Josephine Sherwood, a talented stage actress, changed her name after marrying stage actor Shelly Hull in 1910. She pursued her passion for drama at Radcliffe College, much to the dismay of her parents. Initially, she worked in a stock company in Boston before her husband passed away in 1919 due to Spanish influenza at the age of 35.
Josephine took a three-year hiatus from the stage but resumed her theatrical career with renewed vigor from 1923. She was known for her short and dumpy stature, as well as her distinctively brittle delivery, which belied her undeniable stage presence and exquisite timing.
On Broadway, Josephine alternated between comedy and drama, delivering memorable performances in various plays. One of her most notable roles was as a member of the balmy Vanderhof family in the 1938 play "You Can't Take It with You," which was later adapted into a film by Frank Capra.
Josephine is most fondly remembered for her iconic performances in two theatrical enactments, which she later reprised on screen. Her first major role was as the sweetly homicidal Abby Brewster in the farce "Arsenic and Old Lace," where she, alongside her sister Martha, sets about poisoning lonely old men with elderberry wine. The play ran on Broadway for three seasons, from 1941 to 1944, and was a massive critical and commercial hit, with 1444 performances.
The resulting 1944 motion picture was equally successful, becoming one of Warner Bros.' three biggest money-making films of the year. Josephine's second major role was that of Veta Louise Simmons, the perpetually befuddled and beleaguered sister of Elwood P. Dowd, in the 1950 play "Harvey." This whimsical play by Mary Chase was an even greater smash hit, with 1775 performances between November 1944 and January 1949.
Josephine reprised her role on screen in 1950 and deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that year. Critic Bosley Crowther praised her performance, stating that she "plays Elwood's sister with such hilarious confusion and daft concern that she brings quite as much to the picture as does Mr. Stewart - or his pal, to be sure...and it would be an unhappy screen version that did not contain her rotund frame, her scatter-brained fussing and fluttering and her angelic gentleness of soul" (New York Times, December 22, 1950).
With a long and illustrious stage career, Josephine Hull's screen career was not particularly prolific, despite her numerous film appearances. She even got to share top billing in the starring role of the theatrical version of "The Solid Gold Cadillac" (1953-55),as Laura Partridge, which was later adapted into a film with Judy Holliday in the lead.
Josephine Sherwood Hull passed away in New York in March 1957, at the age of 80, due to a brain hemorrhage, leaving behind a legacy of unforgettable performances on stage and screen.
