# Beulah Bondi

Beulah Bondi /ˈbɒndi/ (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1888 – January 11, 1981) was an American character actress; she often played eccentric mothers and later grandmothers and wives, although she was known for numerous other roles. She began her acting career as a young child in theater, and after establishing herself as a Broadway stage actress in 1925, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version.
She played supporting roles in several films during the 1930s, and was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played the mother of James Stewart in four films: Of Human Hearts, Vivacious Lady, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Although at her height in Hollywood from the 1930s until the 1950s, Bondi never retired, and she continued acting well into her later years, at the age of 87 winning an Emmy Award for her guest-star role on The Waltons in 1976.

## Life and career

Bondi was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Eva Suzanna (née Marble), an author, and Abraham O. Bondy, who worked in real estate. The family moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, when she was three, and Bondi began her acting career on the stage at age seven, playing Cedric Errol in a production of Little Lord Fauntleroy at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso. She graduated from the Frances Shimer Academy (later Shimer College) in 1907, and gained her bachelor's and master's degrees in oratory at Valparaiso University in 1916 and 1918.
She changed her surname to Bondi and made her Broadway debut in Kenneth Seymour Webb's One of the Family at the 49th Street Theatre on December 21, 1925. She next appeared in another hit, Maxwell Anderson's Saturday's Children, in 1926. Her performance in Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning Street Scene, which opened at the Playhouse Theatre on January 10, 1929, brought Bondi to the movies at the age of 43. Her debut movie role was as Emma Jones in Street Scene (1931), which starred Sylvia Sidney, and in which Bondi reprised her stage role, followed by "Mrs. Davidson" in Rain (1932), which starred Joan Crawford and Walter Huston. Along with her roles on Broadway, in 1925 and 1926, Bondi was a Summer Stock cast member at the oldest summer stock theater in the country, Elitch Theatre.
She was one of the first five women to be nominated for an Academy Award in the newly created category of "Best Supporting Actress" for her work in The Gorgeous Hussy, although she lost the award to Gale Sondergaard. Two years later she was nominated again for Of Human Hearts and lost again, but her reputation as a character actress kept her employed. For the rest of her career, she would most often be seen in a supporting role as the mother of the star of the film. One exception is the ensemble film Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), where she was one of the leads, playing the abandoned Depression-era 'Ma' Cooper. She often played mature roles in her early film career even though she was only in her early 40s. In 1940 Bondi played Mrs. Webb in Our Town and Granny Tucker in The Southerner, directed by Jean Renoir and released in 1945.
She was tested for the role of Ma Joad in the film of The Grapes of Wrath. Bondi, believing that she had the part, reportedly bought an old jalopy and moved to Bakersfield, California to live among the migrant workers in order to research the role. Bondi was reportedly extremely disappointed at losing the role to Jane Darwell, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work.
For her contributions to the film industry, Bondi received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, located at 1718 Vine Street.
Although Bondi played mothers and grandmothers on screen, she was a lifelong bachelorette with no children. She admitted, "I never regretted the choice of a career over marriage, it was a difficult decision and I've never been sorry."

## Television

Bondi's television credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Howard Richardson's Ark of Safety on the Goodyear Television Playhouse. She appeared with Jan Clayton in "The Prairie Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. She made a guest appearance on Perry Mason in 1963 when she played the role of Sophia Stone in "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew".
Bondi made her final appearances as Martha Corinne Walton on The Waltons in the episodes "The Conflict" (September 1974) and "The Pony Cart" (December 1976). She received an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series for her performance in "The Pony Cart". When her name was called, it first appeared that she was not present, but she received a standing ovation as she walked slowly to the podium, from which she thanked the audience for honoring her while she was still living.

## Death

Bondi died from pulmonary complications caused by broken ribs suffered when she tripped over her cat in her home on January 11, 1981, at age 92. Her remains were cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

## Complete filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1931 | Street Scene | Emma Jones | |
| 1931 | Arrowsmith | Mrs. Tozer | Uncredited |
| 1932 | Rain | Mrs. Davidson | |
| 1933 | The Stranger's Return | Beatrice Storr | |
| 1933 | Christopher Bean | Mrs. Hannah Haggett | |
| 1934 | Two Alone | Mrs. Slag | |
| 1934 | Registered Nurse | Miss McKenna | |
| 1934 | Finishing School | Her Teacher / Miss Van Alstyne | |
| 1934 | The Painted Veil | Frau Koerber | Scenes cut |
| 1934 | Ready for Love | Mrs. Burke | |
| 1935 | The Good Fairy | Dr. Schultz | |
| 1935 | Bad Boy | Mrs. Larkin | |
| 1936 | The Invisible Ray | Lady Arabella Stevens | |
| 1936 | The Trail of the Lonesome Pine | Melissa Tolliver | |
| 1936 | The Moon's Our Home | Mrs. Boyce Medford | |
| 1936 | The Case Against Mrs. Ames | Mrs. Livingston Ames | |
| 1936 | Hearts Divided | Madame Letizia | |
| 1936 | The Gorgeous Hussy | Rachel Jackson | |
| 1937 | Maid of Salem | Abigail – His Wife | |
| 1937 | Make Way for Tomorrow | Lucy Cooper | |
| 1938 | The Buccaneer | Aunt Charlotte | |
| 1938 | Of Human Hearts | Mary Wilkins | |
| 1938 | Vivacious Lady | Martha Morgan | |
| 1938 | The Sisters | Rose Elliott | |
| 1939 | On Borrowed Time | Nellie – Granny | |
| 1939 | The Under-Pup | Miss Thornton | |
| 1939 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Ma Smith | |
| 1940 | Remember the Night | Mrs. Sargent | |
| 1940 | Our Town | Mrs. Webb | |
| 1940 | The Captain Is a Lady | Angie Peabody | |
| 1941 | Penny Serenade | Miss Oliver | |
| 1941 | The Shepherd of the Hills | Aunt Mollie Matthews | |
| 1941 | One Foot in Heaven | Mrs. Lydia Sandow | |
| 1943 | Tonight We Raid Calais | Mme. Bonnard | |
| 1943 | Watch on the Rhine | Anise | |
| 1944 | She's a Soldier Too | Agatha Kittredge | |
| 1944 | I Love a Soldier | Etta Lane | |
| 1944 | Our Hearts Were Young and Gay | Miss Horn | |
| 1944 | The Very Thought of You | Mrs. Harriet Wheeler | |
| 1944 | And Now Tomorrow | Aunt Em | |
| 1945 | Back to Bataan | Bertha Barnes | |
| 1945 | The Southerner | Granny Tucker | |
| 1946 | Breakfast in Hollywood | Mrs. Annie Reed | |
| 1946 | Sister Kenny | Mary Kenny | |
| 1946 | It's a Wonderful Life | Ma Bailey | |
| 1947 | High Conquest | Clara Kingsley | |
| 1948 | The Sainted Sisters | Hester Rivercomb | |
| 1948 | The Snake Pit | Mrs. Greer | |
| 1948 | So Dear to My Heart | Granny Kincaid | |
| 1949 | The Life of Riley | Miss Martha Bogle | |
| 1949 | Reign of Terror | Grandma Blanchard | |
| 1949 | Mr. Soft Touch | Mrs. Clara Hangale | |
| 1950 | The Baron of Arizona | Loma | |
| 1950 | The Furies | Mrs. Anaheim | |
| 1952 | Lone Star | Minniver Bryan | |
| 1953 | Latin Lovers | Analyst | |
| 1954 | Track of the Cat | Ma Bridges | |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Mrs. Sutton | Season 1 Episode 8: "Our Cook's a Treasure" |
| 1956 | Back from Eternity | Martha Spangler | |
| 1957 | The Unholy Wife | Emma Hochen | |
| 1957 | On Borrowed Time | 'Granny' Northrup | TV movie |
| 1959 | The Big Fisherman | Hannah | |
| 1959 | A Summer Place | Mrs. Emily Hamilton Hamble | |
| 1960 | Harrigan and Son | Tilly Cortland | S1.E11 - "Non Compos Mentis" |
| 1960 | Playhouse 90 | Mrs. Hulie | S4.E12 - "Tomorrow" |
| 1961 | Tammy Tell Me True | Mrs. Annie Call |
| 1961 | Route 66 | Agnes Brack | S2.E13 - "Burning for Burning" |
| 1961 | Wagon Train | Grandma Bates | S4.E19 - "The Prairie Story" |
| 1962 | The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | The Gypsy | ('The Dancing Princess') |
| 1962 | Alcoa Premiere | Mrs. Murrow | S2.E9 - "The Hands of Danofrio" |
| 1963 | Tammy and the Doctor | Mrs. Annie Call |
| 1963 | Perry Mason | Sophia Stone | S7.E1 - "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew" |
| 1972 | She Waits | Mrs. Medina | TV movie |
| 1974 | Carl Sandburg's Lincoln | Sarah Bush Lincoln | TV miniseries |
| 1974 | Dirty Sally | Louisa Badger | S1.E6 - "Too Long to Wait" |
| 1974–1976 | The Waltons | Martha Corinne Walton | Episodes: "The Conflict", "The Pony Cart" |

## Radio appearances

| Year | Program | Episode/source |
| 1952 | Stars in the Air | "On Borrowed Time" |