Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American actress. Known as a character actor with a strong New York accent, she took working-class roles. She received a Tony Award and six Academy award nominations, more than any other actress in the category. Ritter received six nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in All About Eve (1950), The Mating Season (1951), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Pillow Talk (1959), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Her other notable film roles include in Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rear Window (1954), The Misfits (1961), and How the West Was Won (1962). She shared the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the musical New Girl in Town with co-star Gwen Verdon. She received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination for Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1956. Early and family life Ritter was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 14, 1902, the first child of Charles and Lucy Ritter, both natives of the United States. Her father at that time was a bookkeeper, and he became a shore company's office manager. At age 11, Ritter portrayed Puck in a semi-professional dramatic society's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. As a teenager, she appeared in high-school plays and stock companies. She later received formal training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (ADA). That training came after her initial effort to attend the academy was rebuffed. After graduating from Manual Training High School, she achieved her goal of studying at ADA. Although she subsequently struggled to establish a stage career, Ritter decided to take a hiatus from acting to raise her two children—Monica and Joe—by her husband Joseph Moran (whom she married in 1927). Moran was also an actor, but changed professions in the mid-1930s, opting to become an agent and then an advertising executive. Career Ritter's first professional experience came with stock theater companies in New York and New England. Her Broadway credits include UTBU (1965), New Girl in Town (1956), In Times Square (1931), and The Shelf (1926). Ritter's first movie role was in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised