Ruth Hammond; Stage Actress Was ‘Life With Father’ Original

Ruth Hammond, 96, a stage actress who created the role of Cora--the visiting relative--in Howard Lindsay’s and Russel Crouse’s play “Life With Father” and appeared in all but one of the production’s 3,213 performances. Miss Hammond was born in Los Angeles and was active in drama classes at Manual Arts High School that included film director Frank Capra. She opted for the stage rather than films and made her Broadway debut in 1920 in “The Ouija Board.” For the next five decades she was seen in such plays as “Antonia,” “The Good Fairy,” “Saturday’s Children,” “Winterset” and “The Women.” She also was a regular on TV, particularly on the daytime soap opera “Young Dr. Malone.” On April 9 at the Actor’s Fund Home in Englewood, N.J.