Before appearing in films, Thaxter was on the stage. When Dorothy McGuire went to Hollywood, Thaxter replaced her in the Broadway play Claudia.[6] In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the 1944 wartime film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.[2] In the 1945 film-noir Bewitched, Thaxter played Joan Alris Ellis, a woman with split personality. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter in Blood on the Moon.
On August 15, 1952, Thaxter—having recently completed work on Operation Secret and Springfield Rifle, and awaiting the birth of her second child—was hospitalized with what was described as a "mild" and "non-paralytic" case of polio.[7][8] Although the illness did not impact her pregnancy, it proved sufficiently serious to all but end Thaxter's film career when, the following month, columnist Hedda Hopper reported that the actress's contract with Warner Brothers had, "by mutual agreement", been "quietly washed up".[7] Of the remaining, predominantly TV-focused four decades of Thaxter's career, the big screen portion comprised four widely spaced credits.[9]
In 2003, Thaxter had a seconds long appearance in the Midsomer Murders episode "The Fisher King" (season 7, episode 3).
Personal life
Patricia Bosworth, in her biography of Montgomery Clift, tells of Thaxter's close relationship with Clift in the early 1940s, writing that they "seemed so close that a great many people assumed they would eventually marry".[6]
While at MGM, Phyllis Thaxter married James T. Aubrey Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. They had two children: Susan Schuyler "Skye" Aubrey,[12] an actress, and James Watson Aubrey. The couple divorced in 1962.[13][14]
In 1962, Thaxter married Gilbert Lea. They were married for 46 years until his death on May 4, 2008.[15]
^"Announce Plans for Wedding of Miss Hildegarde Thaxter; Miss Phyllis Thaxter Will Attend Sister for Event June 30 at St. Luke's Cathedral". Portland Press Herald. June 5, 1938. p. C2. Retrieved October 13, 2924. "... Miss Hildegarde Schuyler Thaxter, daughter of Judge and Mrs. Sidney St. Felix Thaxter of Danforth Street and Cushing's Island, and Edward Thaxter Gignoux, son of Col. and Mrs. Frederick E. Gignoux of Cape Elizabeth, who will be married Thursday, June 30. [...] Among the boys in the Portland group will be Sidney W. Thaxter, brother of the bride-elect."
^"Deaths Elsewhere: Retired Federal Judge Dies". The Star Press. November 6, 1988. p. 44. Retrieved October 13, 2024. "Gignoux is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Hildegarde Thaxter..."
