Ann Rutherford

On television, she portrayed Suzanne Pleshette's mother on the popular Bob Newhart Show during the 1970s. She was hospitalized, awaiting a liver transplant, when she died suddenly of heart and liver failure in Los Angeles. On radio, Ann Rutherford replaced Penny Singleton as Blondie. Other films include White Man's Burden and Blue Sky. She retired from films in 1950, but returned to her old studio in 1972 to make They Only Kill Their Masters on the old Andy Hardy set. She left acting soon in order to travel with rock musician Neil Young, the father of their son Zeke, but returned in 1978 in The Fury. She left MGM to freelance in the early 1940s, starring in such films as Orchestra Wives (1942) (with the Glen Miller Orchestra), Two O'Clock Courage (1945) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). Her next film, Diary of a Mad Housewife, garnered her a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress.

She also starred in a series of mystery/comedies with Red Skelton (Whistling in the Dark (1941), Whistling in Dixie (1942), and Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)). Born Caroline Snodgress in Park Ridge, Illinois, she attended Northern Illinois University before leaving to act. Her film debut was in 1970 in Rabbit, Run opposite James Caan. From 1937 until 1942, she portrayed Polly Benedict in the very successful Andy Hardy series. Carrie Snodgress (October 27, 1946 - April 1, 2004, Los Angeles, California) was an American actress. She was loaned to Selznick International to appear as Careen O'Hara in Gone With The Wind (1939). At MGM, she appeared in such films as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Pride and Prejudice (1940).

Afterward, she was placed under contract with MGM. Mascot merged with Republic Pictures, and Miss Rutherford soon established herself as a popular leading lady of Westerns with Gene Autry and John Wayne. She began her film career in starring roles in Waterfront Lady for Mascot Pictures in 1935. At an early age, she performed in various radio shows.

Miss Rutherford was born in Toronto, Canada. In the long-running, Academy Award-winning Andy Hardy film series, she played Polly twelve times, with the last appearance being in Andy Hardy's Double Life in 1942. It was in 1938 that her first notable role came as Andy Hardy's girlfriend, Polly Benedict, in Judge Hardy's Children. She appeared in seventeen films between 1935 and 1938.

Her first film role was in Melody Trail in 1935. She has had a long career starring and co-starring in films. Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1920 - ) is a Canadian/American actress in film, radio, and television.