Edna May Oliver (née Nutter, November 9, 1883 – November 9, 1942) was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the better-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.
Career
Born in Malden, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ida May and Charles Edward Nutter, Oliver quit school at age 14 to pursue a stage career.
She achieved her first success in 1917 on Broadway in Jerome Kern's musical comedy Oh, Boy!, playing the hero's comically dour Aunt Penelope. In 1923 she appeared as Hannah in the Broadway version of Owen Davis's Icebound. She would later reprise the Hannah role in William C. De Mille's silent film of Icebound the following year. In 1925, Oliver appeared on Broadway in The Cradle Snatchers, costarring Mary Boland, Gene Raymond, and Humphrey Bogart. Oliver's most notable stage appearance was as Parthy, wife of Cap'n Andy Hawks, in the original 1927 stage production of the musical Show Boat. She reprised her role in the 1932 Broadway revival, but turned down the chance to play Parthy in the 1936 film version to play the Nurse in that year's film version of Romeo and Juliet.
Her film debut was in 1923 in Wife in Name Only.
Awards and honors
Oliver received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Drums Along the Mohawk (1939).
Stage
(This list is limited to New York/Broadway theatrical productions.)
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Broadway credits of Edna May Oliver
! scope="col"|Date
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
!scope="row"|December 5, 1916 - January 1917
|The Master
|
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|February 20, 1917 – March 30, 1918
|Oh Boy
|Miss Penelope Budd
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|November 25, 1919 – January 7, 1920
|The Rose of China
|Mrs. Hobson
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|February 2, 1920 – May 1, 1920
|My Golden Girl
|Mrs. Judson Mitchell
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|November 1, 1920 – December 11, 1920
|The Half Moon
|Mrs. Francis Adams Jarvis
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|September 26, 1921 – unknown
|Wait 'Til We're Married
|Aunt Meridian
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|November 28, 1921 – December 1921
|Her Salary Man
|Mrs. Sophie Perkins
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|September 6, 1922 – September 1922
|Wild Oats Lane
|June
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|February 10, 1923 – June 1923
|Icebound
|Hannah
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|October 13, 1924 – November 15, 1924
|In His Arms
|Mrs. John Clarendon
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|January 13, 1925 – February 1925
|Isabel
|Mrs. John Clarendon
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|September 7, 1925 – October 1926
|Cradle Snatchers
|Ethel Drake
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|December 27, 1927 – May 4, 1929
|Show Boat
|Parthy Ann Hawks
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|May 19, 1932 – October 22, 1932
|Show Boat
|Parthy Ann Hawks
|align="center"|
|-
|}
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Silent films
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |Role
! scope="col"|Studio/distributor
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
!scope="row"|1923
| Wife in Name Only
| Mrs. Dornham
|Pyramid Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1923
|Three O'Clock in the Morning
|Hetty
|C. C. Burr Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1924
|Restless Wives
|Benson's Secretary
|C. C. Burr Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1924
|Icebound
|Hannah
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1924
| Manhattan
|Mrs. Trapes
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1925
|The Lucky Devil
|Mrs. McDee
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1925
|Lovers in Quarantine
|Amelia Pincent
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1925
|The Lady Who Lied
|
|First National Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1926
|The American Venus
|Mrs. Niles
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1926
|Let's Get Married
|J. W. Smith
|Famous Players–Lasky
|align="center"|
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Talkies
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |Role
! scope="col"|Studio/Distributor
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
!scope="row"|1929
| The Saturday Night Kid
|Miss Streeter
|Paramount Productions
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1930
|Half Shot at Sunrise
|Mrs. Marshall
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1931
|Cimarron
|Mrs. Tracy Wyatt
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1931
| Forbidden Adventure
|Bessie Tate
|Paramount Productions
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1931
|Fanny Foley Herself
|Fanny Foley
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1931
| Laugh and Get Rich
|Sarah Austin
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1931
|Cracked Nuts
|Aunt Minnie Van Varden
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1932
|The Penguin Pool Murder
|Miss Hildegarde Martha Withers
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1932
|Ladies of the Jury
|Mrs. Livingston Baldwin Crane
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1932
|The Conquerors
|Matilda Blake
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1932
|Hold 'Em Jail
|Violet
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|Ann Vickers
|Malvina Wormser
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|Meet the Baron
|Dean Primrose
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|| The Great Jasper
|Madame Talma
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|It's Great to Be Alive
|Dr. Prodwell
|Fox Film Corp.
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
| Only Yesterday
|Leona
|Universal Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|Little Women
|Aunt March
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1933
|Alice in Wonderland
|The Red Queen
|Paramount Productions
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1934
|The Last Gentleman
|Augusta Pritchard
|20th Century Fox
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1934
|The Poor Rich
|Harriet Spottiswood
|Universal Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1934
|Murder on the Blackboard
|Hildegarde Withers
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1934
|We're Rich Again
|Maude
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1935
|David Copperfield
|Aunt Betsey Trotwood
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1935
|No More Ladies
|Mrs. Fanny "Grandma" Townsend
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1935
|Murder on a Honeymoon
|Hildegarde Withers
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1935
|A Tale of Two Cities
|Miss Pross
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1937
|My Dear Miss Aldrich
|Mrs. Lou Atherton
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1937
|Parnell
|Aunt Ben Wood
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1937
|Rosalie
|Queen of Romanza
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1937
|Romeo and Juliet
|The Nurse
|MGM<br />Note: Premiered August 20, 1936, but not released until April 16, 1937
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1938
|Little Miss Broadway
|Sarah Wendling
|20th Century Fox
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1938
|Paradise for Three
|Mrs. Julia Kunkel
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1939
| Nurse Edith Cavell
|Countess de Mavon
|Imperadio Pictures Ltd
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1939
|Drums Along the Mohawk
|Mrs. McKlennar
|20th Century Fox
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1939
|The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
|Maggie Sutton
|RKO Pictures
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1939
| Second Fiddle
|Aunt Phoebe
|20th Century Fox
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1940
|Pride and Prejudice
|Lady Catherine de Bourgh
|MGM
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1941
|Lydia
|Sarah MacMillan
|Alexander Korda Films
|align="center"|
|-
!scope="row"|1976
|America at the Movies
|Footage
|American Film Institute
|align="center"|
|}
Radio
Oliver was a regular cast member from 1941 to 1942 on the Bob Burns series The Arkansas Traveler. She often played the character of an off-beat nurse, the type of role she had already performed earlier during her movie career.
On July 7, 1942 Oliver started a new summer radio series titled The Remarkable Miss Tuttle. She played the lead role of Josephine Tuttle, and the program had a planned 13-week run. However, Oliver quickly became ill and her role was taken over by her friend Mary Boland. When it became apparent that Oliver could not return, the title of the program was changed to The Remarkable Miss Crandall, with Boland playing the new lead character. This new format only lasted two weeks, and for the remaining four weeks the program was replaced by a new series, Mayor of the Town, starring Lionel Barrymore.