Born in Jamesport, MO; educated at the University of Michigan. After experience in stock, she scored a personal triumph in her very first Broadway play, acting the lead in Our Town (1938). In 1940 she was nominated for an Oscar® for repeating the role on the screen. Talented and unglamorous, she alternately starred in films and plays of the 1940s, then moved into character parts. Beginning in the early 1950s, she appeared on numerous TV programs. Visit the Internet Movie Database to view her film and TV credits.  Nominated for Actress 1940: OUR TOWN 1 nomination