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Esther Howard (4 April 1892–8 March 1965) was a film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in over 100 movies in her 23-year film career. Esther Howard was born in Helena, Montana in 1892, and she made her Broadway debut in 1917, in a play called Eve's Daughter, which was not a success. Nevertheless, Howard continued to appear regularly on the Great White Way for the next twelve years, performing in comedies and musicals until 1929, when she was featured in The New Moon, a Sigmund Romberg musical, which was... MORE

Esther Howard (4 April 1892–8 March 1965) was a film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in over 100 movies in her 23-year film career. Esther Howard was born in Helena, Montana in 1892, and she made her Broadway debut in 1917, in a play called Eve's Daughter, which was not a success. Nevertheless, Howard continued to appear regularly on the Great White Way for the next twelve years, performing in comedies and musicals until 1929, when she was featured in The New Moon, a Sigmund Romberg musical, which was her final Broadway production. In 1930, Howard changed her focus to making movies, appearing in a Vitaphone comedy short, The Victim. From that point until her retirement in 1952, Howard worked regularly – a least one film she appeared in was released every year, and usually more. She was often cast as an oversexed dowager or a decrepit old hag, and was known for her versatility and expressive face. Notable among her many roles were "Mrs. Stillman" in 1933's The Iron Master, "Jessie Florian" in Raymond Chandler's Murder My Sweet with Dick Powell (1944), a murderess in Laurel and Hardy's The Big LESS