Scott, Martha Ellen

▪ 2004

      American actress (b. Sept. 22, 1914, Jamesport, Mo.—d. May 28, 2003, Van Nuys, Calif.), made her Broadway debut as Emily in 1938 in the original production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, made her film debut in the same role two years later, and over the next 50 years appeared in some 20 other motion pictures, about the same number of Broadway productions, and numerous television programs, in addition to serving as producer of several plays. Her films included The Desperate Hours (1955) and two in which, as she delighted in pointing out, she portrayed Charlton Heston's mother—The Ten Commandments (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959). Her last stage role was that of Goody Nurse in a 1991 production of The Crucible.

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