Blanche Yurka (born Blanch Jurka, June , â€" June , ) was an American
stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with
minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage
actress, making her Broadway debut in and established herself as a
character actor of the classical stage, also appearing in several
films of the s and s.In addition to her many stage roles, which
included Queen Gertrude opposite John Barrymore's Hamlet, she was an
occasional director and playwright. She remained active in theater and
film until the late s. Her most famous film role was Madame Defarge in
MGM's version of A Tale of Two Cities (), but she was also the
compassionate aunt in The Song of Bernadette (). Another memorable
role was as Zachary Scott's widowed mother in The Southerner ().Born
Blanch Jurka, apparently in St. Paul, Minnesota, she was the fourth of
five children of KarolÃna and AntonÃn Jurka, ethnic Hungarian Roman
Catholic emigrants from Bohemia. Her father was a teacher and
librarian. She inherited her father's artistic and scholarly
interests, including a love of music and acting. She finished grade
school before her father lost his job teaching Czech language at the
Jefferson School in St. Paul. He found a new position with the Czech
Benevolent Society in New York and moved the family to the Upper East
Side of Manhattan in .
stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with
minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage
actress, making her Broadway debut in and established herself as a
character actor of the classical stage, also appearing in several
films of the s and s.In addition to her many stage roles, which
included Queen Gertrude opposite John Barrymore's Hamlet, she was an
occasional director and playwright. She remained active in theater and
film until the late s. Her most famous film role was Madame Defarge in
MGM's version of A Tale of Two Cities (), but she was also the
compassionate aunt in The Song of Bernadette (). Another memorable
role was as Zachary Scott's widowed mother in The Southerner ().Born
Blanch Jurka, apparently in St. Paul, Minnesota, she was the fourth of
five children of KarolÃna and AntonÃn Jurka, ethnic Hungarian Roman
Catholic emigrants from Bohemia. Her father was a teacher and
librarian. She inherited her father's artistic and scholarly
interests, including a love of music and acting. She finished grade
school before her father lost his job teaching Czech language at the
Jefferson School in St. Paul. He found a new position with the Czech
Benevolent Society in New York and moved the family to the Upper East
Side of Manhattan in .
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