Ruth Gillette; Broadway and Movie Actress

Ruth Gillette, 89, Broadway and Hollywood actress best remembered for her role as Lillian Russell in the 1936 film “The Great Ziegfeld.” A native of Southern California who graduated from Hollywood High School, Miss Gillette began her career on Broadway with “Gay Paree” in 1925. Her other musicals included “Babes in Toyland,” “Pajama Game,” and Broadway and touring company productions of “Mame” starring successively Angela Lansbury, Susan Hayward, Juliet Prowse and Ann Miller. The versatile singer, dancer and comedian also appeared opposite Walter Slezak in the 1958 comedy “The Gazebo.” Miss Gillette had a shorter run in film, from “Frontier Marshal” in 1934 to her last, “In a Lonely Place” in 1950. She also appeared in “Life Begins at 40,” “In Old Chicago,” “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” and “The Return of the Cisco Kid.” On television, she was seen in the series “The Partridge Family” and “The Ann Jillian Show.” On Friday in Los Angeles of cancer.