1931 – Linda Watkins Who Gave Up A Promising Film Career at Age 24

If you have never heard the name of Linda Watkins, you can easily be forgiven. But you might recognize her face with appearances in many television programs and a few movies from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Heralded to become a major star with a very strong performance in her 1931 film debut, Sob Sister, Watkins then made only five more films before taking a 17 year screen hiatus.

Private Schools and Debutante

Watkins was raised in New York but born in Boston on May 23, 1908 while her parents were temporarily there. Watkins was educated in private schools and led a debutante lifestyle. But, wanting a career and the ability to earn her own way, she attended Barnard College. She soon started training with The Theater Guild at the age of 16.  Her first role was starring in The Devil in the Cheese opening on December 29, 1926. Playing opposite Fredric March, the show was a hit and also featured Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye in the cast.

A string of shows followed with Watkins receiving strong notices for: The Ivory Door (1927); The Wild Duck (1928); Trapped (1928);  Hedda Gabler (1929); The Lady From The Sea (1929);  June Moon (1929); Sweet Stranger (1930); Midnight (1930); and In The Meantime (1931).

Who Does She Compare To?

Watkins was described by The Boston Daily Globe as an “amazing young woman who combines the social assurance and languid ease of Miriam Hopkins and magnetism of Helen Hayes.” By April 1931 the inevitable happened and Watkins was signed to a Hollywood contract by Fox Films.

After viewing Sob Sister the trade paper Hollywood Reporter said Watkins was “a real find” and “one of the most intriguing screen personalities,” calling her “a blonde cross between Sylvia Sidney and Kay Francis.”

Watkins attitude towards films was cynical. She believed some of the actors could write far better dialogue instead of the lines they were given to recite. After her second film Good Sport, Watkins remarked, “Sometimes I had to stop the rehearsals and say society women don’t actually speak like that.” Rather than argue Watkins would go along with the inanity. But she added, “I would like to make just one picture –  with a marvelous story, an intelligent, sympathetic director and a really grand salary. Then I’d be content to return to the stage and stay there the rest of my life.”

Watkins quickly made a total of six films released between 1931 and 1933. Then fate intervened.

Tragedy Leads To Wedlock

Watkins best friend dancer Katherine Hawley Hess was thrown from a horse and died from a fractured skull on April 26, 1931 at the age of 27. On January 28, 1932, Linda Watkins married Hawley’s husband, attorney for Will Hays and the Motion Picture Producers, Gabriel Hess.

Immediately Watkins ended her Fox contract, settling for just $2,000 of the remaining $6,500 owed to her. She had only been making films for little more than a year.

Watkins declared she despised films and would devote herself to being a wife and having a family.  Her son Adam Hess was born October 25, 1932.

Within two years of abandoning films, Watkins felt the pull of the footlights and started appearing in plays again.

Balancing Marriage and Career

Confiding to reporter Nancy Archibald in 1938, Watkins said she realized a career is essential in a woman’s life.  “My husband and my little boy absorb my interest,” she said, “but there was so much time that hung empty and gave me the jitters, I missed the grueling hours of rehearsal. And so I returned to the stage, fearful at first I’d forgotten my technique. After a few shows, my nerves quieted down and I am completely content.”

Watkins explained, “Of course, a career and marriage do not always work out. It depends on the individual problem. My husband enjoys being at home rather than going about places every single evening so that he doesn’t miss my companionship during the hours of performance as much as someone of a more restless temperament might. Later I expect my little boy will demand much more of my time. At present I have the luck of having a nurse who follows the regime I plan implicitly, and both the boy’s father and grandmother keep a sharp eye on him when I must be away … but this is a long way from how to break into the theater.”

Back To Broadway

Watkins resumed her stage career in 1933. But she had some regrets about taking the break from the stage to make motion pictures and have a baby.

“Oh when I think of the parts I refused then…I’d give anything to have them offered now.”

From 1933 -1938 Watkins starred in eight roles on Broadway.

Husband Gabe Hess died suddenly in New York on April 14, 1940 at the age of 59. His body was cremated. Watkins stepped aside from the stage to raise their son Adam. With motherhood taking priority, Watkins starred in only one other Broadway production, Janie which had a long run from 1942-44.

Back To The Big Screen & The Small

With her son grown, Watkins returned to entertainment with a 1950 television appearance on The Billy Rose Show. Watkins came back full force seven years later appearing in television shows, and feature films including Ten North Frederick (1958) Cash McCall (1960); Because They’re Young (1960); Good Neighbor Sam (1964) and most notably The Parent Trap (1961). From 1957 until the early 1970’s, Watkins could be seen as a guest star in a wide variety of television programs including: Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Perry Mason; Peter Gunn; Dr. Kildare; The Untouchables; 77 Sunset Strip; Hazel; Route 66; The Munsters; My Three Sons; Bonanza; Ironside; Gunsmoke; Emergency!; McMillan and Wife and dozens of other shows.

Watkins’ son Adam Hess, an attorney for Aetna died at the age of 36 in 1969 from injuries suffered in a car accident.

Linda Watkins died at the age of 68 in Santa Monica, CA October 31, 1976. She was interred next to her son Adam at Wethersfield Village Cemetery in Connecticut.