Florence Bates Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Florence Bates (April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films. Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies. She graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Mathematics in 1906, after which she taught school. In 1909 she met and married her first husband and gave up her career to raise their daughter. When her marriage ended in divorce, she began to study law... MORE

Florence Bates (April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films. Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies. She graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Mathematics in 1906, after which she taught school. In 1909 she met and married her first husband and gave up her career to raise their daughter. When her marriage ended in divorce, she began to study law and passed the bar in 1914, becoming at the age of 26 the first female attorney in her home state. After the death of her parents, Bates left the legal profession to help her sister operate their father's antique business. She became a bilingual radio commentator whose program was designed to foster good relations between the United States and Mexico. In 1929, she closed the antique shop and married wealthy oil baron William F. Jacoby. When he lost his fortune, the couple moved to Los Angeles and opened a bakery. In the mid-1930s, Bates auditioned for and won the role of Miss Bates in a Pasadena LESS