Although Jane Wyatt had a hit with Lost Horizon in 1937, she hadn’t yet achieved her greatest fame when she appeared at the Historic Elitch Theatre as the leading lady for the 1939 season (opposite Donald Woods).
In an interview with the Denver Post, Wyatt was quoted as saying: “I could almost feel the presence of the famous stage people who have trod the boards (of that marvelous playhouse)..and I know I’m going to love it!” (Quote from Denver’s Historic Elitch Theatre by Theodore A. Borrillo.)
If you’re keeping track of the TV Moms that we’ve featured, Wyatt is a double-whammy: she was both the mother on Father Knows Best, as well as Spock’s mother on Star Trek! (See previous posts for Marion Ross, Karen Grassle, Michael Learned, Nancy Walker, Nancy Dussault, and even Cloris Leachman for a recent TV Mom!)
Jane Wyatt arrived in Denver for the Historic Elitch Theatre’s 1939 season already a name to watch, having scored a hit two years earlier with Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon. Yet her greatest fame — as one of television’s most beloved mothers — was still ahead of her when she signed on as the Gardens’ leading lady, sharing the marquee with fellow star Donald Woods. Speaking to the Denver Post about the historic playhouse, Wyatt captured the reverence so many performers felt for the stage, saying she could almost sense the presence of the legendary actors who had performed there before her, and that she knew she was going to love it.
At Elitch, Wyatt anchored a strong resident company through a demanding ten-play summer season, appearing alongside Donald Woods, Helen Bonfils, Jan Sterling, and others under the direction of George Somnes. The season’s undisputed highlight was Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town, a groundbreaking, almost prop-free production that transformed the Gardens playhouse into the fictional Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. Wyatt also took the stage in works ranging from romantic comedy to melodrama to the courtroom thriller Payment Deferred, the kind of season-long range that was the hallmark of Elitch’s summer stock tradition.
Wyatt’s path to Denver began on the New York stage and in Hollywood, where she’d made her film debut in 1934’s One More River before her star-making turn in Lost Horizon. After her Elitch season, she went on to a long and celebrated career spanning film, radio, and television, becoming one of the defining actresses of the golden age of American TV. She is remembered above all for two iconic television mothers: Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best, a role that earned her three consecutive Emmy Awards, and Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock, on Star Trek. Her Elitch season stands as a vivid snapshot of a major star at a pivotal early moment in a career that would soon make her a fixture in American living rooms for decades.
Seasons at the Theatre
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- Leading Lady, Elitch Theatre Resident Company, 1939 season
- The Lady Has a Heart (week of June 24, 1939)
- Bachelor Born (week of July 2, 1939)
- Michael and Mary (week of July 9, 1939)
- Payment Deferred (week of July 16, 1939)
- Susan and God (week of July 23, 1939)
- Our Town (week of July 30, 1939), by Thornton Wilder
- I Loved You Wednesday (week of Aug. 6, 1939)
- Whiteoaks (week of Aug. 13, 1939)
- The Brown Danube (week of Aug. 20, 1939)
- Springtime for Henry (week of Aug. 27, 1939)
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Film debut in One More River (1934)
- Starred opposite Ronald Colman in Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon (1937), her most celebrated film role
- Additional film credits include Gentleman’s Agreement, None but the Lonely Heart, Boomerang, Our Very Own, Pitfall, House by the River, Canadian Pacific, and Task Force
- Played Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best (1954–1960), winning three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1958, 1959, 1960)
- Played Amanda Grayson, Spock’s mother, in Star Trek‘s “Journey to Babel” (1967) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Recurring role as Katherine Auschlander on the medical drama St. Elsewhere in the 1980s
- Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960)
- Outspoken opponent of Senator Joseph McCarthy during the McCarthy era, a stance that affected her film career at the time.
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- Appeared on Star Trek with Alum, William Shatner.
- Co-starred with fellow Elitch alum Farley Granger (1978) in the film Our Very Own (1950)
- Wyatt was Rose Hobart’s understudy in “Trade Winds” on Broadway.
- In 1951 Wyatt appeared on Broadway in The Autumn Garden, with alums: Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, and Kent Smith.
Wikipedia Link:
