Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Martha "Ma" Kent in Superman (1978). She also appeared in Bewitched (1945), Blood on the Moon (1948), and The World of Henry Orient (1964).
Early life Thaxter was born in Portland, Maine, the youngest of three children of Phyllis (nee Schuyler) Thaxter, former actress, and future Maine Supreme Court justice Sidney St. Felix Thaxter; her siblings were brother Sidney W. Thaxter and sister Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter (later the wife of federal judge Edward Thaxter Gignoux)."Mrs Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter, Hildegarde and Baby Phyllis, Portland". Lewiston Journal Magazine. March 12, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "The little ones are named Sidney W., Hildegarde and Baby Phyllis.""Announce Plans for Wedding of Miss Hildegarde Thaxter; Miss Phyllis Thaxter Will Attend Sister for Event June 30 at St. Luke's Cathedral". Portland Press Herald. June 5, 1938. p. C2. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "... Miss Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter, daughter of Judge and Mrs. Sidney St. Felix Thaxter of Danforth Street and Cushing's Island, and Edward Thaxter Gignoux, son of Col. and Mrs. Frederick E. Gignoux of Cape Elizabeth, who will be married Thursday, June 30. [...] Among the boys in the Portland group will be Sidney W. Thaxter, brother of the bride-elect.""Deaths Elsewhere: Retired Federal Judge Dies". The Star Press. November 6, 1988. p. 44. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "Gignoux is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Hildegarde Thaxter..." Her grandfather, Major Sidney W. Thaxter, was awarded the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War.
Career Before appearing in films, Thaxter was on the stage. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Thaxter replaced her in the Broadway play Claudia. In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was in the 1944 wartime film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. In the 1945 film-noir Bewitched, Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman with split personality. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter in Blood on the Moon.
On August 15, 1952, Thaxter, having recently completed work on Operation Secret and Springfield Rifle and awaiting the birth of her second child, was hospitalized with what was described as a "mild" and "non-paralytic" case of polio.Hopper, Hedda (September 4, 1952). "Hollywood". New York Daily News. p. C14. Retrieved October 14, 2024.Byrne, John E. (August 31, 1952). "Polio More Than a Word; Phyllis Thaxter Determined to Fight Dread Disease". Portland Press Herald. p. 2A. Retrieved October 14, 2024. Although the illness did not impact her pregnancy, it proved sufficiently serious to end Thaxter's film career, when the following month, columnist Hedda Hopper reported that the actress's contract with Warner Bros. had, "by mutual agreement", been "quietly washed up". Of the remaining, predominantly TV-focused four decades of Thaxter's career, the big-screen portion comprised four widely spaced credits."Phyllis Thaxter Filmography". American Film Institute. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
Thaxter appeared in television series such as Rawhide, portraying Pauline Cushman in the episode "The Blue Spy" (1961); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, portraying a paralyzed wife being terrorized by her husband in the episode "The Long Silence" (1963); Wagon Train ("The Christine Elliott Story" and "The Vivian Carter Story"); The Twilight Zone ("Young Man's Fancy"); and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
She returned to Broadway, appearing in Take Her, She's Mine at the Biltmore in 1961.
In 1978, Thaxter was cast with Glenn Ford as Jonathan and Martha Kent in the blockbuster film Superman. In 1992, she appeared in the season-nine "Family Secrets" episode of Murder, She Wrote.
In 2003, Thaxter had a seconds-long appearance in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Fisher King" (season seven, episode three).
Personal life Patricia Bosworth, in her biography of Montgomery Clift, tells of Thaxter's close relationship with Clift in the early 1940s, writing that they "seemed so close that a great many people assumed they would eventually marry".
While at MGM, Phyllis Thaxter married James T. Aubrey Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. They had two children. The couple divorced in 1962.
In 1962, Thaxter married Gilbert Lea. They were married for 46 years until his death on May 4, 2008. Her family and she were Episcopalians, and her maternal grandfather was a minister. During her time of residency in California, she was a member of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, where she additionally held the wedding of her first marriage in November 1944.
Death Thaxter died on August 14, 2012, aged 92, in Longwood, Florida after an eight-year period with Alzheimer's disease.
She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in Maine.
Filmography Film Year Title Role 1944 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Ellen Lawson1945 Bewitched Joan Alris Ellis Week-End at the Waldorf Cynthia Drew1947 The Sea of Grass Sara Beth Brewton Living in a Big Way Peggy Randall1948 Tenth Avenue Angel Helen Mills The Sign of the Ram Sherida Binyon Blood on the Moon Carol Lufton Act of Violence Ann1950 No Man of Her Own Patrice Harkness The Breaking Point Lucy Morgan1951 Fort Worth Flora Talbot Jim Thorpe – All-American Margaret Miller Come Fill the Cup Paula Copeland1952 She's Working Her Way Through College Helen Palmer Springfield Rifle Erin Kearney Operation Secret Maria Corbet1955 Women's PrisonHelene Jensen1957 Man AfraidLisa Collins1964 The World of Henry Orient Mrs. Avis Gilbert1978 Superman Martha "Ma" Kent
Selected television appearances Year Title Role Notes1953-1956 Lux Video Theatre various characters Season 3 Episode 42: "Wind on the Way" as Diana Forbes (1953) Season 4 Episode 5: "Anniversary" as Fran (1953)
Season 4 Episode 30: "The Girl Who Couldn't Cry" as Anne (1954)
Season 5 Episode 21: "Penny Serenade" as Julie (1955)
Season 5 Episode 40: "Thunder on the Hill" as Sister Mary (1955)
Season 6 Episode 13: "Holiday Affair" as Connie Ennis (1955)
Season 6 Episode 33: "The Night of January Sixteenth" as Karen (1956)1954 The Motorola Television Hour Gladys Mitchell Episode: "Atomic Attack" 1955 Stage 7 Muriel Blandings Episode: "The Hayfield"1956-1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents various characters Season 1 Episode 30: "Never Again" as Karen Sewart (1956) Season 2 Episode 2: "Fog Closing In" as Mary Summers (1956)
Season 2 Episode 20: "Malice Domestic" as Annette Borden (1957)
Season 3 Episode 11: "The Deadly" as Margot Brenner (1957)
Season 4 Episode 9: "Murder Me Twice" as Lucy Pryor (1958)
Season 6 Episode 5: "The Five-Forty-Eight" as Miss Dent (1960)1957 Studio One Laura Morgan Episode: "The Dark Corner"1958 The Frank Sinatra Show Jean Armstrong Episode: "The Seedling Doubt"1959-1960 Wagon Train various characters Season 2 Episode 23: "The Vivian Carter Story" as Vivian Carter (1959) Season 3 Episode 24: "The Christine Elliot Story" as Christine Elliot (1960)1961 Rawhide Pauline Cushman Episode: "The Blue Spy"1962 The Twilight Zone Virginia Lane Walker Episode: "Young Man's Fancy" 1963-1964 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour various characters Season 1 Episode 25: "The Long Silence" as Nora Cory Manson (1963)
Season 2 Episode 6: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale" as Mrs. Logan (1963)
Season 3 Episode 2: "Change of Address" as Elsa Hollands (1964) 1964 The Fugitive Enid Langer Episode: "Detour on a Road Going Nowhere"1967 Coronet Blue Eleanor BarclayEpisode: "Faces"1968 The Invaders Sarah Concannon Episode: "The Peacemaker"1969 Bonanza Ruth Manning Episode: "The Clarion"1970 Medical Center Celia Jennings Episode: "Junkie"1971 Incident in San Francisco Lois Harmon TV movie1972 The Longest Night Norma Chambers TV movie1974 Marcus Welby, M.D. Kate TannahillEpisode: "A Full Life"1975 Barnaby Jones Aunt Meg Catlin Episode: "Murder Once Removed"1976 Once an Eagle Alma Caldwell1985 American Playhouse Rebecca Nurse 3 episodes1992 Murder, She Wrote Emily Weymouth Episode: "Family Secrets"
Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1952 Stars in the Air Christmas in Connecticut 1953 Lux Radio Theatre Close to My Heart 1953 Lux Radio Theatre The Bishop's Wife 1955 Lux Radio Theatre The Bishop's Wife
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