An elegant blonde leading lady, prolific in 1930s Hollywood, Gloria Stuart is today best remembered for two classic horror films she made amid a great deal of routine studio product. She had brief experience on the stage before being courted by several major studios, and made her debut in support of Kay Francis in the enjoyable "Street of Women" (1932). Stuart's screen career was held up, however, because both Paramount and Universal claimed her services. After arbitration, Stuart was signed by Universal. Between working for Universal and regular loan-outs, Stuart was kept extremely busy: In 1933 she acted in nine films alone.
For much of her fairly brief but respectable heyday in the 30s, Stuart was cast as the requisite female lead in comedies, mysteries, romances, adventures and even a few musicals. She possessed a classy yet seductive low-pitched voice and proved herself a good actress on occasion, but no sort of instantly recognizable, larger-than-life or sympathetic persona was ever built up for her. Thus, despite her prominence, Stuart was always a "female lead" rather than a major star. She acted in John Ford's well-done "Air Mail" (1932), but the emphasis was on the male bonding and the fine action sequences. Elsewhere, a more established male was clearly the focus: In "Private Jones" (1933) and "I'll Tell the World" (1934), it was Lee Tracy; in "Roman Scandals" (1933), Eddie Cantor; and in "Here Comes the Navy" (1934), the team of Pat O'Brien and James Cagney.
Stuart's two greatest and best-remembered films were both made for Universal's ace filmmaker, James Whale. "The Invisible Man" (1933) admittedly only called on Stuart to express worry rather theatrically while the anti-hero wreaked havoc; Claude Rains' voice (in the title role) and the special effects were the stars. "The Old Dark House" (1932), however, was more of an ensemble piece. Stuart was given a real chance to shine as she moved from marital squabbling to flirtation, kindness, bewilderment and terror as one of the stranded travelers who take refuge in an amusingly strange yet chillingly sinister house.
"Gold Diggers of 1935" (1935) was another major film and a well-known effort, but unfortunately it typifies her credits--perhaps Busby Berkeley's single greatest achievement as dance director and filmmaker ("The Lullaby of Broadway" sequence, in which Stuart played no part), sandwiched into an unusually lamely plotted and helmed Warners musical, with Stuart as leading lady. She signed with Twentieth Century-Fox that same year, and worked mostly there until 1939. It was more of the same: bonding between Victor McLaglen and Freddie Bartholomew buoyed "Professional Soldier" (1935), and she was incidental in a reunion with John Ford in the splendid "The Prisoner of Shark Island" (1936), with a superb Warner Baxter and the mostly male cast getting all the dramatic meat. Stuart also provided obligatory romantic interest in support of the zany Ritz Brothers in "Life Begins in College" (1937) and did likewise for Shirley Temple in "The Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938). The most she got as top dog were four uninspired B melodramas teaming her with Michael Whalen, including "The Lady Escapes" (1937) and "Time Out for Murder" (1938).
By the time the Ritz Brothers toplined their surprisingly enjoyable "The Three Musketeers" (1939), Stuart's casting as the queen in distress was symbolic--she was well-known, classy, underutilized, and her career was in trouble. Having wed screenwriter Arthur Sheekman in 1934, Stuart left film acting for several years to concentrate on her family. She returned in 1943, but now played supporting roles at Republic and Monogram in "Here Comes Elmer" (1943) and "Enemy of Women" (1944). She left film again in 1946 and took up painting. Stuart enjoyed some success at her new art, including a one-woman show in New York in 1961.
Stuart resurfaced in the 1970s and 80s in small roles in TV-movies, including "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" (ABC, 1975) and "Fun and Games" (ABC, 1980). She also proved a lively and articulate interviewee in magazine articles about James Whale, and in TV documentaries such as "The Horror of It All" (PBS, 1983), "Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling" (PBS, 1992) and "Bogart: The Untold Story" (TNT, 1997). She even acted small roles in the features "My Favorite Year" (1982) and "Mass Appeal" (1987). In 1997, however, Stuart resurfaced in a much bigger way, and ironically, in a film about the most famous sinking ever. She played Kate Winslet's lead character in her twilight years in the superspectacle "Titanic" and received glowing reviews and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for scenes which firmly focused on her. Stuart was 87 years old; "The Old Dark House" had been 65 years earlier; Stuart stated bluntly that it had been well worth the wait.