Who was Ellen Corby? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Ellen Hansen Corby

Died At Age: 87

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Francis Corby (m. 1934; div. 1944)

Actresses Screenwriters

Height: 5'2" (157 cm), 5'2" Females

Died on: April 14, 1999

place of death: Los Angeles, California, United States

U.S. State: Wisconsin

Ancestry: Danish American

Diseases & Disabilities: Stroke

Cause of Death: Natural Causes

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on June 3, 1911, in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, Ellen Corby was the daughter of Danish immigrants. She was raised in Philadelphia and started harbouring an interest in amateur theatre when she was in high school.

She subsequently moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1932, and worked as a chorus girl for a brief period.

Sometime in the mid-1930s, she relocated to Hollywood and was employed as a script girl at RKO Studios and Hal Roach Studios for the following 11 years. When she was not working, she attended acting classes.

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Career

Ellen Corby’s first screen appearance was in the 1933 war drama ‘Storm at Daybreak’. Throughout the 1930s and most of the 1940s, she played only uncredited roles.

After appearing as Cathy, the maid, in ‘The Fabulous Joe’ streamliner of ‘Hal Roach's Comedy Carnival’ in 1947, Corby landed the role of Aunt Trina in George Stevens’ 1948 drama ‘I Remember Mama’.

In 1949, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in ‘I Remember Mama.’

Corby made her TV debut in 1950, portraying the recurring character Rosa Peterson in ‘Stars over Hollywood’. While she had played various characters on the big screen, it was on television that she truly thrived. From 1955 to 1960, she appeared in multiple episodes of ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’.

She also appeared in 24 episodes of CBS’ western drama ‘Trackdown’, portraying the recurring role of Henrietta Porter. Between 1961 and 1968, she played multiple characters in CBS’ legendary family adventure show ‘Lassie’. She also portrayed multiple characters in ‘The F.B.I’ between 1966 and 1970.

In 1958, she starred in the horror thriller ‘Macabre’. She played Mrs. Mabel Mayberry in the black-and-white science fiction film ‘Visit to a Small Planet’.

In 1961, she worked with Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, and Hope Lange in the Technicolor film ‘Pocketful of Miracles’. Her final cinematic appearance was in the 1972 adventure drama ‘Napoleon and Samantha’.

In the last stage of her career, she exclusively appeared in ‘The Waltons’ television series. Her final screen appearance was in the 1997 telefilm ‘A Walton Easter’. In 1989, Corby received the Golden Boot Award.

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Major Works

Ellen Corby appeared as Esther Walton in both the telefilm pilot ‘The Homecoming: A Christmas Story’ (1971) and the subsequent family drama television series ‘’The Waltons’. She was the only adult actor to have such a distinction.

Her 1976 real-life stroke was written into the story and her character was seen recovering from it. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Awards six times for her performance and won thrice (1973, 1975, and 1976). She was also nominated for the Golden Globe Awards four times and won once (1974).

Family & Personal Life

Ellen met filmmaker and cinematographer, Francis Corby, while she was working as a script girl at RKO Studios and Hal Roach Studios. They were married in 1934 and divorced in 1944. The couple did not have any children and Corby did not marry again.

Corby suffered a stroke in November 1976, but recovered and went on to act in multiple projects after that.

She passed away on April 14, 1999, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She was 87 years old at the time. Her memorial site is located at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

Trivia

In 1969, Corby received training to be a teacher of transcendental meditation.

1974	Best Supporting Actress - Television	The Waltons (1972)
1949	Best Supporting Actress	I Remember Mama (1948)

1976	Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Waltons (1972)
1975	Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Waltons (1972)
1973	Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Drama	The Waltons (1972)

Ellen Corby Biography