Gloria Stuart (elderly Rose in 'Titanic') Dies at 100

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Gloria Stuart: 1910 - 2010

Gloria Stuart, the elegant actress who found fame late in her seven decade Hollywood career when she earned an Oscar nomination for her role as the elderly Rose in 1997's Titanic, passed away on Sunday in her West Los Angeles home. She was 100 years old.

Born Gloria Frances Stewart on July 4, 1910 in Santa Monica, California, she grew up in southern California and attended Santa Monica High School and the University of California at Berkeley, where she first became interested in acting. After dropping out of college and marrying Blair Gordon Newell in 1930, she continued to explore acting in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse. Hollywood studios began to take notice of the petite blonde actress, and she soon signed a contract with Universal Studios, but not before changing her surname from "Stewart" to "Stuart" as she believed it would look better on a theater marquee.

Her first appearance at Universal was in 1932's Street of Women, the same year in which she was named one of WAMPAS Baby Stars (young women the industry believed had the most potential for movie stardom.) She appeared in varied roles assigned to her by the studio, but it was her new friendship with director James Whale that led to her most memorable roles from this era, in the horror/thrillers The Old Dark House, Kiss Before the Mirror and The Invisible Man. Underutilized at Universal, she moved on to Warner Brothers, where she would work regularly through the end of the decade, with notable movies including Gold Diggers of 1935 and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni4570919/