Ruth Gordon

Birth Name: Ruth Gordon Jones

Date of Birth: October 30, 1896

Place of Birth: Quincy, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States

Date of Death: August 28, 1985

Place of Death: Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, small amounts of German and French, 1/128th African

Ruth Gordon was an American actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rosemary’s Baby (1968). She also starred in the films What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, Where’s Poppa?, Harold and Maude, Every Which Way But Loose, My Bodyguard, and Any Which Way You Can. She wrote the film The Actress; and co-wrote the films A Double Life, Adam’s Rib, Pat and Mike, and The Marrying Kind, and the made-for-tv movie Hardhat and Legs, all with her husband, writer and director Garson Kanin. She also wrote books and plays.

Ruth was the daughter of Annie Tapley (Ziegler/Zeigler) and Clinton Jones, who was a factory foreman and ship captain. She had English ancestry, with smaller amounts of German and French. Also, Ruth’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Brand Pendarvis, was the son of Joseph Pendarvis, who was born, c. 1700, in South Carolina, of English descent, and of Parthena, who was an African slave.

Ruth was married to actor Gregory Kelly, until his death, and to Garson Kanin, until her death. She had a son with producer Jed Harris.

Ruth’s paternal grandfather was named John J. Jones (the son of John Jones).

Ruth’s paternal grandmother was Olive Rogers (the daughter of Timothy Rogers and Reliance Cobb). Olive was born in Massachusetts. Timothy was the son of Jonathan Rogers and Hannah Mayo. Reliance was the daughter of Elkanah Cobb and Jerusha Foster.

Ruth’s maternal grandfather was Jacob/Jacon Aquilla Ziegler/Zeigler (the son of Nathaniel Daniel Ziegler/Zeigler and Mary Elizabeth Bruton). Nathaniel was the son of Jacob Zeigler, who was born in South Carolina, to a German father and a French mother, and of Mary Ann Pendarvis.

Ruth’s maternal grandmother was Ada Gordon Byron Beale (the daughter of William Swift Beale and Elizabeth Capernaum Holbrook). Ada was born in Massachusetts. William was the son of Jonathan Beale and Maria Swift. Elizabeth was the daughter of Abel Herbert Holbrook and Elizabeth Capernaum.

Sources: Genealogies of Ruth Gordon – https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.findagrave.com