---
name: "Blanche Yurka"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/blanche-yurka"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "19 June 1887"
died: "6 June 1974"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T01:02:56.266977+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Blanche Yurka

Actor. Born 19 June 1887 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Died 6 June 1974.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 19 June 1887, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
- **Died:** 6 June 1974
- **Active:** 1935–1943
- **Also known as:** Blanche Jurka, Blanch Jurka
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 76 (1), 1940s 63 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Yurka, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q449704, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0951063/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/89928

## Biography

Blanche Yurka was an American stage and film actress. Born Blanch Jurka on 19 June 1887 in St Paul, Minnesota, she trained as a singer at the Metropolitan Opera School and the Institute of Musical Art before making her Broadway debut in 1906. She became a leading interpreter of classical roles, including Queen Gertrude opposite John Barrymore in Hamlet and Gina in Ibsen’s The Wild Duck.

Yurka made her screen debut at the age of 47 as the vengeful revolutionary Madame De Farge in the 1935 MGM adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Her other film appearances include Aunt Bernarde Casterot in The Song of Bernadette (1943), Mama Tucker in The Southerner (1945) and roles in Keeper of the Flame (1943) and The Furies (1950). She also worked as a director and playwright, and published the acting manual Dear Audience (1959) and her autobiography Bohemian Girl (1970). She died in New York City on 6 June 1974.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), Fi1m 63, as Aunt Bernarde Casterot — [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md)
- *A Tale of Two Cities* (1935), Fi1m 76, as Madame De Farge — [page](https://film.one/film/a-tale-of-two-cities.md)

## Complete filmography (26)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Great Ghost Tales* (1961), series, Actor
- *Witchcraft: The Doll in Brambles* (1961), as Madame Tirelou
- *Thunder in the Sun* (1959), as Louise Dauphin
- *Climax!* (1954), series, as Margaret
- *Kraft Television Theatre: Alice in Wonderland* (1954), as Queen of Hearts
- *Taxi* (1953), as Mrs. Nielson
- *At Sword's Point* (1952), as Madame Michom
- *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as Mother-in-Law
- *The Furies* (1950), as Herrera Mother
- *The Flame* (1947), as Aunt Margaret
- *The Southerner* (1945), as Mama Tucker
- *One Body Too Many* (1944), as Matthews
- *Cry of the Werewolf* (1944), as Bianca
- *The Bridge of San Luis Rey* (1944), as The Abbess
- *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), as Aunt Bernarde Casterot — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-song-of-bernadette.md)
- *Hitler's Madman* (1943), as Frau Anna Hanka
- *Tonight We Raid Calais* (1943), as Widow Grelieu
- *Keeper of the Flame* (1943), Actor
- *A Night to Remember* (1942), as Mrs. Salter (uncredited)
- *Pacific Rendezvous* (1942), as Mrs. Savarina
- *Lady for a Night* (1942), as Julia Anderson
- *Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring* (1941), as Mrs. Augusta Stack
- *Escape* (1940), as Nurse
- *City for Conquest* (1940), as Mrs. Nash
- *Queen of the Mob* (1940), as Ma Webster
- *A Tale of Two Cities* (1935), as Madame De Farge — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/a-tale-of-two-cities.md)

## Gallery

- ![Blanche Yurka](https://film.one/media/person/1229457/gallery-b5b172896c06.jpg) Blanche Yurka — Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/YURKA%2C_BLANCH_LCCN2016858196.jpg/1280px-YURKA%2C_BLANCH_LCCN2016858196.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Actress Blanche Yurka (1925)](https://film.one/media/person/1229457/gallery-00cb85f3471f.jpg) Actress Blanche Yurka (1925) — Times Wide World Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Blanche_Yurka_1925.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Blanche Yurka (1916)](https://film.one/media/person/1229457/gallery-ebf299311102.jpg) Blanche Yurka (1916) — Moffett Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Blanche_Yurka_-_Moffett.jpg/1280px-Blanche_Yurka_-_Moffett.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Blanche Yurka](https://film.one/media/person/1229457/gallery-379774644a85.jpg) Blanche Yurka — Image via TMDB
- ![Blanche Yurka](https://film.one/media/person/1229457/gallery-0d3dce11c3a9.jpg) Blanche Yurka — Image via TMDB

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/blanche-yurka