Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012)[ was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Martha "Ma" Kent in Superman (1978). She also appeared in Bewitched (1945),
Blood on the Moon (1948), and The World of Henry Orient (1964).
]
Early life
Thaxter was born in Portland, Maine, the youngest of three children of Phyllis ( Schuyler family) Thaxter, former actress, and future Maine Supreme Court justice Sidney St. Felix Thaxter;[ her siblings were brother, Sidney W. Thaxter, and sister, Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter (later the wife of federal judge Edward Thaxter Gignoux).][ "Mrs Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter, Hildegarde and Baby Phyllis, Portland". Lewiston Journal Magazine. March 12, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "The little ones are named Sidney W., Hildegarde and Baby Phyllis."][ "Announce Plans for Wedding of Miss Hildegarde Thaxter; Miss Phyllis Thaxter Will Attend Sister for Event June 30 at St. Luke's Cathedral". Portland Press Herald. June 5, 1938. p. C2. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "... Miss Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter, daughter of Judge and Mrs. Sidney St. Felix Thaxter of Danforth Street and Cushing's Island, and Edward Thaxter Gignoux, son of Col. and Mrs. Frederick E. Gignoux of Cape Elizabeth, who will be married Thursday, June 30. ... Among the boys in the Portland group will be Sidney W. Thaxter, brother of the bride-elect."][ "Deaths Elsewhere: Retired Federal Judge Dies". The Star Press. November 6, 1988. p. 44. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "Gignoux is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Hildegarde Thaxter..."] Her grandfather, Major Sidney W. Thaxter, was awarded the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War.
Career
Before appearing in films, Thaxter was on the stage. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Thaxter replaced her in the Broadway play Claudia.[ In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the 1944 wartime film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.][ In the 1945 film-noir Bewitched, Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman with split personality. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter in Blood on the Moon.
]
On August 15, 1952, Thaxter—having recently completed work on Operation Secret and Springfield Rifle, and awaiting the birth of her second child—was hospitalized with what was described as a "mild" and "non-paralytic" case of polio.[Hopper, Hedda (September 4, 1952). "Hollywood". New York Daily News. p. C14. Retrieved October 14, 2024.][Byrne, John E. (August 31, 1952). "Polio More Than a Word; Phyllis Thaxter Determined to Fight Dread Disease". Portland Press Herald. p. 2A. Retrieved October 14, 2024.] Although the illness did not impact her pregnancy, it proved sufficiently serious to all but end Thaxter's film career when, the following month, columnist Hedda Hopper reported that the actress's contract with Warner Brothers had, "by mutual agreement", been "quietly washed up".[ "Phyllis Thaxter Filmography". American Film Institute. Retrieved October 14, 2024.]
Thaxter appeared in television series such as Rawhide, portraying Pauline Cushman in the episode "The Blue Spy" (1961), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, portraying a paralyzed wife being terrorized by her husband in the episode "The Long Silence" (1963), Wagon Train ("The Christine Elliott Story" and "The Vivian Carter Story"), The Twilight Zone ("Young Man's Fancy"), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
She returned to Broadway, appearing in Take Her, She's Mine at the Biltmore in 1961.[
]
In 1978, Thaxter was cast with Glenn Ford as Jonathan and Martha Kent in the blockbuster film Superman. In 1992, she appeared in the season nine "Family Secrets" episode of Murder, She Wrote.
In 2003, Thaxter had a seconds long appearance in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Fisher King" (season 7, episode 3).
Personal life
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, Phyllis Thaxter married James T. Aubrey Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. They had two children.
In 1962, Thaxter married Gilbert Lea. They were married for 46 years until his death on May 4, 2008.[ She and her family were Episcopalians and her grandfather on her mother's side was a minister.]
Death
Thaxter died on August 14, 2012, aged 92, in Longwood, Florida after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.[
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She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in Maine.
Filmography
Film
|
|
| Ellen Lawson |
| Joan Alris Ellis |
| Cynthia Drew |
| Sara Beth Brewton |
| Peggy Randall |
| Helen Mills |
| Sherida Binyon |
| Carol Lufton |
| Ann |
| Patrice Harkness |
| Lucy Morgan |
| Flora Talbot |
| Margaret Miller |
| Paula Copeland |
| Helen Palmer |
| Erin Kearney |
| Maria Corbet |
| Helene Jensen |
| Lisa Collins |
| Mrs. Avis Gilbert |
| Martha "Ma" Kent (née Clark) |
Selected television appearances
|
|
| Season 3 Episode 42: "Wind on the Way" as Diana Forbes (1953)
Season 4 Episode 5: "Anniversary" as Fran (1953)
Season 4 Episode 30: "The Girl Who Couldn't Cry" as Anne (1954)
Season 5 Episode 21: "Penny Serenade" as Julie (1955)
Season 5 Episode 40: "Thunder on the Hill" as Sister Mary (1955)
Season 6 Episode 13: "Holiday Affair" as Connie Ennis (1955)
Season 6 Episode 33: "The Night of January Sixteenth" as Karen (1956) |
| Episode: "Atomic Attack" |
| Episode: "The Hayfield" |
| Season 1 Episode 30: "Never Again" as Karen Sewart (1956)
Season 2 Episode 2: "Fog Closing In" as Mary Summers (1956)
Season 2 Episode 20: "Malice Domestic" as Annette Borden (1957)
Season 3 Episode 11: "The Deadly" as Margot Brenner (1957)
Season 4 Episode 9: "Murder Me Twice" as Lucy Pryor (1958)
Season 6 Episode 5: "The Five-Forty-Eight" as Miss Dent (1960) |
| Episode: "The Dark Corner" |
| Episode: "The Seedling Doubt" |
| |
| Episode: "The Blue Spy" |
| Episode: "Young Man's Fancy" |
| Season 1 Episode 25: "The Long Silence" as Nora Cory Manson (1963)
Season 2 Episode 6: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale" as Mrs. Logan (1963)
Season 3 Episode 2: "Change of Address" as Elsa Hollands (1964) |
| Episode: "Detour on a Road Going Nowhere" |
| Episode: "Faces" |
| Episode: "The Peacemaker" |
| Episode: "The Clarion" |
| Episode: "Junkie" |
| TV movie |
| TV movie |
| Episode: "A Full Life" |
| Episode: "Murder Once Removed" |
| |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "Family Secrets" |
Radio appearances
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|
Christmas in Connecticut |
Close to My Heart |
The Bishop's Wife |
The Bishop's Wife |
External links
