Ilka Chase (April 8, 1905 – February 15, 1978) was an American actress, radio host, and novelist whose career spanned stage, film, and television. Born into a well-known New York family, she made her stage debut as a child and later became a familiar face on Broadway and in films. Chase also played a significant role in early radio and television, hosting several programs that reached a broad audience. Her memoirs and novels provide valuable insights into American culture during the mid-twentieth century, making her a subject of lasting interest for both readers and scholars.
Early life
Chase was born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France. She was the only child of Francis Dane Chase, a merchant mariner who became a dry goods salesman and then the general manager of New York's Hotel Colonial, and Edna Woolman Chase (ne Allaway). Her mother, who became the editor-in-chief of Vogue, described Chase's father, whom she married in 1902, as "a lovable, good-looking, irresponsible young man from Boston. His father had been a banker, and depending on when you met them, the family had money." After her parents' divorce, her father married artist Theodora Larsh. Her mother married engineer Richard Newton.
Chase made her stage debut at the age of eight in a convent-school production of Puss in Boots. After graduating from France's Château de Groslay boarding school, Chase made her society debut in December 1923 at a celebrity-studded banquet hosted by Edna at the Cosmopolitan Club in New York City. The 250 guests included Edna's employer, Condé Nast, Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Frank Crowninshield, and future Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Carmel Snow.
Career
Stage
Chase's Broadway debut occurred in 1924 in The Red Falcon. Her stage appearances included roles in Days Without End, Forsaking All Others, While Parents Sleep, Small Miracle, On to Fortune, Tampico, Co-Respondent Unknown, Keep Off the Grass, and In Bed We Cry, an adaptation of her novel of the same name. She was in the original Broadway cast of Clare Boothe Luce's play The Women (1938), and many years later appeared in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Barefoot in the Park.
Films
Her films included Fast and Loose (1930), The Animal Kingdom (1932), Now, Voyager (1942), Once a Sinner (1950), and The Big Knife (1955). Her last motion picture was in Ocean's 11 (1960) as Mrs. Restes.
Radio
In the early 1940s, Chase was the hostess for Penthouse Party on CBS and Luncheon Date With Ilka Chase, on NBC Red. For several years, she hosted the radio program Luncheon at the Waldorf.
Television
Chase became host of Fashion Magic on WCAU television in late 1950. The half-hour show was broadcast on Monday and Friday afternoons. She appeared as a panelist on several programs in the early years of television, including Celebrity Time (1949–50), Who Said That? (1950–55), and Masquerade Party (1952–56). She also hosted the CBS TV series Fashion Magic (1950–51).
In 1957, Chase performed the role of the Stepmother in the television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which starred Julie Andrews. In 1963, she made a rare television sitcom appearance as Aunt Pauline on The Patty Duke Show.
Chase was a regular in The Trials of O'Brien on CBS in the mid-1960s.
Writing
Her novel In Bed We Cry appeared in 1943 and was adapted for the stage, with Chase in the leading role.
Her autobiography Past Imperfect (volume I), in which she wrote, "Those who never fail are those who never try," was published in 1942, and Free Admission (volume II) was published in 1948. She also wrote more than a dozen other books, including The Care and Feeding of Friends, a guide to lighthearted entertaining with over 80 recipes and 20 menus.
Among her other books are several travel books which recount her adventures while traveling around the world with her husband Dr. Norton Brown.
Personal life
Chase was married three times, first to stage and movie actor Louis Calhern. The couple met while performing in summer stock with the George Cukor Company in Rochester, New York, married in June 1926, and divorced six months later, in February 1927.
She next wed William Buckley Murray, a former music critic of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle and onetime executive of NBC, in Greenwich, Connecticut, on 13 July 1935. Murray also had been a concert manager for the Baldwin Piano Company and became the head of radio and television at the William Morris Agency. In 1932, Chase and Murray had adapted We Are No Longer Children, a play by French playwright Leopold Marchand. From this marriage, she had one stepson, William Buckley Murray Jr. Murray's only child by his previous wife, Natalia Danesi, an opera singer. William Jr., later became a crime novelist and writer for The New Yorker. Ilka and William Sr., were divorced in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 4 December 1946.
Three days later, on 7 December 1946, she married Norton Sager Brown, a physician, in Las Vegas. Chase and Brown had divorced their spouses so they could marry one-another. They remained married until her death in 1978. From this marriage, Chase had a stepson, James Brown.
Death
Chase died of internal hemorrhaging on February 15, 1978, in Mexico City, Mexico. She was 72. She was buried beside her mother in Locust Valley Cemetery on Long Island, New York.
Personal papers
Chase's personal papers, as well as those of her mother, are in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library.
Filmography
Bibliography
Novels
- Chase, Ilka (1943). In Bed We Cry.
- Chase, Ilka (1946). I love Miss Tilli Bean.
- Chase, Ilka (1951). New York 22.
- Chase, Ilka (1956). The Island Players.
- Chase, Ilka (1960). Three Men on the Left Hand.
- Chase, Ilka (1976). Dear Intruder: A novel about an indiscretion.
Non-fiction
- Chase, Ilka. The Care and Feeding of Friends.
Memoirs
- Chase, Ilka (1942). Past Imperfect.
- — (1948). Free Admission.
Travel Books
- Chase, Ilka (1961). The Carthaginian Rose.
- Chase, Ilka (1963). Elephants arrive at half-past five.
- Chase, Ilka (1966). Second Spring and Two Potatoes.
- Chase, Ilka (1967). Fresh From The Laundry.
- Chase, Ilka (1969). The Varied Airs of Spring, Chase.
- Chase, Ilka (1970). Around the World and Other Places, Chase.
Essays and reporting
- Chase, Ilka (1953). "It was good enough for Father". In Birmingham, Frederic A. (ed.). The Girls from Esquire. London: Arthur Barker. pp. 129–135.
Critical studies and reviews of Chase's work
- In Bed We Cry
- Wylie, Philip (November 7, 1943). "Gleanings from the Crop of Fall Novels : Cafe Society Amours". The New York Times.
References
External links
- Ilka Chase at IMDb
- Ilka Chase at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ilka Chase at Find a Grave
- Ilka Chase papers, 1850-1977 bulk (1916-1977), held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- Photographic portraits of Ilka Chase by Cecil Beaton, Arnold Genthe, Man Ray, and Edward Steichen, 1925-1930s, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
