Hester Sondergaard

Hester Sondergaard (July 5, 1903 – February 26, 1994)^[1] was an American actress.

Hester Sondergaard
Sondergaard in Jigsaw (1949)
Born	(1903-07-05)July 5, 1903 Litchfield, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	February 26, 1994(1994-02-26) (aged 90) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	Hugh De Lacy ​ (after 1949)​
Relatives	Gale Sondergaard (sister)

Early years

Born in Litchfield, Minnesota,^[2] Sondergaard was the daughter of Hans T. Søndergaard, a dairy instructor at a university, and the sister of actress Gale Sondergaard.^[3] When she was a child, she played violin with Midwestern Chautauqua companies.^[2] She attended the University of Minnesota,^[4] where she was active in productions of the Masquers Club.^[3]

Career

Sondergaard's first professional speaking part came in 1924.^[3] After college, she acted with the Wisconsin Players and in venues that included the Civic Repertory Theater in New York.^[4] Her Broadway credits include Galileo (1947), My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), Marching Song (1937), Bitter Stream (1936), Mother (1935), and Black Pit (1935).^[5]

On radio, Sondergaard was an organizer of The American School of the Air.^[4] She also acted on Portia Faces Life, Road of Life, Wendy Warren and the News,^[2] and We Love and Learn.^[6] An article in the December 1949 issue of Radio and Television Mirror magazine described Sondergaard as having "one of the largest repertories [sic] of dialects of any actress", being able to sound authentic in roles using any of 11 accents.^[2]

Sondergaard taught dramatics at the Dramatic School of New York.^[4]

Personal life

In 1949, Sondergaard married politician Hugh De Lacy.^[7]