Plain, if slightly severe-looking, Revere hit her stride during the 1940s when she won an Oscar as Elizabeth Taylor's wise mother in "National Velvet" (1944), she was also nominated for Academy Awards as the mother of Jennifer Jones in "The Song of Bernadette" (1943), and Gregory Peck in "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947).
Perhaps her most representative role was as John Garfield's mother and conscience in Robert Rossen's moral indictment of the American dream, "Body and Soul" (1947). Among several who worked on the film, Revere was blacklisted by the industry for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951. After playing Montgomery Clift's Salvation Army mother in "A Place in the Sun" (1951), a role that reputedly was substantially cut as a result of her blacklisting, Revere's film career virtually ended. She returned to the stage, winning a Tony Award in 1960 for her performance in Lillian Hellman's "Toys in the Attic" and began acting on TV in 1962. After an absence of 19 years, she returned to the big screen in "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" (1970).
