Broadway Star Ruth Ford Dies at 98

Ruth Ford, the iconic starry-eyed stage actress and stunning vocalist who fronted several Broadway productions from the ’40s through the ’70s, passed away last week due to age-related complications at her home in New York City, leaving a legacy of Broadway success in her place. Ford is most famous for her acting in plays such as “No Exit” (1946), “Miss Julie and “The Stronger” (1956), “Dinner at Eight” (1966) and “Poor Murderer” (1976). She also costarred with her husband Zachary Scott in the 1959 Broadway run of William Faulkner’s “Requiem for a Nun,” and Ruth Ford was one of the most important actresses during this era of Broadway.

Ruth Ford began a fruitful stage acting career in 1938, when she joined Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre and made her Broadway debut in the 1938 Mercury production of “Danton’s Death.” Ford hobnobbed with many famous artists and writers during her day, including Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee. “They felt very comfortable with her, and she was beautiful, and they loved her,” Ford’s lawyer Karin Gustafson said about the famed Broadway star. “She has an incredible archive of letters, because she knew many people and had many admirers.”

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Posted in General on August 17, 2009

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