Olive Blakeney

Olive Blakeney
Blakeney in That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
Born
Olive Marie Blakeney

(1894-08-21)August 21, 1894
Bellevue, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedOctober 21, 1959(1959-10-21) (aged 65)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationBellevue High School
Schuster-Martin School
OccupationActress
Years active1933–1959
Spouse(s)John Wilmot Crosby
(m. 1915; ?)
Bernard Nedell
(m. 1927)
Children1

Olive Marie Blakeney[1] (August 21, 1894 – October 21, 1959) was an American stage, screen and television actress.

Early years

Born in Bellevue, Kentucky,[2] Blakeley was the daughter of Emma (née Juell) and John W. Blakeney.[1][2][3] She graduated from Bellevue High School, where her principal extracurricular activity appears to have been basketball, while primarily pursuing her theatrical studies across the Ohio River in Cincinnati; first at the Cincinnati School of Expression,[4] and later at the Schuster-Martin School.[2]

Career

In the early 1910s, Blakeney acted with the Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Stock Company.[5] Her work in the Empire Theater there in 1912 was her stage debut.[6] In 1914, she was engaged with the Lucille La Verne stock theater company.[7] After working as William Gaxton's partner in vaudeville, she acted on stage in England. While there, she helped to introduce the play Broadway to British audiences.[8] Her Broadway credits include The Royal Family (1951) and The Browning Version / Harlequinade (1949).[9]

Blakeney made her screen debut in England in 1932. She portrayed Mrs. Alice Aldrich, the mother of Henry Aldrich, in eight (seven of which were consecutive) films about The Aldrich Family. (She played a related role, Mary Aldrich, in a ninth related film, Henry and Dizzy.)[10]

On television, she played the housekeeper in the syndicated medical drama Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (1955–1956)[11] and guest-starred in "The Mothers," a 1957 episode of the CBS situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve, and "Mr. Tutt," also known as "Strange Counsel," a 1958 episode of Colgate Theatre.

Personal life

In June 1915, Blakeney married John Wilmot Crosby of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Thomas, Kentucky).[1][12]

In 1927, Blakeney married actor Bernard Nedell[8] and they had a daughter, Betty Lou,[6] later dubbed by the Associated Press, "the first American child baptized in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and at the same font where King Charles II was christened".[13]

On October 21, 1959, Blakeney died in Encino, California at the age of 65,[14] due to complications of cancer. Her cremated remains are inurned together with those of her husband in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.[15]

Partial filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Will Wed Today". The Cincinnati Enquirer. June 15, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Miss Olive Marie Blakeney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Blakeney, of Covert Run pike, South Bellevue, Ky., and John W. Crosby, of Pittsburg, Penn., will be married this morning at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Ft. Thomas, Ky., by the rector, Rev. A. H. Marshall. Miss Blakeney is a prominent actress and for several played in the South. Crosby is a traveling man, connected with the Acorn Lumber Company, of Pittsburg.
  2. 1 2 3 Arnum, Margaret (April 11, 1941). "Former Bellevue High School Girl to Appear on Screen With Oberon; Local Folk Recal Her as Basketball Enthusiast". The Kentucky Post. p. 3. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Olive Blakeney, sophisticate and actress, is the same blue eyed golden haired girl who proved her mettle as a 'basketeer' in games at the Bellevue High School, of which she is a graduate. Born and reared at 719 Taylor avenue, Bellevue, she is the daughter of Mrs. Emma Blakeney and the late John Blakeney.
  3. ↑ "Death Notices: BLAKENEY". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 6, 1930. p. 26. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. John W. Blakeney, husband Emma Juell 4119 Houston ave., Norwood, Ohio, Tuesday, March 4, 1930. Services at W. Mack Johnson's funeral home, McMillan Upland place, Friday, March 7, at 10:30 a. m.
  4. ↑ "In Dramatic Studios". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio, Cincinnati. September 19, 1909. p. 55. Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ↑ "To-Night at Orpheum". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio, Cincinnati. May 23, 1913. p. 2. Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. 1 2 Lovejoy, Clarence E. (April 12, 1930). "'Regards to Pittsfield,' Said Woman Star at Famous Shaftesbury Theatre in London". The Berkshire Evening Eagle. Massachusetts, Pittsfield. p. 5. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "The Lucille LaVerne Company". The Atlanta Constitution. Georgia, Atlanta. April 5, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. 1 2 Schallert, Edwin (October 23, 1940). "Brian Donlevy Likely To Star in 'Dance Hall'". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. p. Part II - 10. Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ↑ "Olive Blakeney". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved August 28, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. ↑ Johnson, Erskine (July 6, 1943). "In Hollywood". The Newark Advocate. Ohio, Newark. p. 4. Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ↑ Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8. P. 64.
  12. ↑ "Married in Kentucky". The Cincinnati Enquirer. June 15, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. John Wilmot Crosby, of Pittsburg, Penn., and Olive Marie Blakeney, of Bellevue, Ky.
  13. ↑ Associated Press (March 26, 1928). "FIRST YANKEE CHILD GIVEN ROYAL CHAPEL BAPTISM". Kansas City Journal. p. 7. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Betty Lou Nedell, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Nedell, has the distinction of being the first American child baptized in St. George's chapel at Windsor castle and at the same font where King Charles II was christened. The friendship of the parents with the dean of Windsor brought her this unusual privilege in the Royal chapel. The baby's godmothers were Lady Digby Lawson and the Ranee of Sarawak. The godfather was Philip Lord of the United States naval reserves. Betty Lou's father is an American actor who has made a success in London. Her mother was Olive Blakeney.
  14. ↑ "Obituaries: Olive Blakeney Nedell". Daily Variety. October 22, 1959. p. 11. ProQuest 3335416465. Services for Olive Blakeney Nedell, vet fill-tv actress who died yeaterday at Encino Hospital, will be held Saturday [...] She had been trouping for 50 years
  15. ↑ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sires of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 544. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4. "9290. Nedell, Bernard (Oct. 14, 1893–Nov. 23, 1972) Actor in films 1916–1972, the father-in-law of Jimmy Lydon, whose mother in the Henry Aldrich films was played by Nedell's wife, Olive Blakeney. Inurned with her. Col. of the Holy Trinity, niche 2272, Iris Terrace, Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA."
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