Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985) was an American actress and writer.
She began her career performing on Broadway at age 19. Gordon made a few appearances in silent movies, but the earliest years of her acting career were mostly spent onstage. After a few years as an actress she began to write plays and screenplays, often working with her husband, Garson Kanin. She had a few acting roles in Hollywood as well. The 1943 war film Action In The North Atlantic, in which she played the wife of Raymond Massey's character, was her last appearance on the big screen for 22 years. She reemerged in the 1960s as a popular character actress, with a warm, grandmotherly image she could play to or subvert, depending on the needs of the project. Her career, which continued until her death in 1985, brought her several Academy Award nominations for writing and acting, including a Best Supporting Actress win for Rosemary's Baby.
Gordon is also one of only two people born in the nineteenth century to host Saturday Night Live, the other being Miskel Spillman, a non-actor who won a "Host Saturday Night Live" contest.
Films as writer (with Garson Kanin)
- 1947 A Double Life
- 1949 Adam's Rib
- 1952 Pat And Mike
- 1952 The Marrying Kind
- 1953 The Actressnote
- 1980 My Bodyguard
Films as actress
- 1940 Abe Lincoln in Illinois as Mary Todd Lincoln
- 1940 Dr Ehrlichs Magic Bullet as Mrs. Ehrlich
- 1941 Two-Faced Woman as Miss Ellis
- 1943 Edge of Darkness as Anna Stensgard
- 1943 Action In The North Atlantic as Mrs. Sarah Jarvis
- 1965 Inside Daisy Clover as The Dealer - Mrs. Clover
- 1966 Lord Love a Duck as Mrs. Barnard
- 1968 Rosemary's Baby as Minnie Castevet
- 1969 Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice as Mrs. Dimmock
- 1970 Where's Poppa? as Mrs. Hocheiser
- 1971 Harold and Maude as Maude
- 1973 Isn't It Shocking? as Marge Savage
- 1976 The Big Bus as Old Lady
- 1978 Every Which Way but Loose as Ma
- 1979 Boardwalk as Becky Rosen
- 1979 Scavenger Hunt as Arvilla Droll
- 1980 My Bodyguard as Gramma
- 1980 Any Which Way You Can as Ma
- 1982 Jimmy The Kid as Bernice
- 1984 Voyage of the Rock Aliens as Sheriff
- 1984 Delta Pi as Mugsy
- 1985 Maxie as Mrs. Lavin
- 1987 The Trouble With Spies as Mrs. Arkwright
Television roles
- 1966 Blithe Spirit as Madame Arcati (TV movie)
- 1975 Kojak as Mrs. Eudora Temple
- 1975 Rhoda as Carlton's Mother
- 1975 Medical Story as Mrs. Dobson
- 1976 The Great Houdinis as Cecilia Weiss (TV movie)
- 1976 Emergency! as Lenore
- 1977 The Love Boat as Mrs. Warner
- 1977 Columbo as Abigail Mitchell
- 1979 Taxi as Dee Wilcox
- 1983-84 Newhart as Blanche Devane
