Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Gordon (born Mary Gilmour, 16 May 1882 – 23 August 1963) was a Scottish actress, long in the United States, who mainly played housekeepers and mothers, most notably the landlady Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series of movies of the 1940s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Her body of work included nearly 300 films between 1925 and 1950. With her mother and daughter (both also named Mary), she arrived in Los Angeles in the mid-1920s and began playing variations on the roles she would spend her career on. She became friends with John Ford while making Hangman's House in 1928 and made seven more films with him. In 1939, she took on her best-remembered role as Sherlock Holmes' landlady and played the role in ten films and numerous radio plays. She was a charter member of the Hollywood Canteen, entertaining servicemen throughout the Second World War. On the radio show Those We Love, she played the regular role of Mrs. Emmett. She entered retirement just as television reshaped the entertainment industry, making only a single appearance in that medium. She was active in the Daughters of Scotia auxiliary of the Order of Scottish Clans. She lived out her final years in Pasadena, California with her daughter and grandson. She died at age 81 on 23 August 1963 in Pasadena, California after a long illness.
Acted in 225
1950s
- 1950
West of Wyoming
Nora Jones
1940s
- 1949
The File on Thelma Jordon
Charwoman (uncredited)
Deputy Marshal
Mrs. Lance
Haunted Trails
Aunt Libby
Mr. Soft Touch
Slatternly Woman Tenant (Uncredited)
Tucson
Housemother (uncredited)
Clues to Adventure
Woman Reading Newspaper (archive footage) (uncredited)
Shamrock Hill
Grandma Rogan
- 1948
Highway 13
Aunt Myrt Lacy
Kidnapped
Scottish Woman (uncredited)
The Strange Mrs. Crane
Nora
Big Town Scandal
Mary - Cleaning Woman (uncredited)
Angels' Alley
Mrs. Mamie Mahoney
- 1947
The Judge Steps Out
Annie (Scrub Woman) (uncredited)
Roses Are Red
Cleaning Lady
The Invisible Wall
Mrs. Bledsoe
- 1946
Sister Kenny
Mrs. Gordon (uncredited)
The Dark Horse
Mrs. Mahoney
In Fast Company
Mrs. Cassidy
The Hoodlum Saint
Trina
Little Giant
Ma Miller
- 1945
Kitty
Nanny
Strange Confession
Mrs. O'Connor
Divorce
Ellen
Captain Eddie
Mrs. Westrom
The Body Snatcher
Mary McBride (uncredited)
Law of the Badlands
Movie
See My Lawyer
Mrs. Fillmore
- 1944
Hollywood Canteen
Hostess (uncredited)
The Last Ride
Mrs. Mary Kelly
Secret Command
Mrs. McKenzie (uncredited)
Secrets of Scotland Yard
Libby, the Housekeeper
Follow the Leader
Movie
The Hour Before the Dawn
Annie
Million Dollar Kid
Mrs. McGinnis
The Racket Man
Mom Benson
- 1943
Whispering Footsteps
Ma Murphy
Smart Guy
Maggie
Here Comes Kelly
Mrs. Kelly
Two Tickets to London
Mrs. Tinkle
Sarong Girl
Mattie
Keep 'Em Slugging
Mrs. Banning
- 1942
The Mummy's Tomb
Jane Banning
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Mrs. Hudson
Half Way to Shanghai
Mrs. McIntyre
Powder Town
Mrs. Douglas
Meet the Stewarts
Mrs. Stewart
It Happened in Flatbush
Mrs. Collins
Dr. Broadway
Broadway Carrie
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Mrs. Scott
Fly By Night
Ma Prescott
Bombay Clipper
Abigail 'Mag' MacPherson
Blue, White and Perfect
Mrs. Flaherty - Mike's Landlady (uncredited)
- 1941
Riot Squad
Mrs. McGonigle
Borrowed Hero
Mrs. Riley
Appointment for Love
Martha
It Started with Eve
Mrs. O'Toole (uncredited)
Unfinished Business
Miss Brady
Flight from Destiny
Martha
- 1940
The Invisible Woman
Mrs. Bates
Kitty Foyle
Cleaning Lady (uncredited)
Nobody's Children
Mary
Public Deb No. 1
Landlady
Young People
Old Woman (uncredited)
When the Daltons Rode
Ma Dalton
Queen of the Mob
Tenement Landlady
The Last Alarm
Mrs. Hadley
Brother Orchid
Mrs. Sweeney - Flo's Landlady (uncredited)
Tear Gas Squad
Mrs. Sullivan
Saps at Sea
Mrs. O'Riley
My Son, My Son!
Mrs. Mulvaney
Women Without Names
Juror
The Invisible Man Returns
Cookie (uncredited)
1930s
- 1939
The Night of Nights
1nd Pencil Woman (uncredited)
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Mrs. O'Leary
Day-time Wife
Scrubwoman
Rulers of the Sea
Mrs. Ogilvie (Uncredited)
The Marshal Of Mesa City
Mrs. Dudley
The Escape
Neighbor
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Mrs. Hudson
The Story That Couldn't Be Printed
Woman Reading Newspaper (uncredited)
She Married a Cop
Ma Duffy
Tell No Tales
Mrs. Bryant (uncredited)
The Jones Family in Hollywood
Landlady (uncredited)
Racketeers of the Range
Mary-Benson's Housekeeper
Captain Fury
Mrs. Bailey
Code of the Streets
Mrs. Flaherty
Broadway Serenade
Annie (uncredited)
Tail Spin
Mrs. Lee
Wings of the Navy
Irene's Housekeeper
Off the Record
Mrs. Finnegan (uncredited)
- 1938
Angels with Dirty Faces
Movie
Campus Confessions
Mrs. Twill
Gateway
Scottish Mother
City Streets
Mrs. Devlin
Blond Cheat
Maggie (uncredited)
Mannequin
Mrs. O'Rourke (Uncredited)
- 1937
Friend Indeed
Housekeeper
Lady Behave!
Cook
You're Only Young Once
Mary's Mother (uncredited)
A Damsel in Distress
Cook (uncredited)
You Can't Have Everything
YWCA Scrub Woman (uncredited)
Meet the Boy Friend
Mrs. Grimes
One Man Justice
Bridget
Pick a Star
Mrs Watts - The Undertaker’s Wife
Her Husband Lies
Mrs. Jenks
The Great O'Malley
Mrs. O'Malley
- 1936
The Plough and the Stars
Woman at Barricades
After the Thin Man
Rose (uncredited)
The Plot Thickens
Woman with Bag (uncredited)
Great Guy
Mrs. Ogilvie
Stage Struck
Mrs. Cassidy
The White Angel
Nursing Applicant (uncredited)
Little Miss Nobody
Mrs. Biddle
Forgotten Faces
Mrs. O'Leary
Share the Wealth
Ma MacClyde
Laughing Irish Eyes
Mrs. O'Keefe
The Lady Consents
Apple Lady
- 1935
Waterfront Lady
Mrs. O'Flaherty
Bonnie Scotland
Mrs. Bickerdike
The Irish in Us
Ma O'Hara
Ginger
Mrs. Monahan (uncredited)
$10 Raise
Landlady (uncredited)
Vagabond Lady
Myrtle, Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Mrs. Leathwaite
- 1934
The Little Minister
Nanny
Our Daily Bread
Community Woman in Cottage (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in London
Prison Visitor (uncredited)
One More River
Cook (Uncredited)
The Defense Rests
Scrub Woman
Whom the Gods Destroy
Newfoundlander
Cross Streets
Sonny's Mother
The Loudspeaker
Landlady
Change of Heart
Woman in Street (uncredited)
Murder at the Vanities
Assistant Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
Manhattan Melodrama
Boat Passenger (uncredited)
The Woman Condemned
Crying Woman at Night Court (uncredited)
Beloved
Mrs. O'Leary
- 1933
Design for Living
Theatre Chambermaid (uncredited)
The World Changes
Lady at Party (uncredited)
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
Cleaning Woman
Meet the Baron
Washer Woman (uncredited)
The Power and the Glory
Nurse (uncredited)
My Woman
Woman at Ironing Board (Uncredited)
Doctor Bull
Townswoman at Meeting
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Sweepings
Mrs. Patrick O'Leary (Uncredited)
The Whirlwind
Mrs. Curtis
Nature in the Wrong
Mrs. Clancy
Men Must Fight
Pacifist Audience Member
She Done Him Wrong
Cleaning Lady (uncredited)
- 1932
Call Her Savage
Lady in Tenement (Uncredited)
Wild Girl
Washerwoman (uncredited)
Blonde Venus
Landlady (uncredited)
70,000 Witnesses
Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Skyscraper Souls
Charwoman
Radio Patrol
Landlady (uncredited)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Court Matron (uncredited)
Dancers in the Dark
Scrubwoman
The Expert
Neighbor
The Impatient Maiden
Irish Neighbor (uncredited)
Texas Cyclone
Kate
- 1931
A House Divided
Townswoman (uncredited)
24 Hours
Nurse
Waterloo Bridge
Distraught Woman on Stairway (uncredited)
The Brat
Angry Wife in Night Court (uncredited)
Subway Express
Mrs. Delaney
- 1930
Oh, for a Man!
Stage Door Admirer with Violets
Anybody's Woman
Maid
Let Us Be Gay
Mrs. McIntyre (uncredited)
When the Wind Blows
Chubby's Mother (uncredited)
Song o' My Heart
Irish Woman
1920s
- 1929
Is Everybody Happy?
Neighbor (uncredited)
- 1928
The Ol' Gray Hoss
First taxi passenger
Hangman's House
The Woman at Hogan's Hideout
The Matinee Idol
Woman in Audience (uncredited)
- 1927
Little Mickey Grogan
Kind Landlady
Clancy's Kosher Wedding
Molly Clancy
Annie Laurie
Movie
Naughty Nanette
Mrs. Rooney
- 1926
Black Paradise
Mrs. Murphy
- 1925
The Home Maker
Mrs. Hennessy
The People vs. Nancy Preston
Mrs. Tifft
Other crew 1
1930s
- 1934
The Little Minister
Dialogue Coach