Mary Gordon (born Mary Gilmour; 16 May 1882 – 23 August 1963) was a Scottish actress who mainly played housekeepers and mothers, most notably the landlady Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series of movies of the 1940s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Her body of work included nearly 300 films between 1925 and 1950.
Early life Gordon was born on 16 May 1882, in Glasgow, Scotland, the fifth of seven children of Mary and Robert Gilmour, a wire weaver.Scottish Census for 1901, v Roll CSSCT1891_283 She worked as a dressmaker before finding work on the stage. She became a concert singer when she was 17 years old, but she left that career behind when she married. After her husband died during World War I she opened a boarding house to support her mother, her baby daughter, and herself. Joining a company bound for an American tour, she came to the U.S. in her twenties, apparently making a few appearances on Broadway in small roles, but primarily touring in stock companies. Gordon came to the United States with her mother and daughter soon after World War I ended. After working three months as a waitress in the Robertson-Cole Studios, she became the cook there. She had bit parts in films and coached Katharine Hepburn on using a Scottish dialect for the film The Little Minister.
Career Gordon arrived in Los Angeles with her mother and daughter in the mid-1920s, and began playing variations on the roles she would spend her career in. She became friends with John Ford while making Hangman's House in 1928 and made seven more films with him. In 1939, she took on her best-remembered role as Sherlock Holmes' landlady, Mrs. Hudson, and played the role in ten films and numerous radio plays. She was a charter member of the Hollywood Canteen, entertaining servicemen throughout the Second World War. On the radio show Those We Love, she played the regular role of Mrs. Emmett.
She entered retirement just as television reshaped the entertainment industry, making only a single appearance in that medium.
She was active in the Daughters of Scotia auxiliary of the Order of Scottish Clans.
She lived out her final years in Pasadena, California with her daughter and grandson. She died at age 81 on 23 August 1963, in Pasadena after a long illness.Pasadena Star-News, 26 August 1963
Selected filmography
The Dome Doctor (1925, Short) - Woman with Long Hair (uncredited) The Home Maker (1925) - Mrs. Hennessy Tessie (1925) - Aunt Maggie One of the Bravest (1925) - Tenement Boy's Mother The People vs. Nancy Preston (1925) - Mrs. Tifft Lights of Old Broadway (1925) - Minor Role (uncredited) Black Paradise (1926) - Mrs. Murphy The Dixie Flyer (1926) - Mrs. Clancy Naughty Nanette (1927) - Mrs. Rooney The Claw (1927) - Bit (uncredited) Annie Laurie (1927) - First Midwife (uncredited) Clancy's Kosher Wedding (1927) - Molly Clancy Little Mickey Grogan (1927) - Kind Landlady (uncredited) The Matinee Idol (1928) - Woman in Audience (uncredited) Hangman's House (1928) - The Woman at Hogan's Hideout (uncredited) Our Dancing Daughters (1928) - Scrubwoman (uncredited) The Ol' Gray Hoss (1928, Short) - First taxi passenger The Old Code (1928) - Mary MacGregr The Black Watch (1929) - Sandy's Wife (uncredited) Madame X (1929) - Nursemaid (uncredited) Is Everybody Happy? (1929) - Neighbor (uncredited) The Saturday Night Kid (1929) - Reducing customer (uncredited) The Sky Hawk (1929) - Mary, the Maid (uncredited) Dynamite (1929) - Neighbor at Store (uncredited) Sunny Side Up (1929) - Grocery Shopper (uncredited) Hell's Heroes (1929) - Choir Member (uncredited) Seven Days' Leave (1930) - Bit (uncredited) The Duke of Dublin (1930, Short) His Honor the Mayor (1930, Short) When the Wind Blows (1930, Short) - Chubby's Mother (uncredited) Las Fantasmas (1930, Short) - Chubby's Mama Roaring Ranch (1930) - Mrs. O'Riley (uncredited) Let Us Be Gay (1930) - Mrs. McIntyre (uncredited) Our Blushing Brides (1930) - Mrs. Mannix - Tenement Woman (uncredited) Manslaughter (1930) - Cook (uncredited) Song o' My Heart (1930) - Irish Woman (uncredited) Anybody's Woman (1930) - (uncredited) Dance with Me (1930, Short) Oh, For a Man! (1930) - Stage Door Admirer with Violets (uncredited) Unfaithful (1931) - Bit (uncredited) Subway Express (1931) - Mrs. Delaney Always Goodbye (1931) - Mrs. MacPherson, Moviegoer (uncredited) The Black Camel (1931) - Mrs. MacMasters The Brat (1931) - Angry Wife in Night Court (uncredited) Waterloo Bridge (1931) - Distraught Woman on Stairway (uncredited) 24 Hours (1931) - Nurse (uncredited) Possessed (1931) - Woman at Political Rally (uncredited) Frankenstein (1931) - Mourner (uncredited) Models and Wives (1931, Short) A House Divided (1931) - Townswoman (uncredited) Ladies of the Big House (1931) - Inmate (uncredited) Delicious (1931) - Dancer (uncredited) A Fool's Advice (1932) - Woman at Rally (uncredited) Texas Cyclone (1932) - Katie The Impatient Maiden (1932) - Irish Neighbor (uncredited) The Expert (1932) - Neighbor (uncredited) The Big Timer (1932) - 2nd Job Seeker (uncredited) Dancers in the Dark (1932) - Cleaning Lady (uncredited) Devil's Lottery (1932) - Inquest Onlooker (uncredited) Scandal for Sale (1932) - Hotel Resident (uncredited) The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932) - Court Matron (uncredited) Radio Patrol (1932) - Landlady (uncredited) Beauty Parlor (1932) - Landlady (uncredited) Almost Married (1932) - Cook 70,000 Witnesses (1932) - Scrubwoman (uncredited) Blonde Venus (1932) - Landlady (uncredited) Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) - Mrs. MacTavish (uncredited) Wild Girl (1932) - Washerwoman (uncredited) Call Her Savage (1932) - Lady in Tenement (uncredited) Laughter in Hell (1933) - Townswoman (uncredited) She Done Him Wrong (1933) - Cleaning Lady (uncredited) Her Splendid Folly (1933) - Mrs. Clancey Ladies They Talk About (1933) - Prisoner in Visiting Room (uncredited) Men Must Fight (1933) - Pacifist Audience Member (uncredited) Nature in the Wrong (1933, Short) - Mrs. Clancy (uncredited) Sweepings (1933) - Mrs. Patrick O'Leary (uncredited) The Whirlwind (1933) - Mrs. Curtis The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933) - Scrubwoman (uncredited) Pilgrimage (1933) - Mrs. MacGregor (uncredited) The Power and the Glory (1933) - Nurse (uncredited) Doctor Bull (1933) - Townswoman at Meeting (uncredited) Brief Moment (1933) - Cook (uncredited) Footlight Parade (1933) - Wardrobe Woman on Bus (uncredited) My Woman (1933) - Woman at Ironing Board (uncredited) Meet the Baron (1933) - Washer Woman (uncredited) Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933) - Cleaning Woman (uncredited) The Invisible Man (1933) - Screaming Woman (uncredited) Design for Living (1933) - Theatre Chambermaid (uncredited) The World Changes (1933) - Lady at Party (uncredited) Beloved (1934) - Mrs. O'Leary The Woman Condemned (1934) - Crying Woman at Night Court (uncredited) Voice in the Night (1934) - Woman on Phone in Montage (uncredited) Manhattan Melodrama (1934) - Boat Passenger (uncredited) Change of Heart (1934) - Woman in Street (uncredited) Murder at the Vanities (1934) - Assistant Wardrobe Woman (uncredited) The Loudspeaker (1934) - Landlady (uncredited) The Most Precious Thing in Life (1934) - Washerwoman (uncredited) A Man's Game (1934) - Landlady (uncredited) The World Moves On (1934) - English Soldier's Mother (uncredited) Baby Take a Bow (1934) - Mrs. O'Brien (uncredited) Cross Streets (1934) - Sonny's Mother Whom the Gods Destroy (1934) - Newfoundlander (uncredited) The Defense Rests (1934) - Scrub Woman (uncredited) I Give My Love (1934) - Marie (uncredited) Our Daily Bread (1934) - Community Woman in Cottage (uncredited) One More River (1934) - Cook (uncredited) The Man from Hell (1934) - Mrs. Frank McCarrol (uncredited) Charlie Chan in London (1934) - Prison Visitor (uncredited) Flirtation (1934) - Woman on a Window (uncredited) The Little Minister (1934) - Nanny I'm a Father (1935, Short) - Neighbor Vanessa: Her Love Story (1935) - Mrs. Leathwaite Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - Hans' Wife Vagabond Lady (1935) - Myrtle - Cleaning Lady (uncredited) $10 Raise (1935) - Landlady (uncredited) Ginger (1935) - Mrs. Monohan (uncredited) The Irish in Us (1935) - Ma O'Hara Bonnie Scotland (1935) - Mrs. Bickerdike Waterfront Lady (1935) - Mrs. O'Flaherty Metropolitan (1935) - Mrs. Tolentino (uncredited) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) - Peddler (uncredited) The Lady Consents (1936) - Apple Lady (uncredited) Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) - Farmer's Wife on Way to Church (uncredited) Laughing Irish Eyes (1936) - Mrs. O'Keefe Share the Wealth (1936, Short) - Ma MacClyde Forgotten Faces (1936) - Mrs. O'Leary Little Miss Nobody (1936) - Mrs. Biddle (uncredited) The White Angel (1936) - Nursing Applicant (uncredited) Mary of Scotland (1936) - Nurse Yellowstone (1936) - Mrs. McDougall (uncredited) Stage Struck (1936) - Mrs. Cassidy The Plot Thickens (1936) - Woman with Bag (uncredited) After the Thin Man (1936) - Rose (uncredited) The Plough and the Stars (1936) - Woman at Barricades Great Guy (1936) - Mrs. Ogilvie The Great O'Malley (1937) - Mrs. O'Malley Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937) - Mrs. Watson - Landlady (uncredited) Her Husband Lies (1937) - Mrs. Jenks (uncredited) Racketeers in Exile (1937) - Irish Woman (uncredited) Way Out West (1937) - Cook (uncredited) That I May Live (1937) - Mrs. Healy (uncredited) Pick A Star (1937) - Mrs. Watts - Undertaker's Wife (uncredited) The Man in Blue (1937) - Woman (uncredited) Married Before Breakfast (1937) - Mrs. Nevins (uncredited) One Man Justice (1937) - Bridget Meet the Boyfriend (1937) - Mrs. Grimes The Toast of New York (1937) - Mrs. Callahan - Charwoman (uncredited) You Can't Have Everything (1937) - Y.W.C.A. Scrub Woman (uncredited) Souls at Sea (1937) - Cook (uncredited) Double Wedding (1937) - Mrs. Keough A Damsel in Distress (1937) - Cook (uncredited) You're Only Young Once (1937) - Mary's Mother (uncredited) Mannequin (1937) - Mrs. O'Rourke (uncredited) Lady Behave! (1937) - Cook Friend Indeed (1937, Short) - Housekeeper Kidnapped (1938) - Mrs. MacDonald Blond Cheat (1938) - Maggie - the Charwoman (uncredited) City Streets (1938) - Mrs. Devlin Gateway (1938) - Scottish Mother (uncredited) Campus Confessions (1938) - Mrs. Twill (uncredited) Vacation from Love (1938) - Maggie, the Cook (uncredited) Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) - Mrs. Patrick McGee (uncredited) Thanks for Everything (1938) - Maggie, Irish Woman (uncredited) Off the Record (1939) - Mrs. Finnegan (uncredited) Wings of the Navy (1939) - Irene's Housekeeper (uncredited) Tail Spin (1939) - Mrs. Lee The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) - Mrs. Hudson Broadway Serenade (1939) - Annie (uncredited) Code of the Streets (1939) - Mrs. Flaherty (uncredited) Tell No Tales (1939) - Mrs. Bryant (uncredited) Racketeers of the Range (1939) - Mary - Benson's Housekeeper (uncredited) Captain Fury (1939) - Mrs. Bailey The Jones Family in Hollywood (1939) - Landlady (uncredited) She Married a Cop (1939) - Ma Duffy The Story That Couldn't Be Printed (1939, Short) - Woman Reading Newspaper (uncredited) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) - Mrs. Hudson Parents on Trial (1939) - Martha The Escape (1939) - Neighbor (uncredited) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Woman (uncredited) The Marshal of Mesa City (1939) - Mrs. Dudley Rulers of the Sea (1939) - Mrs. Ogilvie (uncredited) Day-Time Wife (1939) - Scrubwoman (uncredited) The Night of Nights (1939) - Mrs. O'Leary (uncredited) Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939) - 1st Pencil Woman (uncredited) My Son Is Guilty (1939) - Mrs. Montabelli (uncredited) The Invisible Man Returns (1940) - Cookie, the Cook (uncredited) Women Without Names (1940) - Juror (uncredited) My Son, My Son! (1940) - Mrs. Mulvaney Saps at Sea (1940) - Mrs. O'Riley (uncredited) Tear Gas Squad (1940) - Mrs. Sullivan