Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

105

Gender

Female

Birthday

1885-11-10

Day of Death

1961-07-23 (76 years old)

Place of Birth

Beaufort, South Carolina, USA

Also Known As

Ester Dale

Esther Dale

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top. On the stage, Dale starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway in 1933. Her other Broadway credits include Harvest of Years (1947), And Be My Love (1944), and Another Language (1932). Dale's first film was Crime Without Passion (1934) in an uncredited role. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dames and ladies of the aristocracy. Dale played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse, and she appeared in the 1957 Maverick episode "According to Hoyle" opposite James Garner.

Known For

The Mortal Storm

The Mortal Storm

Blondie Has Servant Trouble

Blondie Has Servant Trouble

Dead End

Dead End

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth

My Reputation

My Reputation

Back Street

Back Street

Easy Living

Easy Living

The Women

The Women

Fury

Fury

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki

Ma and Pa Kettle

Ma and Pa Kettle

The Great Impersonation

The Great Impersonation

Acting

The Mortal Storm

1940

The Mortal Storm

as

Marta

Blondie Has Servant Trouble

1940

Blondie Has Servant Trouble

as

Anna Vaughn

Monkey Business

1952

Monkey Business

as

Mrs. Rhinelander

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

1941

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

as

Mrs. Krausheimer

Holiday Affair

1949

Holiday Affair

as

Mrs. Ennis

Dead End

1937

Dead End

as

Mrs. Fenner

No Man of Her Own

1950

No Man of Her Own

as

Josie

Curly Top

1935

Curly Top

as

Genevieve Graham

The Awful Truth

1937

The Awful Truth

as

Mrs. Leeson

Bedside Manner

1945

Bedside Manner

as

Martha Gravitt

A Stolen Life

1946

A Stolen Life

as

Mrs. Johnson

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

1943

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

as

Dangerously They Live

1941

Dangerously They Live

as

Dawson, Goodwin's Housekeeper

Bad Little Angel

1939

Bad Little Angel

as

Miss Brown, Orphanage Secretary (uncredited)

All-American Co-Ed

1941

All-American Co-Ed

as

Aunt Matilda Collinge

I Dream Too Much

1935

I Dream Too Much

as

Mrs. Dilley (uncredited)

Walk Softly, Stranger

1950

Walk Softly, Stranger

as

Miss Thompson

Maisie Gets Her Man

1942

Maisie Gets Her Man

as

Mrs. McIntyre (Uncredited)

The Unfinished Dance

1947

The Unfinished Dance

as

Olga

Private Worlds

1935

Private Worlds

as

Matron

My Reputation

1946

My Reputation

as

Anna

The Oklahoman

1957

The Oklahoman

as

Mrs. Fitzgerald

Blackmail

1939

Blackmail

as

Sarah

Murder in Times Square

1943

Murder in Times Square

as

Longacre Lil

Back Street

1941

Back Street

as

Mrs. Smith

Margie

1946

Margie

as

Grandma McSweeney

Broadway Serenade

1939

Broadway Serenade

as

Mrs. Olsen, the Landlady

Convicted Woman

1940

Convicted Woman

as

Chief Matron Brackett

And One Was Beautiful

1940

And One Was Beautiful

as

Margaret

Aloma of the South Seas

1941

Aloma of the South Seas

as

Tarusa

Stolen Heaven

1938

Stolen Heaven

as

Lieschen

The Case Against Mrs. Ames

1936

The Case Against Mrs. Ames

as

Matilda

Condemned Women

1938

Condemned Women

as

Mrs. Clara Glover, Head Matron

Women Without Names

1940

Women Without Names

as

Head Matron Ingles

Arise, My Love

1940

Arise, My Love

as

Susie

Smoky

1946

Smoky

as

Mrs. 'Gram' Richards

6,000 Enemies

1939

6,000 Enemies

as

Prison Matron

The Great Man Votes

1939

The Great Man Votes

as

Mrs. Markham

The Wedding Night

1935

The Wedding Night

as

Mrs. Kaise Novak

1943

The North Star

as

Anna Kurin

Laddie

1940

Laddie

as

Sarah, the Housekeeper

Easy Living

1937

Easy Living

as

Lillian

Tell No Tales

1939

Tell No Tales

as

Mrs. Haskins

Prison Farm

1938

Prison Farm

as

Cora Waxley

Girls on Probation

1938

Girls on Probation

as

Mrs. Engstrom

Old Acquaintance

1943

Old Acquaintance

as

Harriet

Damaged Goods

1937

Damaged Goods

as

Mrs. Dupont

Made for Each Other

1939

Made for Each Other

as

Annie (uncredited)

A Letter From Bataan

1942

A Letter From Bataan

as

Mrs. Jackson

A Child Is Born

1939

A Child Is Born

as

Prison Matron (uncredited)

The Women

1939

The Women

as

Ingrid (uncredited)

In Old Kentucky

1935

In Old Kentucky

as

Dolly Breckenridge

Swanee River

1939

Swanee River

as

Temperance Woman

Sergeant Madden

1939

Sergeant Madden

as

Mrs. McGillivray

On Such a Night

1937

On Such a Night

as

Miss Belinda Fentridge

Village Barn Dance

1940

Village Barn Dance

as

Minerva Withers

Fury

1936

Fury

as

Mrs. Whipple

Timothy's Quest

1936

Timothy's Quest

as

Hitty Tarbox

Untamed

1940

Untamed

as

Mrs. Smith

Hollywood Boulevard

1936

Hollywood Boulevard

as

Martha

Betrayed Women

1955

Betrayed Women

as

Head Matron Ballard

Abe Lincoln in Illinois

1940

Abe Lincoln in Illinois

as

Lincoln's Cook (uncredited)

Wild Money

1937

Wild Money

as

Jenny Hawkins

What's Cookin'?

1942

What's Cookin'?

as

Mrs. Murphy (uncredited)

The Farmer in the Dell

1936

The Farmer in the Dell

as

Ma Boyer

Behind City Lights

1945

Behind City Lights

as

Sarah Lowell

Cross-Country Romance

1940

Cross-Country Romance

as

Mrs. McGillicuddy

I Live My Life

1935

I Live My Life

as

Brumbaugh, Mrs. Gage's Housekeeper

Mary Burns, Fugitive

1935

Mary Burns, Fugitive

as

Kate

Blondie Goes to College

1942

Blondie Goes to College

as

Mrs. Carrie Dill, the Landlady

Surrender

1950

Surrender

as

Aunt May

Forty Little Mothers

1940

Forty Little Mothers

as

Mrs. Mason the Landlady

Ten Gentlemen from West Point

1942

Ten Gentlemen from West Point

as

Mrs. Thompson

How to Sub-Let

1939

How to Sub-Let

as

Mrs. Mustavas

Big Town Czar

1939

Big Town Czar

as

Ma Daley

Outcast

1937

Outcast

as

Hattie Simmerson

North to Alaska

1960

North to Alaska

as

Woman at Picnic

Unfinished Business

1941

Unfinished Business

as

Aunt Mathilda

You're Telling Me

1942

You're Telling Me

as

Aunt Fannie Handley

A Song Is Born

1948

A Song Is Born

as

Miss Bragg

Wrecking Crew

1942

Wrecking Crew

as

Mike O'Glendy

The Sound and the Fury

1959

The Sound and the Fury

as

Mrs. Maud Mansfield

The Egg and I

1947

The Egg and I

as

Birdie Hicks

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki

1955

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki

as

Birdie Hicks

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair

1952

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair

as

Birdie Hicks

Ma and Pa Kettle

1949

Ma and Pa Kettle

as

Mrs. Birdie Hicks

Swing Your Partner

1943

Swing Your Partner

as

Caroline Bird, aka Anna Robbins

The Great Impersonation

1935

The Great Impersonation

as

Mrs. Unthank

On Stage Everybody

1945

On Stage Everybody

as

Ma Cassidy

Too Young to Kiss

1951

Too Young to Kiss

as

Mrs. Boykin

Crime Without Passion

1934

Crime Without Passion

as

Miss Keeley (uncredited)

A Tale of Two Cities

1953

A Tale of Two Cities

as

Pross

Lady of Secrets

1936

Lady of Secrets

as

Miss Eccles

Opened by Mistake

1940

Opened by Mistake

as

Mrs. Anthony DeBorest

On Moonlight Bay

1951

On Moonlight Bay

as

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

as

December Bride

December Bride

as

Thriller

Thriller

as

Ellen the Maid

M Squad

M Squad

as

Julia Sheldon

The Donna Reed Show

The Donna Reed Show

as

Lock-Up

Lock-Up

as

Cavalcade of America

Cavalcade of America

as

Aunt Tabitha

Mr. & Mrs. North

Mr. & Mrs. North

as

Maverick

Maverick

as

Ma Braus

Four Star Playhouse

as

Mrs. Weston

Production

Crew

Directing