Who would have guessed the actress who played so many countesses and duchesses was a lawyer from San Antonio? The American character actress, Florence Rabe, was the daughter of an antique store owner. You might have seen her in On the Town, I Remember Mama, Kitty Foyle, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ... even The Diary of a Chambermaid. Florence Bates (1888-1954), Actress Rebecca, 1940 (Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper), Kitty Foyle, 1940 (Customer), The Devil and Miss Jones, 1941 (Customer), Since You Went Away, 1944 (Hungry Woman on Train), Saratoga Trunk, 1945 (Sophie Bellop), I Remember Mama, 1948 (Florence Dana Moorhead), A Letter to Three Wives, 1949 (Mrs. Manleigh), Les Miserables, 1952 (Mme. She gained a degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas in 1906 and went on to a career in teaching and social work. I love to find Austin and Texas connections in the most surprising movies. Highest Rated: ... Rebecca.
She led an extremely fascinating life before she ever appeared on a movie theater screen. Florence Bates Actress, Soundtrack. Bates died in 1954 in Southern California. Rebecca, released in 1940, gave Florence Bates (then in her early fifties) her first onscreen credit. First, I learned that Bates was a native Texan. This page will put a light upon the Florence Bates bio, wiki, age, birthday, family details, affairs, boyfriend, controversies, caste, height, weight, rumors, lesser-known facts, and more.
She also ran an antique business that led her to travel in Europe and Asia (it seems she knew several languages), and ran a bakery in Los Angeles with her husband.
Her popularity became such, that she went on to leading roles with the same company, changing her name to Florence Bates as a nod to her perceived good fortune.
She gained a degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas in 1906 and went on to a career in teaching and social work. Florence Bates (1888–1954) Actress | Soundtrack Trailer. Mrs. Van Hopper (1940) The Moon and Sixpence.
Rebecca LAURENCE OLIVIER JOAN FONTAINE FLORENCE BATES . The American character actress, Florence Rabe, was the daughter of an antique store owner. She changed course after being persuaded by a friend to study law, and, passing her bar exam in 1914, practised for four years in San Antonio.
Sakall, aka 'Cuddles'. She did indeed have a long career playing titled snobs, landladies, mothers-in-law and similar character roles, but all after Rebecca.
She was enjoyably larger-than-life as Danny Kaye's prospective mother-in-law in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and as Vera-Ellen's inebriated Russian dance teacher, Madame Dilyovska, in On the Town (1949). After the Wall Street crash of 1929, Florence sold the antique store and married Texan oilman William F. Jacoby. This proved to be a momentous career choice. Please go read the article -- this biography is not what you'd expect from a character actress in 1940s Hollywood. 100% Au Revoir, and Don't Forget to Feed the Parrot, Movies This Year: Our Reviews of Upcoming Releases, Slackerwood: Where We're All Going (We Hope), Debbie's Fantastic and Favorite Film Memories. Bates even essayed a murderess in The Brasher Doubloon (1947). But that was just the beginning. As in 2020, Florence Bates‘s age is * years. Florence Bates Celebrity Profile - Check out the latest Florence Bates photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at Rotten Tomatoes! Rebecca, released in 1940, gave Florence Bates (then in her early fifties) her first onscreen credit. The American character actress, Florence Rabe, was the daughter of an antique store owner. 100%.
She took the stage name "Florence Bates" because her first theatrical role, a success, had been Miss Bates in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Emma. I got the kind of surprise that felt right at home regarding the Daphne Du Maurier novel that started this whole chain of thought. Her popularity became such, that she went on to leading roles with the same company, changing her name to Florence Bates as a nod to her perceived good fortune. But after moving to Los Angeles to open a bakery, she auditioned on a whim for the role of Miss Bates in a theatrical adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma," nabbed the part, and found a second home on the stage during the 1930s.
Other members of the cast (not necessarily in the movie still):
I saw her as the Famous Author in "I Remember Mama" a few months ago and was so intrigued with her performance that I looked her up. Check below for more deets about Florence Bates. Copyright © Fandango. Bonnet) All material copyright © 2006-2009 by the author, or if no author is cited, J. Kernion. Alfred Hitchcock cast Bates as Mrs. Van Hopper in his moody 1939 drama "Rebecca," establishing her as a go-to actress for eccentric, high-society characters in dozens of films throughout the 1940s and early '50s. She worked with Hitchcock, Ernst Lubitsch (I saw Cluny Brown a couple of weeks ago and completely overlooked her), Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Jean Renoir ... and William Castle. Jacoby eventually went bankrupt and the couple moved to California in the late 1930's, briefly becoming proprietors of a bakery.At this time, Florence, a heavy-set woman of matronly appearance and well into her middle age, developed an interest in acting and auditioned for the part of Miss Bates in the Pasadena Playhouse production of Jane Austen's 'Emma'. In 1939, she screen tested for Alfred Hitchcock, who was sufficiently impressed to cast her as the demanding, imperious dowager Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper in Rebecca (1940). 100%, I Remember Mama I participated in this week's Criticwire Survey by writing about one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films, Rebecca. And now I wish someone would make a movie about Florence Bates herself.
All rights reserved. San Antonio, Texas, USA. The actress's name was Florence Bates, and what I expected to find was a long list of credits starting in the early 1930s, or perhaps even the silent era, in which she'd played imperious dowagers and fussy schoolteachers and ambitious wives. Love Crazy (1941), Lowest Rated: 71% She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in mathematics, which she taught ... but later became a lawyer, one of the first female lawyers in Texas. This vintage original still shows a VERY RARE photo of (from left to right) LAURENCE OLIVIER, JOAN FONTAINE and FLORENCE BATES.
First of all, her real name wasn't Florence Bates -- she was Florence Rabe Jacoby, born and raised in San Antonio. On a whim, I was looking over the cast list and clicked the name of the actress who played Mrs. Van Hopper, the unforgettably crass American social climber at the beginning of the movie. When her parents died, she took over the business and travelled abroad extensively to acquire stock, all the while adding to her knowledge of foreign languages (she was, for instance, a fluent Spanish speaker). [[Joan Fontaine]] and Bates in [[Rebecca]] (1940) Biography Florence Bates was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films.
100%, The Mask of Dimitrios Apr 15, 1888, Birthplace: Through various internet rabbit holes I eventually found an article about Florence Bates from Handbook of Texas Online, which is published by the Texas State Historical Association. Moviephoto from the movie: Rebecca. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Birthday: Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! Her excellent performance was the first in a gallery of memorable characters: wealthy socialites, irritable, henpecking wives, hotel managers (The Moon and Sixpence (1942)), theatre owners (Tonight and Every Night (1945)) and unctuous, gossipy landladies (Portrait of Jennie (1948)). She took the stage name "Florence Bates" because her first theatrical role, a success, had been Miss Bates in a Pasadena Playhouse production of Emma.
2:42. The Tall Target
She was pre-deceased by her sister, her only daughter and her husband. I found some of the same stuff - it was quite fun to know more about her and also fun to know you like her, too. Florence Bates didn't set out to become an actress; from her degree in mathematics to her career as an attorney, performing seemed to be the farthest thing from her mind. She was equally adept at comedy, appearing to great effect in Heaven Can Wait (1943) and Lullaby of Broadway (1951), with frequent co-star S.Z. Year of the photo: 1985.
Isn't she wonderful, Jette? In 1939, she screen tested for Alfred Hitchcock, who was sufficiently impressed to cast her as the demanding, imperious dowager Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper in Rebecca (1940). Destined never to win any awards, Florence Bates continued in films until her death in 1954. Actress, Soundtrack. Size of the photo: Approximately 8 x 10 . 100%, Mr. Lucky