Mary Gordon
Acting • Born 1882-05-16 – Died 1963-08-23
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.
Filmography
225 credits
Bride of Frankenstein
Movie • 1935
Hans' Wife
His Honor the Mayor
Movie • 1930
His Wife
The Spider Woman
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Hudson
The Ghosts
Movie • 1930
Chubby's Mama
Radio Patrol
Movie • 1932
Landlady (uncredited)
Dressed to Kill
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Hudson
Double Wedding
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Keough
The Body Snatcher
Movie • 1945
Mary McBride (uncredited)
It Started with Eve
Movie • 1941
Mrs. O'Toole (uncredited)
The Whirlwind
Movie • 1933
Mrs. Curtis
The Pearl of Death
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Hudson
Sealed Lips
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Ann Morton (Fred's mother)
The Woman in Green
Movie • 1945
Mrs. Hudson
Subway Express
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Delaney
The Invisible Man Returns
Movie • 1940
Cookie (uncredited)
The Invisible Woman
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Bates
Naughty Nanette
Movie • 1927
Mrs. Rooney
Little Giant
Movie • 1946
Ma Miller
Whispering Footsteps
Movie • 1943
Ma Murphy
The Little Minister
Movie • 1934
Nanny
When the Wind Blows
Movie • 1930
Chubby's Mother (uncredited)
The Woman Condemned
Movie • 1934
Crying Woman at Night Court (uncredited)
The Black Camel
Movie • 1931
Mrs. MacMasters
Shadows Over Chinatown
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Conover
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Hudson
The Invisible Wall
Movie • 1947
Mrs. Bledsoe
The Story That Couldn't Be Printed
Movie • 1939
Woman Reading Newspaper (uncredited)
Pot o' Gold
Movie • 1941
Mom McCorkle
Law of the Badlands
Movie • 1945
Secret Command
Movie • 1944
Mrs. McKenzie (uncredited)
Laughing Irish Eyes
Movie • 1936
Mrs. O'Keefe
The Impatient Maiden
Movie • 1932
Irish Neighbor (uncredited)
The Power and the Glory
Movie • 1933
Nurse (uncredited)
The Night of Nights
Movie • 1939
1nd Pencil Woman (uncredited)
Exposed
Movie • 1947
Housekeeper
Angels' Alley
Movie • 1948
Mrs. Mamie Mahoney
Nature in the Wrong
Movie • 1933
Mrs. Clancy
When the Daltons Rode
Movie • 1940
Ma Dalton
Double Cross
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Murray
Divorce
Movie • 1945
Ellen
Wild Girl
Movie • 1932
Washerwoman (uncredited)
The Saturday Night Kid
Movie • 1929
Reducing customer (uncredited)
Is Everybody Happy?
Movie • 1929
Neighbor (uncredited)
Cross Streets
Movie • 1934
Sonny's Mother
Sweepings
Movie • 1933
Mrs. Patrick O'Leary (Uncredited)
Hell's Heroes
Movie • 1929
Choir Member (uncredited)
The Pride of the Yankees
Movie • 1942
Maid (uncredited)
Riot Squad
Movie • 1941
Mrs. McGonigle
The Last Ride
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Mary Kelly
The Irish in Us
Movie • 1935
Ma O'Hara
The Ol' Gray Hoss
Movie • 1928
First taxi passenger
Friend Indeed
Movie • 1937
Housekeeper
Nobody's Children
Movie • 1940
Mary
Lady Behave!
Movie • 1937
Cook
$10 Raise
Movie • 1935
Landlady (uncredited)
Borrowed Hero
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Riley
Deputy Marshal
Movie • 1949
Mrs. Lance
Meet the Boy Friend
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Grimes
Little Miss Nobody
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Biddle
Two Tickets to London
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Tinkle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Hudson
Appointment for Love
Movie • 1941
Martha
Kitty Foyle
Movie • 1940
Cleaning Lady (uncredited)
Fort Apache
Movie • 1948
Ma (barmaid)
Sarong Girl
Movie • 1943
Mattie
The Jones Family in Hollywood
Movie • 1939
Landlady (uncredited)
The Brat
Movie • 1931
Angry Wife in Night Court (uncredited)
Smart Guy
Movie • 1943
Maggie
City Streets
Movie • 1938
Mrs. Devlin
Beauty Parlor
Movie • 1932
Landlady
Ladies They Talk About
Movie • 1933
Prisoner in Visiting Room (uncredited)
The Long Night
Movie • 1947
Old Woman in Crowd (uncredited)
Men Must Fight
Movie • 1933
Pacifist Audience Member
Blonde Venus
Movie • 1932
Landlady (uncredited)
Follow the Leader
Movie • 1944
Shamrock Hill
Movie • 1949
Grandma Rogan
Mary of Scotland
Movie • 1936
Nurse
Stage Struck
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Cassidy
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Hudson
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Hudson
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Hudson
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Hudson
You Can't Have Everything
Movie • 1937
YWCA Scrub Woman (uncredited)
The Expert
Movie • 1932
Neighbor
You're Only Young Once
Movie • 1937
Mary's Mother (uncredited)
Blond Cheat
Movie • 1938
Maggie (uncredited)
Change of Heart
Movie • 1934
Woman in Street (uncredited)
Tell No Tales
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Bryant (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in London
Movie • 1934
Prison Visitor (uncredited)
The Defense Rests
Movie • 1934
Scrub Woman
A House Divided
Movie • 1931
Townswoman (uncredited)
The White Angel
Movie • 1936
Nursing Applicant (uncredited)
The Man from Hell
Movie • 1934
Mrs. Frank McCarrol
The Hour Before the Dawn
Movie • 1944
Annie
Wings of the Navy
Movie • 1939
Irene's Housekeeper
Tail Spin
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Lee
Broadway Serenade
Movie • 1939
Annie (uncredited)
Her Husband Lies
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Jenks
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Movie • 1939
Woman (uncredited)
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
Movie • 1933
Cleaning Woman
Day-time Wife
Movie • 1939
Scrubwoman
The Marshal Of Mesa City
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Dudley
The Escape
Movie • 1939
Neighbor
Big Town Scandal
Movie • 1948
Mary - Cleaning Woman (uncredited)
Kidnapped
Movie • 1938
Mrs. MacDonald
The Dark Horse
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Mahoney
Sister Kenny
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Gordon (uncredited)
The Great O'Malley
Movie • 1937
Mrs. O'Malley
The Judge Steps Out
Movie • 1947
Annie (Scrub Woman) (uncredited)
Here Comes Kelly
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Kelly
Fly By Night
Movie • 1942
Ma Prescott
Meet the Stewarts
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Stewart
Hangman's House
Movie • 1928
The Woman at Hogan's Hideout
Tucson
Movie • 1949
Housemother (uncredited)
Design for Living
Movie • 1933
Theatre Chambermaid (uncredited)
Sentimental Journey
Movie • 1946
Agnes, the Cook (uncredited)
It Happened in Flatbush
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Collins
Blue, White, and Perfect
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Flaherty - Mike's Landlady (uncredited)
Great Guy
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Ogilvie
I Take This Oath
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Eileen Hanagan
Brother Orchid
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Sweeney - Flo's Landlady (uncredited)
Bombay Clipper
Movie • 1942
Abigail 'Mag' MacPherson
Highway 13
Movie • 1948
Aunt Myrt Lacy
Mutiny on the Bounty
Movie • 1935
Peddler (uncredited)
24 Hours
Movie • 1931
Nurse
Go West
Movie • 1940
Train Passenger
Dancers in the Dark
Movie • 1932
Scrubwoman
Roses Are Red
Movie • 1947
Cleaning Lady
The Plough and the Stars
Movie • 1936
Woman at Barricades
Bonnie Scotland
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Bickerdike
Captain Eddie
Movie • 1945
Mrs. Westrom
The Matinee Idol
Movie • 1928
Woman in Audience (uncredited)
The Loudspeaker
Movie • 1934
Landlady
Code of the Streets
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Flaherty
The Hoodlum Saint
Movie • 1946
Trina
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Leathwaite
Gateway
Movie • 1938
Scottish Mother
Waterfront Lady
Movie • 1935
Mrs. O'Flaherty
Saps at Sea
Movie • 1940
Mrs. O'Riley
My Son, My Son!
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Mulvaney
No, No, Nanette
Movie • 1940
Gertrude, the Cook
Racketeers of the Range
Movie • 1939
Mary-Benson's Housekeeper
Gentleman Jim
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Casey (uncredited)
The Last Alarm
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Hadley
Young People
Movie • 1940
Old Woman
The Lady Consents
Movie • 1936
Apple Lady
Million Dollar Kid
Movie • 1944
Mrs. McGinnis
Women Without Names
Movie • 1940
Juror
The Mummy's Tomb
Movie • 1942
Jane Banning
Murder at the Vanities
Movie • 1934
Assistant Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
The Invisible Man
Movie • 1933
Screaming Woman (uncredited)
Meet the Baron
Movie • 1933
Washer Woman (uncredited)
The Strange Mrs. Crane
Movie • 1948
Nora
Skyscraper Souls
Movie • 1932
Charwoman
Pilgrimage
Movie • 1933
The Plot Thickens
Movie • 1936
Woman with Bag (uncredited)
Ginger
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Monahan (uncredited)
Captain Fury
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Bailey
Doctor Bull
Movie • 1933
Townswoman at Meeting
Keep 'Em Slugging
Movie • 1943
Mrs. Banning
The Racket Man
Movie • 1944
Mom Benson
Haunted Trails
Movie • 1949
Aunt Libby
West of Wyoming
Movie • 1950
Nora Jones
Clues to Adventure
Movie • 1949
Woman Reading Newspaper (archive footage) (uncredited)
Texas Cyclone
Movie • 1932
Kate
Song o' My Heart
Movie • 1930
Irish Woman
Share the Wealth
Movie • 1936
Ma MacClyde
Madame X
Movie • 1929
Nursemaid (uncredited)
Powder Town
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Douglas
Oh, for a Man!
Movie • 1930
Stage Door Admirer with Violets
Unfinished Business
Movie • 1941
Miss Brady
Half Way to Shanghai
Movie • 1942
Mrs. McIntyre
Off the Record
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Finnegan (uncredited)
Tear Gas Squad
Movie • 1940
Mrs. Sullivan
Public Deb No. 1
Movie • 1940
Landlady
Campus Confessions
Movie • 1938
Mrs. Twill
Roaring Ranch
Movie • 1930
Mrs. O'Riley (uncredited)
Strange Confession
Movie • 1945
Mrs. O'Connor
70,000 Witnesses
Movie • 1932
Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Secrets of Scotland Yard
Movie • 1944
Libby, the Housekeeper
Pack Up Your Troubles
Movie • 1932
Mrs. MacTavish (uncredited)
The Home Maker
Movie • 1925
Mrs. Hennessy
Dr. Broadway
Movie • 1942
Broadway Carrie
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Movie • 1939
Mrs. O'Leary
See My Lawyer
Movie • 1945
Mrs. Fillmore
She Married a Cop
Movie • 1939
Ma Duffy
Flight from Destiny
Movie • 1941
Martha
In Fast Company
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Cassidy
Baby Take a Bow
Movie • 1934
Mrs. O'Brien (Uncredited)
Rulers of the Sea
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Ogilvie (Uncredited)
Hollywood Canteen
Movie • 1944
Hostess (uncredited)
Waterloo Bridge
Movie • 1931
Distraught Woman on Stairway (uncredited)
One More River
Movie • 1934
Cook (Uncredited)
Manhattan Melodrama
Movie • 1934
Boat Passenger (uncredited)
After the Thin Man
Movie • 1936
Rose (uncredited)
My Woman
Movie • 1933
Woman at Ironing Board (Uncredited)
Kitty
Movie • 1945
Nanny
Anybody's Woman
Movie • 1930
Maid
The File on Thelma Jordon
Movie • 1949
Charwoman (uncredited)
Our Daily Bread
Movie • 1934
Community Woman in Cottage (uncredited)
She Done Him Wrong
Movie • 1933
Cleaning Lady (uncredited)
Mr. Soft Touch
Movie • 1949
Slatternly Woman Tenant (Uncredited)
Mannequin
Movie • 1938
Mrs. O'Rourke (Uncredited)
Possessed
Movie • 1931
Woman at Political Rally (uncredited)
Black Paradise
Movie • 1926
Mrs. Murphy
Call Her Savage
Movie • 1932
Lady in Tenement (Uncredited)
A Damsel in Distress
Movie • 1937
Cook (uncredited)
Beloved
Movie • 1934
Mrs. O'Leary
Kidnapped
Movie • 1948
Scottish Woman (uncredited)
Queen of the Mob
Movie • 1940
Tenement Landlady
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Scott
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Movie • 1933
Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Forgotten Faces
Movie • 1936
Mrs. O'Leary
Vagabond Lady
Movie • 1935
Myrtle, Scrubwoman (uncredited)
Whom the Gods Destroy
Movie • 1934
Newfoundlander
Dynamite
Movie • 1929
Neighbor at Store
Angels with Dirty Faces
Movie • 1938
Let Us Be Gay
Movie • 1930
Mrs. McIntyre (uncredited)
Tessie
Movie • 1925
Aunt Maggie
Clancy's Kosher Wedding
Movie • 1927
Molly Clancy
The People vs. Nancy Preston
Movie • 1925
Mrs. Tifft
The World Changes
Movie • 1933
Lady at Party (uncredited)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Movie • 1932
Court Matron (uncredited)
One Man Justice
Movie • 1937
Bridget
The Cisco Kid
TV • 1950
Mary O'Toole