Remembering Ruth Ford

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Remembering Ruth Ford

Ruth Ford, actress and salon hostess, passed away on August 12 at the age of 98.

Ford came to New York in the 1930s and appeared in "The Shoemaker's Holiday" and "Danton's Death," which were produced by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre.

She also performed in the short film "Too Much Johnson," also produced by the Mercury.

She also appeared in the original productions of Sartre's "No Exit" and Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba."

However, she began to host social gatherings at her apartment on the Upper West Side and found a purpose there.

The parties were attended by William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote. She appeared in plays written by all three.

It was also at one of her parties where Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents met. That resulted in them working together on "West Side Story," which would establish Sondheim's reputation.

She appeared on the covers of magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Mademoiselle. She also wrote a film adaptation of William Faulkner's "Sanctuary."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Anne Hathaway to Play Judy Garland

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Anne Hathaway to Play Judy Garland

Anne Hathaway has been cast to star on stage and screen as Judy Garland.

The star of "Rachel Getting Married" will be in the adaptation of Gerald Clarke's "Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows."

Clarke wrote the biography that was the basis for the film "Capote."

Both the stage and film versions will be produced by the Weinstein Company.

Garland never appeared in a Broadway musical, though she did win an honorary Tony for her contribution to the revival of vaudeville.

Hathaway has also never appeared on Broadway, though she appeared in a concert version of "Carnival" opposite Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell.

This summer she will appear in Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of "Twelfth Night," which will appear in New York's Central Park.

It's unclear at this point whether Hathaway will do her own singing.

Clarke's book is based in part on an unfinished autobiography written by Garland.

Gina Wilhelm Actress