# Lurene Tuttle
**Lurene Tuttle** (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American character actress whose career moved from vaudeville and the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse) into network radio, film, and television, and who was known on radio as the "First Lady of Radio." Her best-remembered role was Effie Perrine, the secretary on *The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective*, and she was the first actress to play Marjorie Forrester, the niece on *The Great Gildersleeve*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | August 29, 1907, Pleasant Lake, Indiana; May 28, 1986, Encino, California (cancer)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/) |
| Radio debut | 1936, featured role on *Hollywood Hotel* opposite Dick Powell[2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf) |
| Signature radio roles | Effie Perrine on *The Adventures of Sam Spade*; Marjorie Forrester on *The Great Gildersleeve* (through 1944); Junior's Mommy and Daisy June on *The Red Skelton Show*; nurse Judy Price on *Dr. Christian*[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf) • [2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf) |
| Workload | Often appeared in 15 shows a week across comedies, dramas, thrillers, soap operas, and crime dramas[4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/) |
| Union office | First female president of the AFRA Hollywood local; voted Woman of the Year by both AFTRA and the Pasadena Playhouse[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/) |
| Television series | Vinnie Day on *Life with Father* (1953–55); Doris Dunston on *Father of the Bride* (1961–62); Hannah Yarby on *Julia* (1968–70)[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf) |
| Honors | Two Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, for Radio (1760 Vine Street) and Television (7011 Hollywood Boulevard), both dated February 8, 1960[4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/) |
## Early life and stage training
Tuttle was born in Pleasant Lake, Indiana, into a family connected to show business. Her father was a minstrel performer, and her grandfather was a drama coach who managed an opera house in Angola, Indiana[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/). She made her stage debut with her father at an early age[2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf).
When she was 15 the family moved to [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california), and Tuttle began appearing with the Pasadena Playhouse, taking stock roles such as Nora the Cook in *The Devil Within* and the ingenue in *Alias Jimmy Valentine*[6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC/Archive-Radio-Life/40s/47/Radio-Life-1947-01-05.pdf). She then joined the vaudeville troupe Murphy's Comedians and worked in stock shows before turning to radio during the [Depression](https://www.edgepedia.org/depression)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/). One reference work gives her birth year as 1906 rather than 1907[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf); most sources, including those listing the exact birth date, use 1907.
## Radio career
Tuttle entered radio in 1936 with a featured role on *Hollywood Hotel*, playing opposite [Dick Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-powell); despite never having performed before a microphone, she won a three-year contract with the program at her audition[2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf). Her speaking voice and command of dialects made her one of radio's most in-demand actresses, and she sometimes taped fifteen episodes in a week[4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/) • [7](https://www.otrcat.com/p/lurene-tuttle).
**Effie Perrine.** When producer William Spier brought *The Adventures of Sam Spade* to radio in 1946, he cast Tuttle as Effie, the secretary to [Howard Duff](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-duff)'s Sam Spade, and on that series she played nearly every female role[8](https://www.radioclassics.com/afras-first-lady-the-career-of-lurene-tuttle/) • [4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/). The Lackman encyclopedia describes Effie as "gushingly innocent and sweet-voiced"; the IMDb biography calls her the altruistic "Girl Friday" opposite Duff's cynical gumshoe[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/).
**Marjorie Forrester.** Tuttle was the first actress to play Marjorie on *The Great Gildersleeve*, starting in 1941 and continuing through 1944[2](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf). She was in her mid-thirties at the time and voiced the teenage niece as a mature, no-nonsense foil to her comical uncle[7](https://www.otrcat.com/p/lurene-tuttle). Around the same years she was also heard as [Harriet Nelson](https://www.edgepedia.org/harriet-nelson)'s mother on *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*, playing a character two decades older while simultaneously playing the much younger Marjorie[4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/).
**Other regular work.** The encyclopedia entry lists her regular and frequent roles on *The Red Skelton Show* (as Junior's Mommy and Daisy June), *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*, *Duffy's Tavern* (Dolly Snaffle), *Dr. Christian* (nurse Judy Price), *One Man's Family*, *Box 13*, *The Adventures of Maisie*, and *Nightbeat*, plus hundreds of suspense programs and leading or supporting work on *The Lux Radio Theater*, *Hollywood Star Time*, *The Columbia Workshop*, and *The Family Theater*[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf). On *The Whistler* she played good and evil twins, using a separate microphone for each to keep the two voices distinct[4](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/). She also voiced the mother of [Red Skelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-skelton)'s Mean Widdle Kid[9](https://otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/NARA%20News/NARA%20News%20V24%2002%20Spring96.pdf), and she appeared in the supporting cast of Dick Powell's detective series *Rogue's Gallery* on Mutual beginning in 1945[10](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Old%20Radio%20Times/Old_Radio_Times_124_2023_01.pdf).
## Union work and teaching
Tuttle was one of the AFRA Hollywood chapter's charter members and became its first female president; she was later voted [Woman of the Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/woman-of-the-year) by AFTRA and by the Pasadena Playhouse[8](https://www.radioclassics.com/afras-first-lady-the-career-of-lurene-tuttle/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/).
She also taught. Beginning in the 1940s she coached radio technique, retraining actors returning from World War II service, and after a break for television commitments in the 1950s she returned to teaching acting for the rest of her career. Her students included Red Skelton, Orson Welles, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and [Jayne Meadows](https://www.edgepedia.org/jayne-meadows)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/).
## Film and television
Tuttle's film career spans nearly five decades in the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog, from a small part as a stenographer in *Stand Up and Cheer!* (1934) to *Testament* (1983), with 39 titles listed as cast[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/102629-Lurene-Tuttle). Her credits include Mrs. Chambers in *Psycho* (1960), the title role in *Ma Barker's Killer Brood* (1960), roles in *Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House* (1948) and *The Fortune Cookie* (1966), and Grandma Pusser in the *Walking Tall* films (1973, 1975, 1977)[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/102629-Lurene-Tuttle).
On television she starred as the mother Vinnie Day in *Life with Father* (1953–55), played Doris Dunston in *Father of the Bride* (1961–62), and played the head nurse Hannah Yarby on *Julia* (1968–70)[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf). She was also one of the most active film and television cartoon voice-over actresses, featured in *The NBC Comics* (1950–1956)[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf). She remained active until shortly before her death, appearing in the 1980s in series such as *Murder, She Wrote*, *Trapper John, M.D.*, and *Dynasty*[5](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf).
## Personal life
In 1928 Tuttle married the actor and announcer Melville Ruick, whom she met while both were performing on *Lux Radio Theatre*; they divorced in 1945. Their daughter, [Barbara Ruick](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbara-ruick), was a musical-comedy actress who played Carrie Pipperidge in the film *Carousel* (1956) and died unexpectedly in 1974; Barbara's husband was the composer [John Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-williams). Tuttle later married Frederick Wesley Cole from 1950 to 1956. She was survived by three grandchildren, including the composer and singer Joseph Williams and the drummer Mark Towner Williams[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/) • [8](https://www.radioclassics.com/afras-first-lady-the-career-of-lurene-tuttle/).
## References
1. [Lurene Tuttle – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878354/bio/)
2. [The Great Gildersleeve (Stumf & Ohmart, 2002), World Radio History](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/The-Great-Gildersleeve-Stumf-Ohmart-2002.pdf)
3. [Encyclopedia of American Radio (Lackman, 1996), "Tuttle, Lurene"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Miscellaneous-Encyclopedias/Encyclopedia-of-American-Radio-Lackman-1996.pdf)
4. [Lurene Tuttle, Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://walkoffame.com/lurene-tuttle/)
5. [The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, "Tuttle, Lurene"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf)
6. [Radio Life, January 5, 1947](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC/Archive-Radio-Life/40s/47/Radio-Life-1947-01-05.pdf)
7. [Lurene Tuttle Collection, OTRCat](https://www.otrcat.com/p/lurene-tuttle)
8. [AFRA's First Lady: The Career of Lurene Tuttle, Radio Classics](https://www.radioclassics.com/afras-first-lady-the-career-of-lurene-tuttle/)
9. [NARA News Vol. 24 No. 2 (Spring 1996), OTRR](https://otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/NARA%20News/NARA%20News%20V24%2002%20Spring96.pdf)
10. [Rogue's Gallery, The Old Radio Times No. 124 (2023), OTRR](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Old%20Radio%20Times/Old_Radio_Times_124_2023_01.pdf)
11. [Lurene Tuttle filmography, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/102629-Lurene-Tuttle)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › American actors and actresses › Surnames P to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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