Ruth Gordon

A distinguished stage actress through much of the first half of the century, Gordon was also a prolific playwright and screenwriter. Married to writer-director Garson Kanin in 1942, she collaborated with him on several George Cukor films, including the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn classics "Adam's Rib" (1949) and "Pat and Mike" (1952).

Though relatively inactive in the 1950s and 60s, her career picked up again in 1968 after her infamously diabolical role as Minnie Castavets in "Rosemary's Baby," for which she won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. Gordon is perhaps best remembered as the octogenarian partner of 20-year old Bud Cort in Hal Ashby's black comedy "Harold and Maude" (1971).