962) · Glenda Farrell (1963) · Ruth White (1964) · Lee Grant (1966) · Agnes Moorehead (1967) · Barbara Anderson (1968) · Susan Saint James (1969) · Gail Fisher (1970) · Margaret Leighton (1971) · Jenny Agutter (1972) · Ellen Corby (1973) · Joanna Miles (1974) · Ellen Corby (1975)

Complete list: (1962-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • ePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series

Ellen Corby (1976) · Kristy McNichol (1977) · Nancy Marchand (1978) · Kristy McNichol (1979) · Nancy Marchand (1980) · Nancy Marchand (1981) · Nancy Marchand (1982) · Doris Roberts (1983) · Alfre Woodard (1984) · Betty Thomas (1985) · Bonnie Bartlett (1986) · Bonnie Bartlett (1987) · Patricia Wettig (1988) · Melanie Mayron (1989) · Marg Helgenberger (1990) · Madge Sinclair (1991) · Valerie Mahaffey (1992) · Mary Alice (1993) · Leigh Taylor-Young (1994) · Julianna Margulies (1995) · Tyne Daly (1996) · Kim Delaney (1997) · Camryn Manheim (1998) · Holland Taylor (1999) · Allison Janney (2000)

Complete list: (1962-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

PersondataNAME Corby, Ellen ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hansen, Ellen SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1911PLACE OF BIRTH Racine, WisconsinDATE OF DEATH April 14, 1999PLACE OF DEATH Woodland Hills, California
Categories: 1911 births | 1999 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners | Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners | Danish Americans | Deaths by stroke | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Emmy Award winners | People from Racine, Wisconsin | Golden Boot Award winnersHidden categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Infobox actor templates needing updating

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