--- name: "Esther Dale" canonical: "https://film.one/person/esther-dale" roles: ["Actor"] born: "10 November 1885" died: "23 July 1961" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 81 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-19T23:27:18.193955+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." --- # Esther Dale Actor. Born 10 November 1885 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA. Died 23 July 1961. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 10 November 1885, Beaufort, South Carolina, USA - **Died:** 23 July 1961 - **Also known as:** Ester Dale - **Average Fi1m score:** 81, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Dale, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3058964, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0197689/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/34268 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*The Awful Truth*](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md) (89) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Biography Esther Dale (10 November 1885 – 23 July 1961) was an American actress and former concert singer. Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, she studied music in Berlin and performed as a lieder singer before turning to the stage. She made her Broadway debut in Another Language (1932) and starred as the title character in Carrie Nation (1933). Dale’s first film role was an uncredited part in Crime Without Passion (1934). She appeared in dozens of films over the following decades, often in supporting roles as stern or authoritative women, including Mrs. Leeson in The Awful Truth (1937), Mrs. Fenner in Dead End (1937), Ingrid in The Women (1939), and Mrs. Krausheimer in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). She also featured in the Ma and Pa Kettle series as Birdie Hicks and made television appearances, notably on The Donna Reed Show and Maverick. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Dead End* (1937), Fi1m 73, as Mrs. Fenner — [page](https://film.one/film/dead-end.md) - *The Awful Truth* (1937), Fi1m 89, as Mrs. Leeson — [page](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md) ## Complete filmography (105) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *North to Alaska* (1960), as Woman at Picnic - *Thriller* (1960), series, as Ellen the Maid - *The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis* (1959), series, Actor - *Lock-Up* (1959), series, as Mrs. Raymond - *The Sound and the Fury* (1959), as Mrs. Maud Mansfield - *The Donna Reed Show* (1958), series, Actor - *Maverick* (1957), series, as Ma Braus - *M Squad* (1957), series, as Julia Sheldon - *The Oklahoman* (1957), as Mrs. Fitzgerald - *Betrayed Women* (1955), as Head Matron Ballard - *Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki* (1955), as Birdie Hicks - *December Bride* (1954), series, Actor - *A Tale of Two Cities* (1953), as Pross - *Mr. & Mrs. North* (1952), series, Actor - *Cavalcade of America* (1952), series, as Aunt Tabitha - *Four Star Playhouse* (1952), series, as Mrs. Weston - *Monkey Business* (1952), as Mrs. Rhinelander - *Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair* (1952), as Birdie Hicks - *Too Young to Kiss* (1951), as Mrs. Boykin - *On Moonlight Bay* (1951), Actor - *Walk Softly, Stranger* (1950), as Miss Thompson - *Surrender* (1950), as Aunt May - *No Man of Her Own* (1950), as Josie - *Holiday Affair* (1949), as Mrs. Ennis - *Ma and Pa Kettle* (1949), as Mrs. Birdie Hicks - *A Song Is Born* (1948), as Miss Bragg - *The Unfinished Dance* (1947), as Olga - *The Egg and I* (1947), as Birdie Hicks - *Margie* (1946), as Grandma McSweeney - *Smoky* (1946), as Mrs. Richards - *A Stolen Life* (1946), as Mrs. Johnson - *My Reputation* (1946), as Anna - *Behind City Lights* (1945), as Sarah Lowell - *On Stage Everybody* (1945), as Ma Cassidy - *Bedside Manner* (1945), as Martha Gravitt - *Old Acquaintance* (1943), as Harriet - *The North Star* (1943), as Anna Kurin - *Swing Your Partner* (1943), as Caroline Bird, aka Anna Robbins - *Murder in Times Square* (1943), as Longacre Lil - *The Amazing Mrs. Holliday* (1943), Actor - *Wrecking Crew* (1942), as Mike O'Glendy - *A Letter From Bataan* (1942), as Mrs. Jackson - *Ten Gentlemen from West Point* (1942), as Mrs. Thompson - *Maisie Gets Her Man* (1942), as Mrs. McIntyre (Uncredited) - *You're Telling Me* (1942), as Aunt Fannie Handley - *What's Cookin'?* (1942), as Mrs. Murphy (uncredited) - *Blondie Goes to College* (1942), as Mrs. Carrie Dill, the Landlady - *Dangerously They Live* (1941), as Dawson, Goodwin's Housekeeper - *All-American Co-Ed* (1941), as Aunt Matilda Collinge - *Aloma of the South Seas* (1941), as Tarusa - *Unfinished Business* (1941), as Aunt Mathilda - *Back Street* (1941), as Mrs. Smith - *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (1941), as Mrs. Krausheimer - *Arise, My Love* (1940), as Susie - *Blondie Has Servant Trouble* (1940), as Anna Vaughn - *Untamed* (1940), as Mrs. Smith - *Cross-Country Romance* (1940), as Mrs. McGillicuddy - *The Mortal Storm* (1940), as Marta - *Opened by Mistake* (1940), as Mrs. Anthony DeBorest - *Forty Little Mothers* (1940), as Mrs. Mason the Landlady - *And One Was Beautiful* (1940), as Margaret - *Women Without Names* (1940), as Head Matron Ingles - *Abe Lincoln in Illinois* (1940), as Lincoln's Cook (uncredited) - *Convicted Woman* (1940), as Chief Matron Brackett - *Village Barn Dance* (1940), as Minerva Withers - *Laddie* (1940), as Sarah, the Housekeeper - *Swanee River* (1939), as Temperance Woman - *A Child is Born* (1939), as Prison Matron (uncredited) - *Bad Little Angel* (1939), as Miss Brown, Orphanage Secretary (uncredited) - *Blackmail* (1939), as Sarah - *The Women* (1939), as Ingrid (uncredited) - *Tell No Tales* (1939), as Mrs. Haskins - *6,000 Enemies* (1939), as Prison Matron - *Big Town Czar* (1939), as Ma Daley - *Broadway Serenade* (1939), as Mrs. Olsen, the Landlady - *Sergeant Madden* (1939), as Mrs. McGillivray - *Made for Each Other* (1939), as Annie (uncredited) - *How to Sub-Let* (1939), as Mrs. Mustavas - *The Great Man Votes* (1939), as Mrs. Markham - *Girls on Probation* (1938), as Mrs. Engstrom - *Prison Farm* (1938), as Cora Waxley - *Stolen Heaven* (1938), as Lieschen - *Condemned Women* (1938), as Mrs. Clara Glover, Head Matron - *The Awful Truth* (1937), as Mrs. Leeson — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md) - *Dead End* (1937), as Mrs. Fenner — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/dead-end.md) - *On Such a Night* (1937), as Miss Belinda Fentridge - *Easy Living* (1937), as Lillian - *Wild Money* (1937), as Jenny Hawkins - *Damaged Goods* (1937), as Mrs. Dupont - *Outcast* (1937), as Hattie Simmerson - *Hollywood Boulevard* (1936), as Martha - *Fury* (1936), as Mrs. Whipple - *The Case Against Mrs. Ames* (1936), as Matilda - *The Farmer in the Dell* (1936), as Ma Boyer - *Lady of Secrets* (1936), as Miss Eccles - *Timothy's Quest* (1936), as Hitty Tarbox - *The Great Impersonation* (1935), as Mrs. Unthank - *I Dream Too Much* (1935), as Mrs. Dilley (uncredited) - *In Old Kentucky* (1935), as Dolly Breckenridge - *Mary Burns, Fugitive* (1935), as Kate - *I Live My Life* (1935), as Brumbaugh, Mrs. Gage's Housekeeper - *Curly Top* (1935), as Genevieve Graham - *Private Worlds* (1935), as Matron - *The Wedding Night* (1935), as Mrs. Kaise Novak - *Crime Without Passion* (1934), as Miss Keeley (uncredited) ## Gallery - ![From a 1929 publication.](https://film.one/media/person/1229625/gallery-f7cf368455cd.png) From a 1929 publication. — Photographer not named., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Esther_Dale_%28The_Musical_Leader%2C_1929%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Esther Dale](https://film.one/media/person/1229625/gallery-f867780d2f70.jpg) Esther Dale — film screenshot (Selznick Studio), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Esther_Dale_in_Made_for_Each_Other.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Esther Dale](https://film.one/media/person/1229625/gallery-2be4aaf8c2a9.jpg) Esther Dale — Image via TMDB --- © 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/esther-dale