Florence Bates

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

62

Gender

Female

Birthday

1888-04-13

Day of death

1954-01-31 (65 years old)

Place of Birth

San Antonio, Texas, USA

Florence Bates

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Florence Bates (born Florence Rabe, April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles. Her path to becoming an actress had many turns. She had a degree in Mathematics, taught school until married, then became the first Texas female lawyer. Then she became a bilingual radio commentator. After her husband lost her fortune, she and her husband opened a bakery in Los Angeles. In the mid-1930s, Bates auditioned for and won the role of Miss Bates in a Pasadena Playhouse adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. When she decided to continue working with the theatre group, she changed her professional name to that of the first character she played on stage. In 1939, she was introduced to Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in her first major screen role, the vain dowager Mrs. Van Hopper, in Rebecca (1940). Bates appeared in more than sixty films over the course of the next thirteen years. Among her cinema credits are Kitty Foyle, Love Crazy, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Heaven Can Wait, Lullaby of Broadway, Mister Big, Since You Went Away, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Winter Meeting, I Remember Mama, Portrait of Jennie, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, and Les Misérables. In television, Bates had a regular role on The Hank McCune Show and made guest appearances on I Love Lucy, My Little Margie, I Married Joan and Our Miss Brooks.

Known For

  • I Love Lucy

    I Love Lucy

  • Four Star Playhouse

    Four Star Playhouse

  • Heaven Can Wait

    Heaven Can Wait

  • Main Street to Broadway

    Main Street to Broadway

  • The Son of Monte Cristo

    The Son of Monte Cristo

  • His Butler's Sister

    His Butler's Sister

  • Mexican Spitfire at Sea

    Mexican Spitfire at Sea

  • Strange Alibi

    Strange Alibi

  • The Inside Story

    The Inside Story

  • They Got Me Covered

    They Got Me Covered

  • Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven

    Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven

  • The Mask of Dimitrios

    The Mask of Dimitrios

  • The San Francisco Story

    The San Francisco Story

  • Les Miserables

    Les Miserables

  • Slightly Dangerous

    Slightly Dangerous

  • The Moon and Sixpence

    The Moon and Sixpence

  • Dick Tracy

    Dick Tracy

  • San Antonio

    San Antonio

  • The Chocolate Soldier

    The Chocolate Soldier

  • Rebecca

    Rebecca

  • The Tuttles of Tahiti

    The Tuttles of Tahiti

  • Tahiti Nights

    Tahiti Nights

  • The Devil and Miss Jones

    The Devil and Miss Jones

  • Out of This World

    Out of This World

  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

    The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

  • The Tall Target

    The Tall Target

  • The Brasher Doubloon

    The Brasher Doubloon

  • Lullaby of Broadway

    Lullaby of Broadway

  • Cluny Brown

    Cluny Brown

  • We Were Dancing

    We Were Dancing

  • Road Show

    Road Show

  • Belle of Old Mexico

    Belle of Old Mexico

  • Belle of the Yukon

    Belle of the Yukon

  • County Fair

    County Fair

  • Winter Meeting

    Winter Meeting

  • The Diary of a Chambermaid

    The Diary of a Chambermaid

  • My Dear Secretary

    My Dear Secretary

  • The Judge Steps Out

    The Judge Steps Out

  • Love and Learn

    Love and Learn

  • Mister Big

    Mister Big

  • Kismet

    Kismet

  • Tonight and Every Night

    Tonight and Every Night

  • Kitty Foyle

    Kitty Foyle

  • I Remember Mama

    I Remember Mama

  • Father Takes the Air

    Father Takes the Air

  • The Man I Love

    The Man I Love

  • The Second Woman

    The Second Woman

  • The Girl from Jones Beach

    The Girl from Jones Beach

  • Portrait of Jennie

    Portrait of Jennie

  • River Lady

    River Lady

  • Saratoga Trunk

    Saratoga Trunk

  • Mr. Lucky

    Mr. Lucky

  • A Letter to Three Wives

    A Letter to Three Wives

  • Claudia and David

    Claudia and David

  • On the Town

    On the Town

  • The Time, The Place and The Girl

    The Time, The Place and The Girl

  • Whistle Stop

    Whistle Stop

  • Paris Model

    Paris Model

  • Love Crazy

    Love Crazy

  • Calling All Husbands

    Calling All Husbands

  • Havana Rose

    Havana Rose

  • My Heart Belongs to Daddy

    My Heart Belongs to Daddy