Actress, Broadway Play Producer. One of her first performances in the entertainment business was as a singer and dancer in the Broadway musical “George White’s Scandals”. As contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, she made her first two movie appearances in Marion Davies pictures, "Five and Ten", an uncredited debut in 1931, and "Polly of the Circus" in 1932. Her most memorable role was as Pansy Peets in "Speak Easily" in 1933, in which she supported Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante with a third-billing. She appeared in Fred Selwyn’s "Men Must Fight" in 1933, and then made only two more movies before retiring; one was Raoul Walsh's "Baby Face Harrington” in 1935. At the age of twenty-four, she was credited with being the first female Broadway play producer: “Nine-Fifteen Revue” in 1930; “Bachelor Born” in 1938; “Walk with Music” in 1940. According to the 1996 biography, “Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows and Blues” by Edward Jablonski, “Nine-Fifteen Revue” sadly shut down after six unsuccessful performances. She was born Ruth Wilcox, the daughter of James Wilcox, a Kentucky optometrist and drugstore owner, who was married six times, twice to one woman; with his first wife, he had six children. Ruth was the sister of Fred MacLeod Wilcox, the director of “Lassie, Come Home” in 1943 and “Forbidden Planet” in 1956. Her sister was showgirl Pansy Wilcox who married Nicholas M. Schenck, the president of Loew’s Inc. Ruth married and divorced twice: her first husband was Russell Martin Synder and they had a son, Rusty, who was later adopted by her second husband, Edgar Selwyn. Selwyn was also in the film industry as a playwright, movie producer, director and actor; they met early-on in her career. Her last husband was actor-socialite John Warburton, and she spent the rest of her life on their 160-acre “Red Roof Ranch” near Palm Springs, California.

Actress, Broadway Play Producer. One of her first performances in the entertainment business was as a singer and dancer in the Broadway musical “George White’s Scandals”. As contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, she made her first two movie appearances in Marion Davies pictures, "Five and Ten", an uncredited debut in 1931, and "Polly of the Circus" in 1932. Her most memorable role was as Pansy Peets in "Speak Easily" in 1933, in which she supported Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante with a third-billing. She appeared in Fred Selwyn’s "Men Must Fight" in 1933, and then made only two more movies before retiring; one was Raoul Walsh's "Baby Face Harrington” in 1935. At the age of twenty-four, she was credited with being the first female Broadway play producer: “Nine-Fifteen Revue” in 1930; “Bachelor Born” in 1938; “Walk with Music” in 1940. According to the 1996 biography, “Harold Arlen: Rhythm, Rainbows and Blues” by Edward Jablonski, “Nine-Fifteen Revue” sadly shut down after six unsuccessful performances. She was born Ruth Wilcox, the daughter of James Wilcox, a Kentucky optometrist and drugstore owner, who was married six times, twice to one woman; with his first wife, he had six children. Ruth was the sister of Fred MacLeod Wilcox, the director of “Lassie, Come Home” in 1943 and “Forbidden Planet” in 1956. Her sister was showgirl Pansy Wilcox who married Nicholas M. Schenck, the president of Loew’s Inc. Ruth married and divorced twice: her first husband was Russell Martin Synder and they had a son, Rusty, who was later adopted by her second husband, Edgar Selwyn. Selwyn was also in the film industry as a playwright, movie producer, director and actor; they met early-on in her career. Her last husband was actor-socialite John Warburton, and she spent the rest of her life on their 160-acre “Red Roof Ranch” near Palm Springs, California.

Bio by: Linda Davis