The possessor of one of Hollywood's gentlest faces and warmest voices,
and about as sweet as Tupelo honey both on-and-off camera, character
actress Spring Byington was seldom called upon to play callous or
unsympathetic (she did once play a half-crazed housekeeper in
Weißer Oleander (1946)). Although playing
the part of Mrs. March in
Vier Schwestern (1933) was hardly what
one could call a stretch, it did ignite a heartwarming typecasting that
kept her employed on the screen throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Her
first name said it all: sunny, sparkling, flowery, energetic,
whimsical, eternally cheerful. She was a wonderfully popular and
old-fashioned sort. By the 1950s, Spring had sprung on both radio and
TV. The petite, be-dimpled darling became the star of her very own
sitcom and, in the process, singlehandedly gave the term
"mother-in-law" a decidedly positive ring.
She was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on October 17, 1886 (some
sources list the year as 1893), one of two daughters born to a college
professor/school superintendent. Her father Edwin died when she was
quite young, and mother Helene placed the children with their maternal
grandparents while she studied to become a doctor. Spring developed an
early interest in the theater as a high-school teenager and ambitiously
put together an acting company that toured mining camps in the Colorado
Springs area. Her professional career materialized via the stock
company circuit in both the U.S. and Canada. At the onset of WWI she
joined a repertory company that left for Buenos Aires. There she
married the company's manager, Roy Carey Chandler, and had two children
by him: Phyllis and Lois. The couple remained in South America and
Spring learned fluent Spanish there. About four years into the
marriage, the couple divorced and Spring returned to New York with her
children. She never married again.
Spring took her first Broadway bow at age 31 with a role in the comedy
satire "A Beggar on Horseback", a show that lasted several months in
1924. She returned to the show briefly the following year. Other New
York plays came and went throughout the 1920s, but none were
certifiable hits. She did, however, gain a strong reputation playing up
her fluttery comic instincts. Other shows included "Weak Sister"
(1925), "Puppy Love" (1926), "Skin Deep" (1927), "To-night at Twelve"
(1928) and "Be Your Age" (1929). She also played the role of Nerissa in
"The Merchant of Venice" on Broadway alongside
George Arliss and
Peggy Wood in the roles of Shylock
and Portia, respectively.
By the 1930s, Spring had established herself as a deft comedienne on
stage but had made nary a dent in film. In early 1933, following major
hits on Broadway with "Once in a Lifetime" (1930) and "When Ladies
Meet" (1932), Spring was noticed by RKO, which had begun the casting
for one of its most prestigious pictures of the year,
Louisa May Alcott's classic
Vier Schwestern (1933). As a testament
to her talents and graceful appeal, the studio took a chance on her and
gave her the role of Marmee. As mother to daughters
Katharine Hepburn,
Joan Bennett,
Jean Parker and
Frances Dee in what is still considered the
best film version of the novel, Spring was praised for her work and
became immediately captivated by this medium. She never returned to
Broadway.
She became the quintessentially wise, concerned and understanding
mother/relative in scores of films, often to her detriment. The roles
were so kind, polite and conservative that it was hard for her to
display any of her obvious scene-stealing abilities. As a result, she
was often overlooked in her pictures. Her best parts came as a
bewildered parent, snooty socialite, flaky eccentric, inveterate gossip
or merry mischief-maker. From 1936 to 1939, she did a lot of mothering
in the popular "Jones Family" feature film series from 1936 to 1940.
but the flavorful roles she won came with her more disparate roles in
Zeit der Liebe, Zeit des Abschieds (1936),
Theodora wird wild (1936),
Die Abenteuer von Tom Sawyer und Huckleberry Finn (1938)
(as the Widow Douglas),
When Ladies Meet (1941) (in
which she recreated her Broadway triumph), and
Roxie Hart (1942) (in which she played
the sob sister journalist). Spring's only Oscar nomination came with
her delightful portrayal of eccentric Penny Sycamore in
Lebenskünstler (1938).
Throughout the war years, she lent her patented fluff to a number of
Hollywood's finest comedies, including
Mary und der Millionär (1941),
Das große Spiel (1942)
and Ein himmlischer Sünder (1943). Her
career began to die down in the 1950s, and, like many others in her
predicament, she turned to TV. Her sparkling performance in the comedy
Alter schützt vor Liebe nicht (1950), in which she played an
older lady pursued by both Edmund Gwenn and
Charles Coburn, set the perfect
tone and image for her Lily Ruskin radio/TV character.
December Bride (1954) was
initially a popular radio program when it transferred to TV. The result
was a success, and Spring became a household name as everybody's
favorite mother-in-law. As a widow who lived with her daughter and
son-in-law, complications ensued as the married couple tried to set
Lily up for marriage--hence the title. Brash and bossy
Verna Felton and the ever-droll
Harry Morgan were brought in as
perfect comic relief.
The show ran for a healthy five seasons, and Spring followed this in
1961 with the role of Daisy Cooper, the chief cook and surrogate mother
to a bunch of cowpokes in the already established western series
Am Fuß der Blauen Berge (1959). Making her last film
appearance in the comedy
Meisterschaft im Seitensprung (1960)
as, of course, a spirited mom (this time to
Doris Day), Spring, now in her 70s,
started to drop off the acting radar. She eventually retired to her
Hollywood Hills home after a few guest spots on such '60s shows as
Batman (1966) (playing a wealthy
socialite named J. Pauline Spaghetti) and
Bezaubernde Jeannie (1965)
(as Larry Hagman's mother). A very private
individual in real life, Spring enjoyed traveling and reading during
her retirement years. She passed away in 1971 from cancer and was
survived by her two daughters, three grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
