Ruth Hart Morris; Retired Theater Owner

Retired theater owner Ruth Hart Morris died at home in Ventura early Monday following a year of deteriorating health. She was 80.

Morris was born July 13, 1918, in Berkeley. She attended grade school and business school in the Bay Area before moving to Culver City in the mid-1930s to work at MGM Studios, where she worked as a proofreader and edited movie scripts. She later became a dancer and worked in a number of musicals in the late 1930s. She also helped write scripts at both MGM and Fox studios, her family said.

On March 10, 1940, she married Theodore Morris, a message boy for Louis B. Mayer. The couple lived in West Los Angeles before moving to Ventura in 1968.

In Los Angeles, Morris was active with her children in Camp Fire Girls and Cub Scouts, and belonged to various Republican women’s groups. She donated time to lead a troop of Girl Scouts with mental disabilities.

While in Ventura, Morris and her husband bought and operated several theaters, including the now-closed Los Robles Theater and the Fox Theater in Santa Paula. They also ran the Glasgow Playhouse in Ojai.

Morris was one of the first female members of the Coast Guard’s Auxiliary in Ventura. She was an avid gardener and liked to travel.

She was preceded in death by her husband and a son, Michael.

Morris is survived by her son, Brent Morris of Ventura; two daughters, Melinda Stephens of Santa Monica and Deborah Shultz of San Diego; a brother, John Hart of Cape Cod, Mass., and two grandsons.

There will be a graveside service at 10 a.m. Thursday at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura.

Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura is handling the arrangements.