Biography
Ruth Patricia White (24 April 1914 – 3 December 1969) was an American actress who worked in theatre, film and television. A lifelong resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, she graduated with a degree in literature from New Jersey College for Women (now part of Rutgers University) in 1935. Her career was interrupted while she cared for her ailing mother, and she returned to acting in her mid-thirties.
White became one of New York’s most praised character actresses in the 1960s. She appeared in off-Broadway productions of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, for which she won an Obie Award in 1962, and works by Edward Albee. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party (1968) and won an Emmy Award for the 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame production Little Moon of Alban. Her film roles include Mother Marcella in The Nun’s Story (1959) and Mrs. Dubose in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). She also appeared in Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Hang ’Em High (1968). White died of cancer in Perth Amboy.
