Ruth Hiatt

Biography

Pert, curly-haired Ruth Hiatt was born Ruth Redfern, a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1924, former child actress, dancer and comedienne. She had moved with her family from San Diego and made her screen bow at age eleven. Ruth was briefly under contract with the Lubin company in 1915, later moving on to Educational and then to Mack Sennett's Keystone. Gravitating towards comedy, she was helped along the way by a close friendship with the writer/director Lloyd Bacon, who introduced her to star comedian Lloyd Hamilton. Hamilton, who had been looking for a suitable leading lady, was impressed after meeting the personable, dimple-cheeked and (most of all) photogenic,lass. One of Ruth's first feature film roles was a small part in Douglas Fairbanks's epic swashbuckler Robin Hood (1922). However, she established herself primarily as a leading lady of one- and two-reelers, often cast in slapstick farce opposite comics like Hamilton (Going East (1924)) or Harry Langdon (Saturday Afternoon (1926)). At the height of her popularity, she co-starred in all 23 instalments of the 'Smith Family' series of domestic comedies (1926-28). As the 1920's drew to a close, Ruth wisely varied her repertoire and managed to weather the transition from silent pictures to sound. She now showed up in anything from crime dramas (Shanghai Rose (1929)) to Ken Maynard westerns (Sunset Trail (1932)). Ruth continued on in supporting roles of ever diminishing size until 1941, notably as the 'whispering nurse' in The Three Stooges Oscar-nominated short Men in Black (1934). After her retirement from acting, she established a make-up business.