Esther Howard
Esther Howard was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career.
Early life
Howard was born in Butte, Montana on April 4, 1892 to Martha Esther Howard and James Howard Jr., a music teacher who was employed as the conductor of the Butte Opera House. Her paternal grandfather, James Howard Sr., was a prominent physician from California who had established a medical practice in Butte and Dillon, Montana, and at one time served as the coroner of Silver Bow County. When Howard was five years old, her family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where her father had lived prior to relocating to Montana. In Boston, Howard attended the Girls' Latin School.
Career
Howard began her stage career performing in stock theater in Lynn, Massachusetts, before making her Broadway debut in 1917 in a play called Eve's Daughter, which was not a success. Over the next twelve years she performed on Broadway in eleven more comedies and musicals, including the hit shows Wildflower and The New Moon, which was her final Broadway production.
In 1930, Miss Howard was still slender and beautiful when she changed her focus to making movies, appearing in a Vitaphone comedy short, The Victim. From that point until her retirement in 1952, she worked regularly - at least one film she appeared in was released every year. She was often cast as an oversexed dowager, a decrepit old hag, and occasionally, a glamorous society dame. Known for her versatility and expressive face, notable among her many roles were the gorgeous Miss Prescott in Meet the Mayor, frowsy Jessie Florian in Raymond Chandler's Murder My Sweet, an aunt who has a crush on Oliver Hardy in Laurel and Hardy's The Big Noise, diner waitress Holly in Detour, bawdy Filthy Flora in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball, the determined Mrs. Kraft out to solve a murder in Born to Kill, and as Kirk Douglas' mother in Champion. Miss Howard's lovely singing voice was used to ghost sing for bigger-name stars who had no singing talent, but she never sang onscreen for herself.
From 1940 to 1949, Howard was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. From 1937, Howard was a regular player in short-subjects produced at Columbia Pictures, where she was frequently cast opposite comedian Andy Clyde. Her last film was a Columbia comedy short, Caught on the Bounce, in which she played Joe Besser's aunt.
Death
Howard died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, on March 8, 1965, aged 72. She is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Selected filmography
The Vice Squad – JosieWicked – Minor Role The Yellow Ticket – Prisoner Ladies of the Big House – Clara NewmanA Fool's Advice – Mrs. PrescottThe Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood – Mrs. Maggie KellyMerrily We Go to Hell – ViWinner Take All – Ann – Joan's FriendLife Begins – Mrs. Tubby's Friend Rackety Rax – 'Sister' CarrieSecond Hand Wife – Mrs. Trumbull The Iron Master – Mrs. StillmanGrand Slam – Mary Sweepings – Violet's Madame Below the Sea – LilyCockeyed Cavaliers – Robert's Serving Girl Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round – Passenger Needing 'Hooking' Ready for Love – Aunt IdaThe Best Man Wins – Mamie Death Flies East – Mitzi Straight from the Heart – Tired Mother The Farmer Takes a Wife – Klore's New Cook Stars Over Broadway – Mary Sporesgate Klondike Annie – Fanny RadlerFlorida Special – Flirtatious Dowager M'Liss – RoseSwing High, Swing Low – Beauty Salon Customer Rhythm in the Clouds – Mrs. MadiganDead End – Neighbor with Coarse Voice Partners in Crime – Mrs. WagonStand-In – Mrs. Mack Scandal Street – Birdie BrownRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – Mother Marie Antoinette – Streetwalker The Texans – Madame Five of a Kind – Thelma – Mother in Hoax Swing, Sister, Swing – Miss FredericksBroadway Serenade – Mrs. FellowsMissing Daughters – Mother Hawks The Gracie Allen Murder Case – Florist The Great McGinty – Madame Juliette La JollaThe San Francisco Docks – Jean The Lady from Cheyenne – Landlady Sullivan's Travels – Miz ZeffieSappy Birthday – Mrs. Andy 'Martha' ClydeMy Favorite Blonde – Mrs. TopleyJackass Mail – Dancehall Girl Tales of Manhattan – Woman Bumming Cigarette from Joe The Palm Beach Story – Wife of Wienie KingI Married a Witch – Extra The Miracle of Morgan's Creek – Sally True to Life – Bit Role Once Upon a Time – Clerk The Great Moment – Dr. Wells' Patient Hail the Conquering Hero – Mrs. Everett J. Noble The Big Noise – Aunt Sophie San Diego, I Love You – Mother Murder, My Sweet – Jessie FlorianThe Great Flamarion – CleoDetour – Diner WaitressAdventure – Blister A Letter for Evie – Mrs. EdgewatersThe Hoodlum Saint – Elderly Spectator The Falcon's Alibi – Gloria PeabodyThe Virginian – Mother of Student Without Reservations – Sarah Dick Tracy vs. Cueball – Filthy FloraMr. District Attorney – Bit Role Born to Kill – Mrs. KraftThe Trouble with Women – Mrs. Fogarty Song of the Thin Man – Sadie – Counterwoman The Velvet Touch – Pansy DupontJune Bride – Mrs. Mitchell Homicide – Mrs. Brucker -LandladyChampion – Mrs. KellyThe Crooked Way – Hotel Proprietess The Lady Gambles – Gross LadyThe Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend – Mrs. SmidlapHellfire – BirdieLook for the Silver Lining – Mrs. Moffitt No Man of Her Own – Boarding House Owner Caged – Grace All That I Have – Mrs. DaltonRose of Cimarron – Ma Bruce Lady in the Iron Mask – Madame Duprez