Gloria Stuart

For James Stewart's wife, seeGloria Hatrick McLean.

Gloria Stuart
Stuart in 1937
Born	Gloria Stewart (1910-07-04)July 4, 1910 Santa Monica, California,U.S.
Died	September 26, 2010(2010-09-26)(aged 100) Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Other names	Gloria Finch Gloria Frances Stuart
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupations	Actress artist fine printer
Years active	1927–2004
Works	Filmography
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Blair Gordon Newell ​ ​ (m.1930;div.1934)​ Arthur Sheekman ​ ​ (m.1934; died 1978)​
Children	Sylvia Vaughn Thompson
Relatives	Frank Finch(brother)

Gloria Frances Stuart(bornGloria Stewart;July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles inpre-code films,and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Rose Dawson Calvert inJames Cameron'sepic romanceTitanic(1997), one of thehighest-grossing films of all time.Her performance in the film won her aScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Roleand earned her nominations for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actressand theGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

A native ofSanta Monica, California,Stuart began acting while in high school. After attending theUniversity of California, Berkeley,she embarked on a career in theater, performing in local productions andsummer stockin Los Angeles and New York City. She signed a film contract withUniversal Picturesin 1932, and acted in numerous films for the studio, including the horror filmsThe Old Dark House(1932) andThe Invisible Man(1933), followed by roles in theShirley TemplemusicalsPoor Little Rich Girl(1936) andRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm(1938). She also starred as QueenAnne of Austriain the musical comedyThe Three Musketeers(1939).

Beginning in 1940, Stuart slowed her film career, instead performing in regional theater inNew England.In 1945, following a tenure as a contract player forTwentieth Century Fox,Stuart abandoned her acting career and shifted to a career as an artist, working as afine printerand making paintings,serigraphy,miniature books,Bonsai,anddécoupagefor the next three decades. She produced numerous pieces during this period, many of which are part of collections in theLos Angeles County Museum of Artand theMetropolitan Museum of Art.

Stuart gradually returned to acting in the late 1970s, appearing in several bit parts, including inRichard Benjamin'sMy Favorite Year(1982) andWildcats(1986). She made a prominent return to mainstream cinema at age 86 when she was cast as the 100-year-old elder Rose Dawson Calvert inTitanic(1997), which earned her numerous accolades and renewed attention. Her final film performance was inWim Wenders'Land of Plenty(2004).

In addition to her acting and art careers, Stuart was a lifelongenvironmentaland political activist, who served as a co-founding member of theScreen Actors Guildand theHollywood Anti-Nazi League.

Biography

1910–1929: Early life

Stuart was born Gloria Stewartat 11:00 p.m. on theFourth of July,1910 on the family's kitchen table inSanta Monica,California, the first child of Alice (née Deidrick) and Frank Stewart.Through her mother, Stuart was a third-generation Californian; Stuart's maternal grandmother, Alice Vaughan, was born in 1854 inAngels Camp,gold country, two years after her own mother, Berilla (Stuart's great-grandmother), relocated to California from Missouri in a covered wagon.Stuart's father, a native ofThe Dalles, Oregon,was ofScottishdescent, and studied law in San Francisco.At the time of her birth, he was an attorney representingThe Six Companies.Stuart had one younger brother,Frank Jr.,born eleven months later.Another younger brother Thomas (born two years after Frank Jr.); however, he died due tospinal meningitisat age three.

As a child, Stuart attended aChurch of Christwith her mother, and subsequently attended aCatholicschool.Her father, originally aPresbyterian,converted toChristian Scienceduring her childhood.When Stuart was nine years old, her father died as the result of an infection from an injury sustained when an automobile grazed his leg. She was also expelled from grade school after kicking her teacher ( "to be honest, she deserved it" she recalled).Hard-pressed to support two small children, her mother soon accepted the proposal of local businessman Fred J. Finch.

Stuart attended her schooling using the name Gloria Fae Finch.She had not been given a middle name by her parents and so adopted one, Frances, the feminine of Frank, her father's name.

Stuart as high school senior, 1927

Stuart attendedSanta Monica High School,where she was active in theater and performed the lead role in her senior class play,The Swan.She loved writing as much as acting and spent her last two summers in high school taking short story and poetry writing classesand working as a cub reporter for theSanta Monica Outlook.

While a teenager, she had a tumultuous relationship with her stepfather and sought to attend college in order to leave home.After high school, Stuart enrolled at theUniversity of California at Berkeley,majoring in philosophy and drama. In college, she appeared in plays, worked on theDaily Californian,contributed to the campus literary journal,Occident,and posed as an artist's model. It was at Berkeley that she began signing her name GloriaStuart.

While a student at UC Berkeley, Stuart wanted to join theYoung Communist League.She wrote, "I was told it was for the poor and the oppressed. That appealed to me. But membership wasn't open to anyone under eighteen, so I couldn't join."In Carmel, she notes that her friendship with muckraker Lincoln Steffens gave her "... much deeper insight into the abuses of laborers and blue-collar workers and made me ready to work for liberal causes when I got to Hollywood a few years later."

At the end of her junior year, in June 1930, Stuart married Blair Gordon Newell,a young sculptor who apprenticed withRalph Stackpoleon the facade of theSan Francisco Stock Exchangebuilding.The Newells moved toCarmel-by-the-Seawhere there was a stimulating community of artists such asAnsel Adams,Edward Weston,Robinson JeffersandLincoln Steffensand his wifeElla Winter.In Carmel-by-the-Sea, Stuart performed in productions at theTheatre of the Golden Boughand worked as a staff member onThe Carmelitenewspaper.She meanwhile made hand-sewn aprons, patchwork pillows and tea linens, and created bouquets of dried flowers for a tea shop, in which she also worked as a waitress.Newell laid brick, chopped and stacked wood, taught sculpture and woodworking, and managed aminiature golfcourse. They lived in a shack in the middle of a wood yard as night watchmen.Stuart would later reflect on this period of her life as "wonderfully bohemian."

1930–1934: Theatre and early films

Stuart's performance in the theatre in Carmel brought her to the attention of Gilmor Brown's private theater, The Playbox, in Pasadena. She was invited there to appear as Masha inAnton Chekhov'sThe Seagull.Opening night, casting directors from Paramount and Universal were in the audience. Both came backstage to arrange a screen test, both studios claimed her. Finally the studios flipped a coin and Universal won the toss.Stuart considered herself a serious actress in theater, but she and Newell "were stony broke, living hand to mouth" so she decided to sign the contract with Universal, which paid a bit more than Paramount.

According to Stuart, she began her film career by playing an ingénue confronting her father's mistress in theWarner Bros.filmStreet of Women,aPre-Codefallen-women film for which she was loaned by Universal.Stuart's second film, again playing an ingénue, was in the football-hero film,The All-American.

In early December 1932, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers announced that Gloria Stuart was one of fifteen new movie actresses "Most Likely to Succeed" —she was aWAMPAS Baby Star.Ginger Rogers,Mary Carlisle,Eleanor Holmwere among the others.Stuart's career advanced when English directorJames Whalechose her for his filmThe Old Dark House(1932), playing the glamour role of a sentimental wife who winds up stranded among strangers at a spooky mansion, among the ensemble cast (Boris Karloff,Melvyn Douglas,Charles Laughton,Lilian Bond,Ernest Thesiger,Eva MooreandRaymond Massey).The film was critically praised, andThe New York Timescalled Stuart's performance "clever and charming,"with the movie later becoming acult classic.Stuart's experience filmingThe Old Dark Housealso became integral to the formation of theScreen Actors Guildin 1933:

Stuart andBoris KarloffinThe Old Dark House(1932)

Boris Karloff and Stuart inThe Old Dark House(1932)

James [Whale] joined all the English actors, "Stuart recalled." So on one side of the set they had their 'elevensies' and `foursies,' and Melvyn [Douglas] and I would be sitting together, not invited. One day, Melvyn said to me, `Are you interested in forming auniontogether?' I said, 'What's a union?' He said, 'Like in New York – Actor's Equity. The actors get together and work for better working conditions.' I said, 'Oh wonderful,' because I was getting up at five every morning; in makeup at seven, in hair at eight, wardrobe at quarter of nine, and then sometimes if production wanted you to, you worked until four or five the next morning. There was no overtime. They fed us when they felt like it, when it was convenient for production. It was really very, very hard work.

After filming completed, Stuart begancanvassingfor supporters; she became one of the union's first founding members.In June 1936, she helpedPaul Muni,Franchot Tone,Ernst Lubitsch,andOscar Hammerstein IIform the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League.That same year she and writer Dorothy Parker helped create the League to Support the Spanish Civil War Orphans.

Stuart was given her first co-starring role by directorJohn Fordin her next film,Air Mail,playing oppositePat O'BrienandRalph Bellamy.Of her performance in the movie,The New York Times'Mordaunt Hall wrote: "Gloria Stuart, who does so well inThe Old Dark House,a picture now at the Rialto, makes the most of the part of the girl... "That two Gloria Stuart movies were in theaters simultaneously became the rule rather than the exception in her early career. In 1932, her first year, Stuart had four films released, then nine in 1933, six in 1934. In 1935, Stuart was having a baby, so only four movies were released. Six movies followed in 1936. AfterAir Mail,Mordaunt Hall's notices for Gloria Stuart came down to a few words.Laughter in Hell:"Gloria Stuart appears as Lorraine...";Sweepings:"... played by the comely Gloria Stuart...";Private Jones:"Gloria Stuart is charming..."

Stuart in 1933

James Whale called Stuart back for just one scene inThe Kiss Before the Mirror,but the critic Hall wrote, "There are those who may think that it is too bad to introduce as one of the players the dainty Gloria Stuart and have her killed off in the first episode of the narrative. Perhaps it is, but a pretty girl was needed for the part and Mr. Whale obviously did not wish to weaken his production by casting an incompetent actress or an unattractive one for this minor role."

After good notices inThe Girl in 419,(Mordaunt Hall mentions "... the pleasing acting of the attractive Gloria Stuart),andSecret of the Blue Room( "Miss Stuart gives a pleasing performance." ),James Whale cast Stuart oppositeClaude RainsinThe Invisible Man(1933). Rains was a celebrated import from the London stage, and this was his first Hollywood film. (Mordaunt Hall's review of Stuart's work was a temperate, "Miss Stuart also does well by her role.") After having appeared in several of Whale's films, Stuart became friends with him and his partner,David Lewis.

Stuart's husband, Gordon Newell, was unhappy with Hollywood life. He and Stuart separated amicably and divorced.In 1933 (on the set of her filmRoman Scandals,a comedy starringEddie Cantor), Stuart metArthur Sheekman,one of the movie's writers. They were "instantly attracted to each other".Stuart and Sheekman married in August 1934.

In 1934, Universal loaned-out Stuart to Warner Brothers forHere Comes the Navy.Stuart co-starred withJames CagneyandPat O'Brien,the first of nine films featuring this male team.Frank S. Nugentwrote inThe New York Times,"Supporting Mr. Cagney--and doing very creditable jobs, too--are Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart..."

1935–1939: 20th Century Fox

Stuart withJames CagneyinHere Comes the Navy(1934)

In 1935, Stuart was cast as Dick Powell's love interest in Busby Berkeley'sGold Diggers of 1935.It was a musical. Stuart did not dance or sing due to being pregnant, andThe New York Timescritic commented: "Nor has Gloria Stuart anything of vast import to contribute in the position usually occupied by Ruby Keeler."

Stuart's daughter, Sylvia – named after Princess Sylvia, Stuart's character inRoman Scandals– was born in June 1935.

In that same year, Stuart left Universal and joined Twentieth Century-Fox. Her first assignment from studio headDarryl F. Zanuckwas inProfessional Soldier,supporting child starFreddie BartholomewandVictor McLaglen(who, the year before, had won a Best Actor Oscar for his role inThe Informer). Frank S. Nugent noted: "There is a minor romance along the way between Gloria Stuart, the king's noble governess, and Michael Whalen, the professional soldier's part-time assistant, but no one should take it seriously."In 1936, John Ford chose Stuart to co-star with Warner Baxter inThe Prisoner of Shark Island.Playing the wife of the doctor who treated Lincoln's assassin, Stuart felt privileged to work again with Ford,althoughThe New York Times'Frank S. Nugent wrote of Stuart's "... helpful performance..."InPoor Little Rich Girl,Stuart again was asked to support a child star — this timeShirley Temple.Frank S. Nugent: "Listing [Temple's] supporting players hastily, then, before we forget them entirely, we might mention Miss Faye [and] Gloria Stuart... as having been permitted a scene or two while Miss Temple was out freshening her costume."

Stuart with her second husband, Arthur Sheekman, 1937

For the rest of 1936 and through 1937, Zanuck placed Stuart in movies such asThe Girl on the Front Page—Frank S. Nugent's note: "Call it mediocre and extend your sympathies to the cast..."ReviewingGirl Overboard,Nugent begins, "In the definitive words of the currently popular threnode featured by a frog-voiced radio singer, Universal's 'Girl Overboard'... is 'nuthin' but a nuthin',' and a Class B nuthin' at that."In spite of the films' lukewarm reviews, Stuart had amassed a loyal following of fans by this time in her career, one of whom had her portrait tattooed across his chest. Stuart met with the fan and was photographed with him for aLifemagazine profile in the fall of 1937.

Stuart later appeared inThe Lady Escapes,Life Begins in CollegeandChange of Heart,which did not merit space inThe New York Times'movie pages. In 1938, Zanuck again insisted Stuart support Shirley Temple inRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm(1938). In their review of the film,Varietywrote: "Shirley Temple proves she's a great little artist in this one. The rest of it is synthetic and disappointing... More fitting title would be Rebecca of Radio City."In 1938, for the fourth time, Stuart was a supporting player to a child star: Jane Withers inKeep Smiling.Stuart but not her performance is noted inThe New York Timesreview.

InTime Out for Murder,Stuart's reviewer said she was "... a pretty bill collector".Then in 1939, the last year in this phase of Stuart's career, inThe Three Musketeers,Stuart's billing came after Don Ameche, The Ritz Brothers and Binnie Barnes and again Stuart's work was not reviewed. InWinner Take All,theTimescritic wrote, "... the only thing worth seeing in the picture is Tony Martin trying to play a prizefighter. This is positively killing."It Could Happen to You,"a quasi-comedy"co-starring Stuart Erwin, finished the eight years. Again Stuart is not mentioned.

What did give the actress space in the movie pages the previous November was the story: "Gloria Stuart Quits Fox... Gloria Stuart has terminated her contract with Fox..."In fact, Darryl Zanuck did not renew Stuart's contract.

1940–1944: Departure from Hollywood

Publicity still of Stuart, c. 1937

Early in 1939, Stuart and then-husband Sheekman spent four months traveling in Asia, Egypt and Italy, then landed in France just as France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.They appealed to the American consul, asking to stay, Sheekman as a war correspondent, Stuart as a hospital volunteer. The consul refused help and told them they had to return to the United States. They caught the SSPresident Adams,the last American passenger ship to cross the Atlantic,and arrived in New York City in September.

In New York, Stuart sought to return to stage acting, hoping to star on Broadway."I wanted to be a theater actress," she said, "but I thought it would be easier to get to New York and the theater if I had a name than if I just walked the streets as a little girl from California. When I went back to New York with somewhat of a name, they didn't want movie actresses."Stuart was, however, welcomed intosummer stock theateron the east coast and performed in various productions between 1940 and 1942, includingMan and Superman,The Animal Kingdom,TheNight of January 16th,Accent on Youth,Mr. and Mrs. North,Arms and the Man,andSailor Beware!.In August 1940, she starred as Emily Webb, oppositeThornton Wilder—under Wilder's own direction—in his playOur Town,which was staged at theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst.

To help with the war effort in the 1940s,Stuart took singing and dancing lessons; then the USO teamed her with actress Hillary Brooke.The two blonde actresses toured the country, visited hospitals, danced with servicemen in canteens, sold war bonds. Stuart "wanted terribly to volunteer for service overseas with the USO, but Arthur wouldn't hear of it."

On September 16., 1942, Stuart voiced one of the lead rôles, (Claire Winton), in theSuspense (radio drama),episode, ' The Kettler Method '.

Stuart asked her former agents to get her work. Her first movie in four years,Here Comes Elmer(1943), was a comedy with music starring Roy Rogers' wife,Dale Evans.InThe Whistler(1944)—an early directing credit of the horror specialist,William Castle—Stuart co-starred withRichard Dix.In her following film,Enemy of Women(1944), a war-themed drama, Stuart was seventh in billing.Two years later, Stuart took one more role: she wore a redhead's wig inShe Wrote the Booka comedy starringJoan DavisandJack Oakie.

1945–1974: Art career

An example of découpage by Stuart

After abandoning her acting career in 1945, Stuart went to New York with husband Sheekman—Paramount sent him to see the new playDream Girl,wanting him to adapt it for to screen. A friend took Stuart to the studio of adécoupageartist. Drawn to the art form, Stuart thought it could replace acting in her life.With Sheekman's encouragement, she opened a shop on Los Angeles's decorators' row, named it Décor, Ltd.Stuart created découpaged lamps, mirrors, tables, chests and other one of a kindobjets d'art.Over the next four years, her work gained attention, and her pieces were carried byLord & Taylorin New York,Neiman Marcusin Dallas,Bullock'sin Pasadena andGump'sin San Francisco. But in time, labor involved in "the fine fine cutting, applying sixteen coats of lacquer" to every pieceand other costs proved prohibitive, and Stuart closed her shop.

After living in rented spaces for ten years, Stuart and Sheekman bought an oldcraftsman-style house,where she redesigned the interior, supervised the remodeling, designed all the furniture and had it custom made. In the garden, she planned the landscaping, included a green house for orchids and lath house for grafting fruit trees, spent hours on her knees cultivating and planting. In Stuart's words, "I became a whirling dervish of creative renovation."

One of Stuart'sWatts Towersprints (1972)

Early in 1954, visiting Paris, Stuart first saw the Impressionist paintings at theJeu de Paumemuseum. As when she first saw découpage, Stuart wanted to do it, too.The Sheekmans were on their way to Italy. At the time, American artists living abroad for at least eighteen months paid no taxes on income earned during the residency.Sheekman was now very successful. In the eight years since returning from New York, he had been on fourteen movies, mostly writing the screenplays. He wanted to try another play.For the next eighteen months, Stuart painted and Sheekman worked on his play.

Sheekman's comedy about a sorrowful comic,The Joker,had Tommy Noonan for its star and was booked into The Playhouse Theater in New York to open April 5, 1957. April 1, it was announced the play was terminating a pre-Broadway tour of three-and-one-half weeks in Washington, D.C., and was "taken off for repairs."Repairs were never made. Then after seven years of working at her easel every day, Stuart was ready to show her paintings. In September 1961,Victor Hammergave Stuart a debut one-woman show at his Hammer Galleries in New York.Nearly all of her forty canvases sold.In the following years, Stuart exhibited her primitive-style paintings in many shows, including at the Bianchini Gallery in New York, the Simon Patrich Galleries and The Egg and the Eye in Los Angeles, the Galerie du Jonelle in Palm Springs and the Staircase Gallery in Beverly Hills. Stuart's paintings are in numerous private collections and the permanent collections of theLos Angeles County Museum of Art,theJ. Paul Getty Museum,theMetropolitan Museum of Art,theVictoria and Albert Museum,the Museum of New Mexico (Santa Fe), the Desert Museum of Palm Springs and the Belhaven Museum (Jackson, Mississippi).

Stuart had been painting for nearly thirty years when, as she wrote, "... the challenges to me of painting as a primitive had been wearing a little thin, and I had become fascinated by the complex art form ofserigraphy—silk screening. "Stuart studied with serigrapher Evelyn Johnson, then created vivid serigraphs that are also in private collections.

Bonsaicalled "French Black Oak Forest" was created by Stuart in 1982 after returning from France where she gathered the acorns in the royal forest at Fontainebleau

In the late 1960s, Stuart embraced another art form, the art ofbonsai.She took classes from Frank Nagata, colleague ofJohn Naka,a bonsai master in Los Angeles,joined Nagata's bonsai club, Baiko-En, and became one of the first Anglo members of the California Bonsai Society. Eventually Stuart's collection numbered over one hundred miniature trees.

1975–1995: Return to acting; book design

In 1975, after nearly thirty years out of the business, Stuart decided to return to acting. She got an agent and was immediately cast in a small role as a customer in a store in the ABC television filmThe Legend of Lizzie BordenstarringElizabeth Montgomery.From there, through her agent, Stuart was able to get cast in bit parts, mostly in television— including guest appearances on series such asThe WaltonsandMurder, She Wrote.Her friend, director Nancy Malone, gave her a leading role inMerlene of the Movies,a quirky film for television, and other friends gave her parts in their shows. In 1982 cameMy Favorite Year.Although Stuart's scene lasted moments and she had no lines, she was dancing withPeter O'Toole.She wrote, "It was a great privilege to work with him."After that, Stuart was inJack Lemmon's dramaMass AppealandGoldie Hawn's comedyWildcats,then more bits and pieces in television. A vintage publicity photo of her was also used for the image of 'Peg', the sister of butlerAlfred Pennyworth,in the 1997 filmBatman & Robin.

Stuart's husband Arthur Sheekman died in January 1978.Five years later,Ward Ritchie,a close friend of Stuart's first husband, Gordon Newell, sent Stuart one of his books. Ritchie had become a celebrated printer, book designer and printing historian.With his commercial Ward Ritchie Press and private Laguna Verde Imprenta press, Ritchie produced distinguished books on the arts, poetry, cookery and the American West. Stuart invited him to dinner, and they fell in love. Ritchie was seventy-eight and Stuart seventy-two.When Stuart first followed Ritchie into his studio and watched him pull a printed page from his 1839 English iron Albion hand press, she wanted to do it, too.After studying typesetting at the Women's Workshop in Los Angeles, Stuart bought her own hand press, a Vandercook SP15and established her own private press, Imprenta Glorias. In 1984, Stuart was diagnosed with breast cancer, but successfully treated the disease with a lumpectomy followed by radiation.

In the late-1980s, Stuart began experimenting with makingArtist's books.She designed several, wrote the text (often poetry), set the type—carefully selecting the style of type to match the subject—printed the pages, then decorated the pages with water colors, silk screen, découpage or all three. She created large artist's books and books in miniature. Several of her books took her years to complete.One of them, completed in 1996 with artistDon Bachardy,is owned by theMetropolitan Museum of Art.

Through Ritchie, Stuart was introduced to prestigious librarians and bibliophiles from San Francisco to Paris.Imprenta Glorias books can be found in theBibliothèque nationale de France,the Huntington Library, J. Paul Getty Museum, the Library of Congress, the Los Angeles Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Morgan Library & Museum, the New York Public Library, the Occidental College Library, the Princeton University library, the UCLA Clark Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as private collections.Stuart and Ritchie were together for thirteen years until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1996.

1996–1998:Titanic;career resurgence

In May 1996, Stuart received a message about a film role: "A female voice said she was calling fromLightstorm Entertainment... about a movie to be shot on location, maybe Poland... about theTitanic,directed byJames Cameron... "The next afternoon, Cameron's casting director,Mali Finn,came to Stuart's house "... with her assistant, Emily Schweber, who was carrying a video camera... Mali and I talked while Emily filmed us."The next morning, Finn brought over James Cameron andhisvideo camera. Stuart wrote, "I was not the least bit nervous. I knew I would read Old Rose with the sympathy and tenderness that Cameron had intended..."Five days after Stuart's eighty-sixth birthday, Finn phoned again and asked, "Gloria, how would you like to be Old Rose?"

Most of Stuart's filming was completed inHalifax, Nova Scotia,over about three weeks in early summer of 1996.Stuart also filmed and made recordings for several documentaries, did more looping and dubbing for Cameron, and received offers for additional films. Stuart wrote: "On April 7, 1997, the publicity blitz forTitanickicked off... From that point on, the deluge of publicity never stopped. "On December 17, 1997, Stuart was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actressfor her performance in the film.She was also nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.She was one of the few Golden Age stars to attend the ceremony, with contemporariesFay Wray,Bob Hope,andMilton Berlealso attending.As of 2022, she remains the oldest nominee in the category.Stuart later parodied her role in a music video for theHansonsong "River" alongside"Weird Al" Yankovicwho also directed the video.

On March 8, 1998, theScreen Actors Guildawarded Stuart its Founders Award,and also won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, tying withKim Basinger(L.A. Confidential).For both awards, Stuart received a standing ovation from her peers.

The following May,Peoplemagazine included Stuart on their list of "The 50 most beautiful people in the World in 1998."Also in May, Stuart was guest of honor at theGreat Steamboat Racebetween theBelle of Louisvilleand theDelta Queenand then was Grand Marshal of the 1998Kentucky DerbyFestival's Pegasus Parade.

Next, Stuart signed a contract with Little, Brown and Company to write her autobiography,I Just Kept Hoping.Stuart made her debut at The Hollywood Bowl on July 19, 1998, reading the poem,Standing Stone,Paul McCartney's oratorio for orchestra and chorus.

1999–2010: Final years and accolades

Stuart in 2000

Stuart was asked by the producer and star,Kate Capshaw,to join her cast ofThe Love Letter(1999),which she filmed in Rockport, Massachusetts. In October 1999, Stuart's native Santa Monica issued a Commendation signed by the mayor recognizing Gloria Stuart "... for many contributions world-wide and her inspirational message to always keep hoping. Dated this 16th day of October, 1999. Pam O'Connor, Mayor."In September 2000, Stuart unveiled her star on theHollywood Walk of Fame,in front of thePig 'n Whistlecafé that had opened its doors in 1927 when Stuart was still in high school.She also made guest appearances on several television series, including the 2000 science fiction seriesThe Invisible Man;Touched by an Angel,andGeneral Hospital.Although she was once again reduced to minor roles, Stuart's last two movies were for directorWim Wenders.In 1999, she worked onThe Million Dollar Hotelin downtown Los Angeles. In 2004, she appeared in Wenders'Land of Plenty,her final film.

In 2006, Stuart donated her screen printing equipment toMills College,where an exhibition of her work was held.On June 19, 2010, despite her illness, Stuart appeared in person to be honored by theScreen Actors Guildfor her years of service. At a luncheon, she was presented the Ralph Morgan Award byTitanicco-starFrances Fisher.James CameronandShirley MacLainewere among the luncheon attendees.On July 22, 2010, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Stuart's career with a program featuring film clips and conversations between Stuart and film historianLeonard Maltin,portrait artistDon Bachardyand David S. Zeidberg, the Avery Director of the Huntington Library.One thousand people filled the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

From the time Stuart was announced in theTitaniccast, she appeared before the camera for interviews on subjects as diverse as Groucho Marx, Shirley Temple,James Whale,horror movies and friendsChristopher IsherwoodandDon Bachardy.

Stuart was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 94, many decades after she had quit smoking. Until that point, she had enjoyed remarkably good health for her advanced age aside from takingcortisoneshots for knee pain.She underwent radiation treatment, but in time the cancer returned and she underwent a shorter course of radiation. The malignancy continued to spread, but slowly due to her age. She died six years after her initial diagnosis and reached her centenary.

Stuart celebrated her 100th birthday on July 4, 2010, hosted by James Cameron andSuzy Amisas well as family and friends at the ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills. There Stuart saw many of her paintings and serigraphs, artist's books, samples of her découpage and trees from her bonsai collection exhibited in the gallery.

Culinary interest

Stuart shown cooking inPhotoplay,January 1933

Stuart was a skilled amateur chef and hosted frequent dinner parties in Hollywood.She was close friends with the American food writerM.F.K. Fisher,who was godmother to Stuart's daughterSylvia Vaughn Thompson.Thompson later wrote about Stuart's cooking style: "My mother has never made Just Roast Beef in her life. It wouldn't interest her. Her style is based on the intricacies of composition. It borders on the baroque. Everyone adores it."

After tasting Stuart's goose in Kirschwasser aspic, the writerSamuel Hoffensteincomposed a poem, which he comically said was inspired by "hearing the wings of all the poets brush thro' Gloria's kitchen."

Stuart's mother Alice was also an avid cook, producing specialties from theSan Joaquin Valley,where Stuart's mother's family lived for generations.

Activism and politics

Stuart was a lifelongDemocrat.She was a co-founding member of theHollywood Anti-Nazi League,which formed in 1936.In 1938, as a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, Stuart was on the executive board of the California State Democratic Committee.She was also an avid environmentalist. "I belong to every organization that has to do with saving the environment," said Stuart. "I'm fed up with venal and avaricious forestry people, mining people, oil people, gas people. I think the abuse of the environment is sinful."

Death and legacy

Stuart died from respiratory failure at her home in Los Angeles on September 26, 2010, at age 100.Her body was cremated.At the time of her death, she had four grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.

Stuart's great-granddaughter, Deborah B. Thompson, produced an e-book,Butterfly Summers: A Memoir of Gloria Stuart's Apprentice.

For her contributions to the film industry, Stuart has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.It is located on the 6700 block ofHollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

Main article:List of Gloria Stuart performances

Accolades

Year	Awards	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1998	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Titanic	Nominated
	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actress		2nd place
	Online Film Critics Society Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role		Won
2000	Eyegore Awards	Eyegore Award	—	Honored
	Walk of Fame	Motion Picture
2002	Long Beach International Film Festival	Lifetime Achievement Award
2010	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Ralph Morgan Award

Selected artwork

Paintings

Year	Title	Medium	Notes	Ref.
1932	Still Life	Acrylic on canvas	Formerly owned by estate ofHarpo Marx;auctioned in 2014
1950s	Flossie and the Tiger	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery (Los Angeles)
1954	House in Rapallo	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1960s	Idiot's Bouquet - Melange	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1960s	Two Nudes	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1960s	Watts Towers	Oil on canvas	Owned byLos Angeles County Museum of Art
1960s	Watts Towers with Kite	Oil on canvas	Owned by Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1961	Girl in the Armoire	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1961	Idiot's Bouquet - Hand	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery; exhibited at Hammer Gallery, New York in 1961
1963	Idiot's Bouquet - with Wreath	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1965	Adam and Eve	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1970	Ladies in the Grass	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery
1970s	Naming of the Animals	Oil on canvas	Owned by Papillion Gallery

Screen prints

Year	Title	Medium	Notes	Ref.
—	Le the Dasant	Silk screen	Signed along bottom in pencil; auctioned in 2012

Artist's books

Year	Title	Medium	Notes	Ref.
1985	March fifteenth, Nineteen eighty-three	Letterpress, silkscreen, collage, and watercolor	Owned byWilliam Andrews Clark Memorial Library
1991	Eve-Venus	Letterpress, silkscreen, collage, and watercolor	Owned by theMetropolitan Museum of Art
1993	Christopher Isherwood's Commonplace Book	Letterpress, silkscreen, collage, and watercolor	Owned by William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
1993	Boating with Bogart	Letterpress, silkscreen	Owned by William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
1996	The Portrait	Letterpress, silkscreen, collage, and watercolor	Collaboration withDon Bachardy;owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
1997	The best motion picture of 1997: Titanic, by its author, director & producer James Cameron	Letterpress	Owned by William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
2001	A Slight Diversion	Letterpress, silkscreen	Owned by William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

References

Book sources

• Stuart, Gloria;Thompson, Sylvia(1999).Gloria Stuart: I Just Kept Hoping.Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.ISBN0-316-81571-3.
• Mank, Gregory William (2005).Women in Horror Films, 1930s.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.ISBN978-0-78642-334-7.
• Gardner, Gerald; Bellows, Jim (2007).80: From Ben Bradlee to Lena Horne to Carl Reiner, Our Most Famous Eighty Year Olds, Reveal Why They Never Felt So Young.Sourcebooks.ISBN978-1-40220-840-9.
• Lentz, Harris M. III (2011).Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2010.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.ISBN978-0-786-44175-4.

External links

• Gloria Stuartat theAmerican Film Institute Catalog
• Gloria StuartatIMDb
• Gloria Stuartat theTCM Movie Database
• Gloria StuartatAllMovie
• Works by Gloria StuartatOpen Library
• Artwork by Gloria Stuart, via Papillion Gallery
• Gloria Stuart BeforeTitanicArchivedOctober 3, 2010, at theWayback Machine- slideshow byLife magazine
• Gloria Stuartat Virtual History