Acting · Beaufort, South Carolina, USA · Born November 10, 1885
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top. On the stage, Dale starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway in 1933. Her other Broadway credits include Harvest of Years (1947), And Be My Love (1944), and Another Language (1932). Dale's first film was Crime Without Passion (1934) in an uncredited role. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dames and ladies of the aristocracy. Dale played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse, and she appeared in the 1957 Maverick episode "According to Hoyle" opposite James Garner.
MovieNorth to Alaska
1960
as Woman at Picnic
TVThriller
1960
as Ellen the Maid
TVThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
TVLock-Up
1959
MovieThe Sound and the Fury
1959
as Mrs. Maud Mansfield
TVThe Donna Reed Show
1958
TVMaverick
1957
as Ma Braus
TVM Squad
1957
as Julia Sheldon
MovieThe Oklahoman
1957
as Mrs. Fitzgerald
MovieBetrayed Women
1955
as Head Matron Ballard
MovieMa and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
1955
as Birdie Hicks
TVDecember Bride
1954
MovieA Tale of Two Cities
1953
as Pross
TVMr. & Mrs. North
1952
TVCavalcade of America
1952
as Aunt Tabitha
TVFour Star Playhouse
1952
as Mrs. Weston
MovieMonkey Business
1952
as Mrs. Rhinelander
MovieMa and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952
as Birdie Hicks
MovieToo Young to Kiss
1951
as Mrs. Boykin
MovieOn Moonlight Bay
1951
MovieWalk Softly, Stranger
1950
as Miss Thompson
MovieSurrender
1950
as Aunt May
MovieNo Man of Her Own
1950
as Josie
MovieHoliday Affair
1949
as Mrs. Ennis
MovieMa and Pa Kettle
1949
as Mrs. Birdie Hicks
MovieA Song Is Born
1948
as Miss Bragg
MovieThe Unfinished Dance
1947
as Olga
MovieThe Egg and I
1947
as Birdie Hicks
MovieMargie
1946
as Grandma McSweeney
MovieSmoky
1946
as Mrs. Richards
MovieA Stolen Life
1946
as Mrs. Johnson
MovieMy Reputation
1946
as Anna
MovieBehind City Lights
1945
as Sarah Lowell
MovieOn Stage Everybody
1945
as Ma Cassidy
MovieBedside Manner
1945
as Martha Gravitt
MovieOld Acquaintance
1943
as Harriet
MovieThe North Star
1943
as Anna Kurin
MovieSwing Your Partner
1943
as Caroline Bird, aka Anna Robbins
MovieMurder in Times Square
1943
as Longacre Lil
MovieThe Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943
MovieWrecking Crew
1942
as Mike O'Glendy
MovieA Letter From Bataan
1942
as Mrs. Jackson
MovieTen Gentlemen from West Point
1942
as Mrs. Thompson
MovieMaisie Gets Her Man
1942
as Mrs. McIntyre (Uncredited)
MovieYou're Telling Me
1942
as Aunt Fannie Handley
MovieWhat's Cookin'?
1942
as Mrs. Murphy (uncredited)
MovieBlondie Goes to College
1942
as Mrs. Carrie Dill, the Landlady
MovieDangerously They Live
1941
as Dawson, Goodwin's Housekeeper
MovieAll-American Co-Ed
1941
as Aunt Matilda Collinge
MovieAloma of the South Seas
1941
as Tarusa
MovieUnfinished Business
1941
as Aunt Mathilda
MovieBack Street
1941
as Mrs. Smith
MovieMr. & Mrs. Smith
1941
as Mrs. Krausheimer
MovieArise, My Love
1940
as Susie
MovieBlondie Has Servant Trouble
1940
as Anna Vaughn
MovieUntamed
1940
as Mrs. Smith
MovieCross-Country Romance
1940
as Mrs. McGillicuddy
MovieThe Mortal Storm
1940
as Marta
MovieOpened by Mistake
1940
as Mrs. Anthony DeBorest
MovieForty Little Mothers
1940
as Mrs. Mason the Landlady
MovieAnd One Was Beautiful
1940
as Margaret
MovieWomen Without Names
1940
as Head Matron Ingles
MovieAbe Lincoln in Illinois
1940
as Lincoln's Cook (uncredited)
MovieConvicted Woman
1940
as Chief Matron Brackett
Village Barn Dance
1940
as Minerva Withers
MovieLaddie
1940
as Sarah, the Housekeeper
MovieSwanee River
1939
as Temperance Woman
MovieA Child is Born
1939
as Prison Matron (uncredited)
MovieBad Little Angel
1939
as Miss Brown, Orphanage Secretary (uncredited)
MovieBlackmail
1939
as Sarah
MovieThe Women
1939
as Ingrid (uncredited)
MovieTell No Tales
1939
as Mrs. Haskins
Movie6,000 Enemies
1939
as Prison Matron
MovieBig Town Czar
1939
as Ma Daley
MovieBroadway Serenade
1939
as Mrs. Olsen, the Landlady
MovieSergeant Madden
1939
as Mrs. McGillivray
MovieMade for Each Other
1939
as Annie (uncredited)
MovieHow to Sub-Let
1939
as Mrs. Mustavas
MovieThe Great Man Votes
1939
as Mrs. Markham
MovieGirls on Probation
1938
as Mrs. Engstrom
MoviePrison Farm
1938
as Cora Waxley
MovieStolen Heaven
1938
as Lieschen
MovieCondemned Women
1938
as Mrs. Clara Glover, Head Matron
MovieThe Awful Truth
1937
as Mrs. Leeson
MovieDead End
1937
as Mrs. Fenner
MovieOn Such a Night
1937
as Miss Belinda Fentridge
MovieEasy Living
1937
as Lillian
MovieWild Money
1937
as Jenny Hawkins
MovieDamaged Goods
1937
as Mrs. Dupont
MovieOutcast
1937
as Hattie Simmerson
MovieHollywood Boulevard
1936
as Martha
MovieFury
1936
as Mrs. Whipple
MovieThe Case Against Mrs. Ames
1936
as Matilda
MovieThe Farmer in the Dell
1936
as Ma Boyer
MovieLady of Secrets
1936
as Miss Eccles
MovieTimothy's Quest
1936
as Hitty Tarbox
MovieThe Great Impersonation
1935
as Mrs. Unthank
MovieI Dream Too Much
1935
as Mrs. Dilley (uncredited)
MovieIn Old Kentucky
1935
as Dolly Breckenridge
MovieMary Burns, Fugitive
1935
as Kate
MovieI Live My Life
1935
as Brumbaugh, Mrs. Gage's Housekeeper
MovieCurly Top
1935
as Genevieve Graham
MoviePrivate Worlds
1935
as Matron
MovieThe Wedding Night
1935
as Mrs. Kaise Novak
MovieCrime Without Passion
1934
as Miss Keeley (uncredited)
