Phyllis Thaxter

195
Phyllis Thaxter bigraphy, stories - American actress

Phyllis Thaxter : biography

November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012

Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress.

Early life

Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter was born in Portland, Maine to Sidney St. Felix Thaxter, who would later become a Justice of the Maine Supreme Court, and his wife, a former actress.

Personal life

Author Patricia Bosworth, in her biography of Montgomery Clift, tells of Thaxter’s close relationship with Clift in the early 1940s, writing that they "seemed so close that a great many people assumed they would eventually marry." While at MGM, Thaxter married James T. Aubrey, Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. They divorced in 1962. They had two children: Skye Aubrey, an actress, and James Aubrey.

In 1962, Thaxter married Gilbert Lea. They were married for 46 years until his death on May 4, 2008.

Death

Thaxter died on August 14, 2012, in Longwood, Florida, after an eight- or nine-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease., The Hollywood Reporter, August 15, 2012 She was 92 years old. In keeping with her wishes, she was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea.

Partial filmography

  • Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
  • Bewitched (1945)
  • Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
  • Tenth Avenue Angel (1946)
  • The Sea of Grass (1947)
  • Living in a Big Way (1947)
  • Blood on the Moon (1948)
  • Act of Violence (1948)
  • No Man of Her Own (1950)
  • The Breaking Point (1950)
  • Jim Thorpe — All-American (1951)
  • Fort Worth (1951)
  • Springfield Rifle (1952)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (guest roles) (1956-1960)
  • Wagon Train (1959)
  • Women’s Prison (1955)
  • The World of Henry Orient (1964)
  • The Invaders (TV series) (Episode: "The Peacemaker") (1968)
  • Superman (1978)

Career

She had frequently worked on Broadway since 1940. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Phyllis replaced her in the play Claudia. In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the wartime film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman suffering from split personality in the film-noir Bewitched in 1945. In 1948, she played a cattle owner’s daughter alongside Barbara Bel Geddes in Blood on the Moon.

At MGM, she routinely portrayed the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men. She moved to Warner Brothers in the 1950s, but usually played the same type of roles.

Thaxter’s career stalled after an attack of polio in 1952. She made a comeback in television series such as Rawhide, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1978, Thaxter was cast along with Glenn Ford as Ma and Pa Kent in Superman.