Stage In 1935, at the age of 16, Lord made her
Broadway debut in
The Old Maid with
Judith Anderson. Her other Broadway appearances came in
Signature (1945),
Little Brown Jug (1946), and
The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967). Although most of Lord's success came in television, she said in 1963: "I am primarily a stage actress. That's what I was trained to do and that's my first love." In the 1970s, Lord was active in dinner theater productions, spending 34 weeks in such presentations in 1973 alone.
Film One film reference book summarized Lord's movie career by saying, "For two decades, she played leading roles in mostly routine films ..." Lord was signed by
RKO Radio Pictures in 1935. While appearing in
Springtime for Henry with
Edward Everett Horton, director
Henry Koster approached her and signed her to a contract with
Universal Studios. She appeared in six feature films and a
film serial ''
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack for Universal. Her film work includes a number of wartime pictures, including the 1943 mystery Sherlock Holmes in Washington, starring Basil Rathbone in the title role. She also appeared in the Western films Masked Raiders, Mexican Manhunt, and Down Laredo Way''. In 1966, she played Mrs. Martha Meade, the wife of
Bob Hope's character, in the screwball comedy
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!.
Television Lord appeared in a 1950 episode of
The Lone Ranger titled "Bullets for Ballots", also featuring
Craig Stevens, and a 1955 episode entitled "The Law Lady". She appeared on the 1951 episode "The Return of Trigger Dawson" of
Bill Williams's
syndicated western television series
The Adventures of Kit Carson and the 1954 production of "Shadow of Truth" on
Ford Theatre. In 1956, while she was appearing in
Anniversary Waltz, Lord caught the attention of
Danny Thomas, who asked her to replace
Jean Hagen as his television wife on
Make Room for Daddy. Hagen had played Thomas' wife since the series' inception, but she was written out of the script in 1956 at the end of her contract. Lord accepted the role and joined the cast of the show, now called
The Danny Thomas Show. She played the role until the show was cancelled in 1964. In 1970, Lord and Thomas, along with several other original supporting actors, returned to television with
Make Room for Granddaddy. The show lasted just one season.
Later years Lord remained active beyond her 90th birthday. On May 8, 2008, she participated in a "Salute to Television Moms" panel discussion organized by the
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. ==Recognition==