Margaret Irving (January 18, 1898 – March 5, 1988) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered today for her roles as Aunt Gus in the 1950s sitcom The People's Choice and as Mrs. Whitehead in Animal Crackers (1930) starring the Marx Brothers, a role she originated on the Broadway stage.
Biography
Margaret Irving was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 18, 1898. In 1917 she portrayed Lady of Dreams in the Broadway musical Jack O'Lantern at the Globe Theatre; a work created by Ivan Caryll, Anne Caldwell and R. H. Burnside. After this she worked for Florence Ziegfeld on Broadway in the revues Ziegfeld Follies of 1919 and Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 before appearing in Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue during the 1921-1922 and 1922-1923 seasons at the Music Box Theatre. This was followed by the role of June in William B. Friedlander and Con Conrad's Mercenary Mary (1925, Longacre Theatre); a show which lasted less than four months.
Irving created the role of Clementina in Sigmund Romberg's hit musical The Desert Song which had a long Broadway run at the Casino Theatre in 1926-1927. The production then transferred to first the Century Theatre (1927) and then the Imperial Theatre (1927-1928) for a collective run of 471 performances. This was followed by the role of Mrs. Whitehead in Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby's musical Animal Crackers which had a successful run at the 44th Street Theatre with a cast led by the four Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont. Irving reprised this role in the 1930 sound film adaptation of this show; having previously worked as a silent film actress in the pictures Radio-Mania (1922) and The Broadway Boob (1926).
During the 1930s Irving worked more often in film than on the stage. Some of her film credits during this decade included Sheer Luck (1931), Thanks a Million (1935), San Francisco (1936), Captain Calamity (1936), Follow Your Heart (1936), Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), and Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939). In 1939 she returned to the stage as Marguerite Worms in the play Where There's a Will at Broadway's John Golden Theatre. This was followed by multiple roles in the musical revue The Streets of Paris which ran at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1939-1940. In the 1940-1941 Broadway season she portrayed Sierra in E. Y. Harburg and Burton Lane's musical Hold On to Your Hats at the Shubert Theatre. Her final Broadway roles were Mrs. Warren in Harold Orlob's Hairpin Harmony (1943) and Gail in Anita Loos's Happy Birthday (1946). She also made a few films in the 1940s, including In Society (1944) and The Beautiful Cheat (1945). Her final film was Ain't Misbehavin' (1955).
She was married to William Frederick James. She died on March 5, 1988 in Westminster, California, at the age of 90.