Saturdays with the Stars: Spring Byington

Each month of 2022 we will be taking a look at one-time film actors who became foundational figures in the early days of television, stretching from the early 1950's into the mid-1960's.  Last month we talked about Robert Young, an actor who spent much of the early days of Classical Hollywood playing second fiddle to some of the biggest actresses of the era before he became the star of two classic early TV series.  This month, we're going to talk about a woman who was never a leading player in Hollywood, but for decades was one of the most celebrated character actresses of her time, before a radio show led to one of the biggest successes of her career in the mid-1950's.  This month's star is Spring Byington.

Spring Byington was born in Colorado Springs in 1886, making her one of the oldest chronological figures we've profiled in our four years of Saturdays with the Stars, the daughter of a school superintendent and a doctor.  After her father's death, she lived with relatives in Denver before eventually making her way to New York City, trying her hand at acting.  At first finding work in repertory theater, Byington eventually got to Broadway, where she became a regular, appearing in dozens of plays throughout the 1920's & early 1930's.  During this time, she began to work in movies, and gained more prominence in the industry playing Marmee in Little Women (the Katharine Hepburn one).  This led to a remarkably long list of playing matrons, mothers, & aunts throughout the coming decades, including getting an Oscar nomination for You Can't Take It With You.  Similar to Ann Sothern two months ago, Byington got much of her biggest success through a film serial, The Jones Family movies which numbered seventeen in all from 1936-40 (Byington appeared in every one of the pictures).

A turn in radio, though, changed Byington's life.  Initially a radio show on CBS, Desilu Productions decided to turn the program into a television series, and even put it on after I Love Lucy.  Its proximity to Lucy made it a smash ratings hit, staying in the Top 10 for its first four seasons, and won Byington two Emmy nominations.  Byington would spend much of the remainder of her career in television, primarily in high-profile guest spots, but this month we're going to turn the pages back a bit, and look at Byington's long film career, trying to understand why it took so long for her to get the true center stage on December Bride.