Today, nearly 40-percent of young women in the United States attend college. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, however, that percentage was much lower. In 1940, for example, only 3.8-percent of women received a college education. A few of those women went on to enjoy successful acting careers. Let’s look at some of the college-educated actresses during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn attended Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1928 with a degree in history and philosophy. She didn’t attend a traditional high school, instead working with a private tutor. She didn’t plan to enroll in college but her mother, who had attended Bryn Mawr, encouraged her to apply. Although she was initially shy and self-conscious, she quickly embraced the college experience. Her senior year at Bryn Mawr, she was cast in the lead role in the school play. The positive accolades she received was all it took for her to set her sights on an acting career.
Margaret Hamilton
Before Margaret Hamilton frightened young children as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 classic film, The Wizard of Oz, she was a kindergarten teacher. The Cleveland, Ohio-native enrolled in Wheelock College in Boston at the insistence of her parents. During her high school years, she performed with the Cleveland Playhouse and hoped to become a professional actress. Her parents, however, wanted her to pursue a more practical profession. To appease her family, she earned a teaching certificate from Wheelock College. She taught kindergarten before she made her Hollywood debut in the 1933 film, Another Language, with Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery.
Gloria Stuart
Gloria Stuart launched her Hollywood acting career in 1932 when she signed a contract with Universal Pictures and appeared in several notable films in the 1930s, including The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Poor Little Rich Girl, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Before she took Hollywood by storm, however, she focused on her education by enrolling in the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a dual degree in philosophy and drama. Stuart enjoyed a long and successful career. You might remember her for her portrayal of the elderly Rose in the James Cameron film Titanic in 1997. For her role in Titanic, the highest-grossing film of all times, the Berkeley alum earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Madeleine Carroll
English-born Madeleine Carroll was the daughter of an Irish-born language professor father and a French-born wife. Education was very important to her father, therefore Carroll enrolled in England’s University of Birmingham to pursue a degree in languages, just like her father. As a college student, she discovered acting and appeared in several of the college’s Drama Society performances. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked at a girls’ school as a French teacher, but her heart was no longer in teaching. It was in acting. Her father disapproved, but with her mother’s support, she moved to London where she made her stage debut in 1927. She quickly transitioned to film and, in 1935, she was cast in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, her most well-known role.
Greer Garson
Greer Garson, a British actress, seemed destined for a life in academia before she was bit by the acting bug. She majored in French at King’s College London and then went on to do her post-graduate studies in 18th century literature at the University of Grenoble. While working as the head of the research library, she discussed her desire to act with her co-worker, George Sanders. She even convinced Sanders to take up acting too. It was a good career move for Garson. She won five consecutive Best Actress Academy Awards, tying Bette Davis for the most consecutive wins. That record has not yet been broken.
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey was best known for her role as Elizabeth, the photographer in the 1940 film, The Philadelphia Story. She was interested in acting, but she majored in art when she attended Pembroke College where she graduated in 1936. During her time at Pembroke, she auditioned for numerous school productions, but failed to land a role in any of them. Undeterred, she enrolled in University of Michigan’s school of drama and spent her summers doing summer stock theater in Michigan. She even attended Boston Business College for a short time. She was a good student of the dramatic arts … she earned an Academy Award nomination for The Philadelphia Story.
Ruby Dee
Born in 1922, actress Ruby Dee grew up in Harlem and attended New York public schools. In 1945, she graduated from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages. As a student at Hunter College, she also joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She is best known for appearing in the 1961 film A Raisin in the Sun, as well as the 1950 movie, The Jackie Robinson Story, and the 1989 Do the Right Thing.