Florence Bates
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
ActingBirthday
April 13, 1888Deathday
January 31, 1954Gender
FemaleKnown Movie Credits
58Place of birth
San Antonio, Texas, USAAlso known as
Florence RabeCast credits
Rebecca
Edythe Van HopperThe Brasher Doubloon
Mrs. MurdockLove Crazy
Mrs. CooperThe Tall Target
Mrs. Charlotte AlsopHeaven Can Wait
Mrs. Edna Craig (uncredited)The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Mrs. GriswoldThe Mask of Dimitrios
Madame Elise ChavezLullaby of Broadway
Mrs. Anna HubbellWinter Meeting
Mrs. CastleI Remember Mama
Florence Dana MoorheadTonight and Every Night
May TolliverKismet
KarshaThe Devil and Miss Jones
Store ShopperThe Second Woman
Amelia FosterBelle of the Yukon
Viola ChaseThe Diary of a Chambermaid
RoseA Letter to Three Wives
Mrs. ManleighMr. Lucky
Mrs. Van EverySan Antonio
HenriettaThe Son of Monte Cristo
Countess Mathilde Von BraunStrange Alibi
Katie