Gloria Stuart, best known for play old Rose in Titanic, has passed away aged 100. Although it was the James Cameron film that introduced her to modern audiences, Stuart had been in movies for a long time, first signing with Universal in the early 30s, before moving onto 20th Century Fox, and appearing in the likes of Gold Diggers of 1935 and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
However in the late 30s, she turned her back on Hollywood and moved to New York, but failed to find success on Broadway. For the next 30 years, she hardly acted at all, only returning in the mid-70s, when her husband was put in a nursing home. However she didn’t find too much success reigniting her acting career until James Cameron offered her the role that would make her famous to a whole new generation. Her Oscar nomination for Titanic makes her the oldest person ever nominated for an Academy award.
As well as acting, Stuart was an accomplished artist. She was also politically active, having help to found the Screen Actor’s Guild in the 1930s (she was recently honoured by them for all her work over the years) and she even volunteered for the French resistance in the Second World War.
Stuart passed away in her sleep on September 26th.
Gloria Stuart – July 4th, 1910-September 26th, 2010 – RIP