Ruth Attaway: Movies & Box Office

Ruth Attaway (June 28, 1910 – September 21, 1987) was an American actress and trained social worker whose career spanned stage, film, and television during the mid‑twentieth century. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, she was the daughter of physician W. A. Attaway, Ph.D., and grew up alongside a sister, Florence, and a brother, novelist William Attaway. She earned a sociology degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, an education that later informed her humanitarian work with the American Red Cross and New York’s social services agencies. Attaway made her Broadway debut in 1936 with the Pulitzer‑prize‑winning play You Can't Take It With You, and quickly became a pioneering figure in Black theatre, serving as the first director of the New York Players Guild in 1945 and later joining the Repertory Society of Lincoln Center from 1964 to 1967. Her stage credentials were complemented by a steady stream of screen roles, beginning with her film debut as Moll in The President’s Lady (1953) opposite Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston, followed by memorable performances such as Philomena in The Young Don’t Cry (1957), Serena Robbins in the musical adaptation Porgy and Bess (1959), and Edna in Conrack (1974). Her final screen appearance came as Louise in Being There (1979), concluding a forty‑three‑year‑long acting career. Beyond acting, Attaway dedicated herself to community service, leveraging her sociology background to work for the New York State Department of Social Welfare and Metropolitan Hospital, and she was frequently cited for her contributions to African‑American performers, notably by the Coordinating Council for Negro Performers in 1953. She married editor Allan Morrison of Ebony magazine, who predeceased her in 1968. Ruth Attaway died tragically in a Manhattan apartment fire on September 21, 1987, at the age of 77, leaving behind a legacy of artistic accomplishment and compassionate advocacy.