"American actress. Born Dorothy Hayes Stickney on June 21, 1896, in Dickinson, North Dakota; died at her home in Manhattan on June 2, 1998, age 101; daughter of Dr. Victor Hugo Stickney and Margaret (Hayes) Stickney; educated at La Salle Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts, and St. Catherine's College, St. Paul, Minnesota; studied drama at North Western Dramatic School, Minneapolis; married Howard Lindsay (an actor and playwright), in 1927.
For four seasons, Dorothy Stickney and Howard Lindsay met nightly to star as husband and wife in the robust hit Life with Father at the old Empire Theater on Broadway. They then went home together to their aging brownstone at 50 West 11th Street. The play, based on Clarence Day's childhood reminiscences in which Stickney portrayed his mother Vinnie Day , opened in November 1939 and did not close until 1944—3,224 performances—the longest running non-musical show in Broadway history. "Little did we realize that the play would last through World War II," said Stickney.
Though Stickney was born in 1896 in North Dakota, her parents had originally come from Vermont, where her uncle William Stickney had been state governor. In her youth, Stickney suffered from corneal ulcers; since her eye impairment precluded college, she turned instead to the study of elocution and dancing. Her first stage appearance in New York was in Toto; her Broadway debut was in 1926 as the crazy char-woman Liz in Chicago. Stickney also appeared as Cherry in The Beaux' Strategem (1928), Mollie Molloy in The Front Page (1928), Mincing in The Way of The World (1931), and Granny in On Borrowed Time (1938). Her films include The Little Minister (1934), The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), and I Never Sang for My Father (1970). Dorothy Stickney was also seen on television, as well as in her solo show, A Lovely Light, in which she presented the writings of Edna St. Vincent Millay ."
"Feisty, ebullient character comedienne who, for three decades, enlivened Hollywood films with her drollery and quick-fire repartee. The daughter of a newspaper editor and music critic, Ruth made her stage debut in the chorus of the touring production 'The Quaker Girl' in 1913. Four years later, she had made it to Broadway, playing a telephone operator in 'The Scrap of Paper' at the Criterion Theatre. She then appeared for ten months in the musical farce 'Going Up' (1917-18), which starred Frank Craven and a young Ed Begley. Some of her biggest comic successes were in plays by George M. Cohan, notably 'A Prince There Was' (1918-19) and 'The Meanest Man in the World' (1920-21).
Ruth appeared on screen, first in a small part in Rubber Heels (1927). Not until the Wall Street crash of 1929 was she tempted to pursue a career in Hollywood, rather than on Broadway. For most of her time in the movies, she played acidulous secretaries, wisecracking friends of the heroine, or shrewish wives. She gave excellent support as Mary Brian's domineering mother in Hard to Handle (1933) and was excellent as Edward G. Robinson's wife in the Runyonesque comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938). There were many other good roles as comedy relief from Hands Across the Table (1935), with Carole Lombard to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936),with Gary Cooper); and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939),with James Stewart.. She was versatile enough to handle dramatic roles, playing a worldly nun in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and one of the asylum inmates of The Snake Pit (1948)."
"Best known for playing the title role in the long-running TV comedy series, Alice, Linda Lavin was first a Broadway and off Broadway performer, appearing in both stage plays and musicals. Lavin was first featured in a 1960 revival of George and Ira Gershwin’s Oh, Kay!, which was based on a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. Two years later, she made her Broadway debut in the Kander and Goldman musical, A Family Affair.
After appearing in 1965 as a replacement for Daisy Gamble in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Lavin later appeared off Broadway in The Mad Show, a musical revue based on Mad Magazine. She won her first starring Broadway role as Sydney the secretary in the Adams and Strouse 1966 musical comedy, It’s a Bird . . . It’s a Plane . . . It’s Superman. New York Times critic Stanley Kauffmann was enchanted by her performance: “[Lavin] has two numbers – ‘You’ve Got Possibilities’ and ‘Ooh! Do You Love You’ – that are pure imp. I wish she were in every musical and revue.” "
For several years, Linda Lavin appeared on Broadway in several Neil Simon stage plays, before going to work on television. She returned to Broadway as ar eplacement for Mama Rose in the 1989 revival of Gypsy. She has won a Theatre World Award (1965), three Drama Desk Awards, a Tony for her 1987 performance in Broadway Bound, and is up for another Tony for her role as Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories (2010).