Biography
Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She had several TV roles beginning in the late 1940s and became a successful novelist in the 1950s.
Known For
Complete Filmography
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008
as Alison Drake (archive footage)
A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934.
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered fi...
A Royal Divorce
1938
as Joséphine de Beauharnais
The love affair between the French Emperor Napoleon and the lady Josephine leads through Napoleon's rise to power and their eventual divorce.
The Rat
1937
as Zelia de Chaumont
Jean Boucheron the cat burglar is the darling of the Montmartre whores--and catches the eye of slumming socialite Zelia de Chaumont, who decides to "r...
Dodsworth
1936
as Fran Dodsworth
A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.
Girls' Dormitory
1936
as Professor Anna Mathe
When a busybody teacher in a girls' finishing school finds a love letter from a student to an unknown man, a minor scandal erupts.
Lady of Secrets
1936
as Celia Whittaker
Because of a very unhappy affair she had earlier in her life, a woman shuts herself off from the rest of the world.
Journal of a Crime
1934
as Francoise Mollet
A woman murders her husband's mistress and someone else gets accused of the crime.
Female
1933
as Alison Drake
Alison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engin...
Lilly Turner
1933
as Lilly 'Queenie' Turner Dixon
One woman faces many trials on the road to romance after unwittingly marrying a bigamist, then a carnival's barker and then falling for a young engine...
Frisco Jenny
1933
as Frisco Jenny Sandoval
Jenny is carrying the child of a young man who dies in the San Francisco earthquake (1906). After giving birth, she decides to place her child in the ...
The Crash
1932
as Linda Gault
Linda Gault is a luxury loving wife who casually seduces other men while getting investment tips from one of her lovers.
The Rich Are Always with Us
1932
as Caroline Van Dyke Grannard
A wealthy couple's marriage is falling apart due to the man's infidelity. The wife's male friend has long loved her and sees his big opportunity.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
1932
as Eve Redman
A young wife wants to have children, but her husband neglects her. She confides her longings to a handsome brain surgeon. Complications ensue.
Once a Lady
1931
as Anna Keremazoff
A young Russian woman marries a wealthy Englishman, and has a daughter with him. After she has an affair with one of his friends, she is forced to lea...
The Magnificent Lie
1931
as Poll
A nightclub singer, taking pity on a blind soldier, pretends that she is the woman he once loved before he was wounded.
The House That Shadows Built
1931
as (archive footage)
The House That Shadows Built (1931) is a short feature, roughly 48 minutes long, from Paramount Pictures made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the...
Unfaithful
1931
as Lady Fay Kilkerry
In this society drama set in contemporary England, a noblewoman pretends to be an adulteress in order to protect her sister-in-law, who actually is.
The Right to Love
1930
as Brooks Evans / Naomi Kellogg
A woman becomes estranged from her daughter when the girl learns that she is illegitimate.
Anybody's Woman
1930
as Pansy Gray
A lawyer, left by his wife, gets drunk and marries a chorus girl, or so he learns the morning after.
The Lady of Scandal
1930
as Elsie
A famous British actress gets involved with two members of a reserved British noble family, whose plan to get rid of her backfires.
Paramount on Parade
1930
as Floozie
This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors
Sarah and Son
1930
as Sarah Storm
A ne'er-do-well husband, after years of abusing his wife, disappears with their son, and winds up selling him to a wealthy family. Years later, the wi...
The Laughing Lady
1929
as Marjorie Lee
A society woman wrongly -- and very publicly -- accused of infidelity is dropped by her friends, spurned by her husband, and faced with the loss of he...
Madame X
1929
as Jacqueline Floriot
A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her...
Charming Sinners
1929
as Kathryn Miles
Charming Sinners was a stilted adaptation of Somerset Maugham's play The Constant Wife. Robert Miles (Clive Brook) starts the ball rolling when he fal...
The Dummy
1929
as Agnes Meredith
The title character is office-boy Barney. Pretending to be a deaf-mute, Barney tries to trump his detective boss Walter Babbing by tracking down the p...
The Doctor's Secret
1929
as Lillian Garson
Young Englishwoman Lillian Garson is unhappy with her marriage and decides to elope with another man. However he is killed in a car accident and she r...
Sins of the Fathers
1928
as Greta Blanke
A married restaurant owner is persuaded to become a bootlegger by a beautiful young girl. When he starts making money at it, she steals it, then runs ...