Leona Roberts (July 26, 1879 – January 29, 1954) was an American stage and film actress.

Spouses

Charles James Hutchinson (1900 - ?) (divorced) (2 children)
Walter Beck (? - ?) (divorced)

Children - Josephine Hutchinson

Life and career

Leona Roberts was born as Leona Celinda Doty in a small village in Illinois. She made her debut on Broadway in 1926 and appeared there in about 40 productions between 1926 and 1945, mostly in supporting roles. Roberts started her film career in 1926 in Poor Mrs. Jones, produced by the United States Department of Agriculture, where she starred in the leading role. She went to Hollywood in 1937 and played in over 40 films, mostly in motherly supporting roles. She was probably best-known for her portrayal of "society gossip" Mrs. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939), together with Harry Davenport, who played Doctor Meade.

Roberts also appeared with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938) as the house servant Mrs. Gogarty, as well in Of Human Hearts (1938) with James Stewart and The Blue Bird (1940) with Shirley Temple. In 1941, she returned to Broadway, where she worked until the mid-1940s. Subsequently, Roberts worked again in Hollywood and made a few last films there, including a small part in The Loves of Carmen (1948). She made her last film in 1949. Roberts died in 1954, age 74. Leona Roberts was the mother of actress Josephine Hutchinson and the sister of Edith Roberts.

Filmography

• Poor Mrs. Jones (1926)
• Border Cafe (1937)
• Super-Sleuth (1937)
• There Goes the Groom (1937)
• Fight for Your Lady (1937)
• Quick Money (1937)
• Crashing Hollywood (1938)
• Crime Ring (1938)
• Everybody's Doing It (1938)
• Of Human Hearts (1938)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Condemned Women (1938)
• This Marriage Business (1938)
• Having Wonderful Time (1938)
• Crime Ring (1938)
• The Affairs of Annabel (1938)
• I Stand Accused (1938)
• Kentucky (1938)
• Boy Slaves (1939)
• Persons in Hiding (1939)
• They Made Her a Spy (1939)
• Bachelor Mother (1939)
• The Spellbinder (1939)
• The Escape (1939)
• Three Sons (1939)
• Sued for Libel (1939)
• Gone with the Wind (1939)
• Swanee River (1939)
• Thou Shalt Not Kill (1939)
• The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1940)
• The Blue Bird (1940)
• Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
• Ski Patrol (1940)
• Flight Angels (1940)
• Gangs of Chicago (1940)
• Queen of the Mob (1940)
• Anne of Windy Poplars (1940)
• Golden Gloves (1940)
• Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
• Wildcat Bus (1940)
• Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)
• Week-End in Havana (1941)
• The Madonna's Secret (1946)
• Boomerang! (1947)
• The Loves of Carmen (1948)
• Chicago Deadline