Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film and television actress. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She later became a successful novelist and early aviator. Chatterton briefly returned to screen acting in the 1950s before her death of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1961.

Biography

Flying
Chatterton was also one of the few woman aviators at the time, and was good friends with Amelia Earhart. She flew solo across the U.S. several times, and served as sponsor of the Sportsman Pilot Mixed Air Derby and the annual Ruth Chatterton Air Derby during the 1930s; she also opened the National Air Races in Los Angeles in 1936.
She taught British film and stage actor Brian Aherne to fly, an experience he described at length in his 1969 autobiography, A Proper Job.


Marriages
Chatterton was married three times and had no children. In 1924, she married British actor Ralph Forbes who starred opposite her that same year in The Magnolia Lady, a musical version of the A.E. Thomas and Alice Duer Miller hit Come Out of the Kitchen. Their divorced was finalized on August 12, 1932. The following day, August 13, Chatterton married her The Rich Are Always with Us and The Crash co-star Irish-born actor George Brent, in Harrison, New York. The couple separated in March 1934 and were divorced in October 1934.

Chatterton married actor Barry Thomson in 1942. They remained married until his death in 1960.

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