Spring Byington

For over 30 years, Spring Byington balanced a prolific stage and radio career with strong supporting roles in film and television. She took up acting at a young age, and by 1910 she had joined a repertory company and embarked on a tour of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She married the theater company's manager and lived abroad for eight years before returning to New York in 1920.

There she honed her comedic skills in numerous Broadway plays, and in 1930 she made her film debut in the short Christmas comedy "Papa's Slay Ride." Her next role, as the kindhearted Marmee in the critically acclaimed adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel "Little Women," became a stock character for the well-liked actress.

Byington was a key player in many MGM films of the '30s and '40s, and appeared as the good-natured family matriarch in the popular "Jones family" series of comedies. In 1938, she garnered critical praise for her role as the eccentric Penny Sycamore in the award-winning romantic comedy "You Can't Take It with You."

After turning in memorable performances as a stuffy mother in the fantasy romance "Heaven Can Wait" and as a sweet-faced con artist in the Gene Tierney comedy "Rings on Her Fingers," Byington was cast as the perky widow Lily Ruskin in the TV sitcom "December Bride," based on her popular radio serial, which aired for five seasons.

Byington later appeared as kindly homemaker Daisy Cooper on the primetime Western series "Laramie".