Feisty, ebullient character comedienne who, for three decades, enlivened Hollywood films with her drollery and quick-fire repartee. The daughter of a newspaper editor and music critic, Ruth made her stage debut in the chorus of the touring production 'The Quaker Girl' in 1913. Four years later, she had made it to Broadway, playing a telephone operator in 'The Scrap of Paper' at the Criterion Theatre. She then appeared for ten months in the musical farce 'Going Up' (1917-18), which starred Frank Craven and a young Ed Begley. Some of her biggest comic successes were in plays by George M. Cohan, notably 'A Prince There Was' (1918-19) and 'The Meanest Man in the World' (1920-21).
Ruth appeared on screen, first in a small part in Rubber Heels (1927). Not until the Wall Street crash of 1929 was she tempted to pursue a career in Hollywood, rather than on Broadway. For most of her time in the movies, she played acidulous secretaries, wisecracking friends of the heroine, or shrewish wives. She gave excellent support as Mary Brian's domineering mother in Hard to Handle (1933) and was excellent as Edward G. Robinson's wife in the Runyonesque comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938). There were many other good roles as comedy relief from Hands Across the Table (1935), with Carole Lombard to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936),with Gary Cooper); and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939),with James Stewart.. She was versatile enough to handle dramatic roles, playing a worldly nun in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and one of the asylum inmates of The Snake Pit (1948).
Except for a handful of TV guest appearances, Ruth essentially retired after her last film, The Way to the Gold (1957), and lived for the remainder of her life at the Wellington Hotel in Manhattan. She was for many years married to Basil de Guichard, an airline executive.
Torill and Olav Tofte have been on stage together since 1988. In 1994 they started the band “Don’t mess with Alice”, which was changed to “Tofte” in 2001, playing mostly Olav’s songs – a mix of acoustic ballads and -70’s southern outlaw. They played in bars, clubs, larger events and country festivals in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
Their songs “Living man”, “Down by the river” and “The one to pay” were released by 4 indie labels in the US - The Country Gazette, Comstock Records, Nite Sky Records and Hill Topper Records. Which lead to air play in the US, Australia, New Zealand and 10 European countries.
They have also participated in 2 Norwegian compilation CD’s, have released 3 Maxi single CD’s and 1 CD production between 1994 and 2006. They have had the opportunity to work with some of the best country musicians in Norway. In this period they also played at the same festivals in Norway as Willie Nelson, Marty Stewart, Paul Overstreet, Hal Ketchum and Steve Earle.
They also happened to meet Scotty Moore (RIP), Elvis’s first guitar player, who became a good friend after several meetings in Norway and Nashville. He liked Torill’s voice a lot. At the end of 2006 the couple decided to take break from the music business.
Ten years after… Torill and Olav, their daughter Pernille, their son in law, and 3 other musicians released a CD with 3 psalms and 7 of Olav’s new songs in 2016.
The family band Tofte did several concerts. From Norwegian Americana Forums arrangements, via cultural- and charity arrangements, to church concerts.
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In September 2017 Torill and Olav recorded 3 of Olav’s songs at the 515 studio in Nashville – “The star”, “Answered prayers” and “Pray, work and stand tall”. They got great assistance from Erik Halbig – guitars, lap steel, mandolin, banjo (Lonestar, Mavericks, Tanya Tucker, Sugarland, Collin Rae), Jay Weaver - bass (Dolly Parton, Mavericks), Tim Grogan - drums (Desert Rose Band, Tanya Tucker) and Billy Nobel – organ, piano (Tim McGraw).
The songs were made digital available in December 2017 to July 2018 on Spotify, iTunes, Wimp/Tidal, and others. The band did several concerts.
“The star” was promoted in 2018 by NiteSky Records, USA. The band did several concerts.
During the autumn of 2019 Tofte signed up with the record label FAJo Music, Norway who will release their new album in 2020. And a new promotion deal with NiteSky Records, USA with the song “Answered Prayers”. The most spectacular concert for Torill, Pernille and Olav this year is probably the mini concert in Kilgoris, Kenya, where they visited children in schools
Hey ASCAP friends,
Hope you had a great summer and are well on your way to making your 2019 music goals come true!! It's not too late to finish the year strong! Keep going!
Did you miss out on the chance to enter the Music City SongStar Spring 2019 contest? Want a chance to win cash, prizes and the chance to play in our Music City SongStar Awards show? Good news! We've got the perfect opportunity!
Announcing our Fall 2019 Music City SongStar contest. Pick out one of your favorite original songs or one you've been working on, grab a discount code, then Click Here to enter! Each song entry will receive a detailed song evaluation, in addition to the chance to win cash and prizes.
Check out our website for some great blog posts as well as testimonials from our past winners. Also, be sure to watch the Foxhedge Sessions interviews with some of Nashville's top writers!
A US police officer who shot dead a black woman in her bedroom on Saturday has been charged with murder.
Police in Fort Worth, Texas arrested Aaron Dean and detained him briefly before releasing him on bail. On Monday police chief Ed Kraus told reporters Mr Dean had resigned from the force.
Atatiana Jefferson was killed after two officers responded to a non-emergency call from her neighbour.
Body cam footage showed an officer shooting within seconds of seeing her.
The man who called police, James Smith, 62, said he was trying to be a good neighbour after noticing Ms Jefferson's front door was open and her lights were on.
"If I had never dialled the police department, she'd still be alive." Mr Smith told local media. "It makes you not want to call the police."
Allegations of police brutality in black communities have been a longstanding issue in the US.
APACHE JUNCTION AZ (IFS) -- Another gutless white racist police officer of Texas proves once again that they are very incapable of doing their jobs, and they are scared of their own shadows. It's the same old song from these punk-ass bitches, "I was in fear of my life". It's the next best justification next to "He's got a gun." It's all about black genocide, and these racist cops prove it day after day. They need to get another job if they are so scared to get out on patrol.
Even a small mouse that you back into a corner is going to fight back. Black American when are you going to get these killings of our citizens under control? The law is the problem. They are the antagonist.
They are killers with guns, and they use any and every excuse to draw their guns and kill us. The law is not on our side. Everyone knows that this case is going to be like every other case --the cops go free or given a slap on the wrist, and they get another job in another town in the state. This is a cancer, and it is killing us.
They murder our kids, our unarmed sons, and daughters and we do nothing. We are not to take the law into our hands -- this is the rope around our necks as they use the law, a badge and a gun to kill innocence persons, who have done nothing.
As it stands now, a person of color can not leave their lights on, they can't leave their doors open, they can't enjoy their own homes without the police making fatal decisions because -- they are in fear of their lives. - KHS
“They murdered this woman”: Texans outraged after an officer shoots a black woman in her own home P.R. Lockhart 3 hrs ago
A black woman was fatally shot in her home Saturday after a Fort Worth, Texas police officer fired into a bedroom window while performing a welfare check at her residence, sparking outrage and calls for police accountability in a community whose trust in law enforcement had already been shaken by other police shootings and the death of Botham Jean in nearby Dallas.
At around 2 am local time on October 12, a neighbor of 28-year-old Atatiana Koquice Jefferson called a non-emergency hotline, saying that he was concerned about an open door at the woman’s residence and wanted to make sure she was okay. According to a statement released by the Fort Worth Police Department, officers arrived at the home at around 2:25 am, and after seeing the open door, walked around the perimeter of the residence.
The department said that while doing so, officers saw a person inside standing near a window. “Perceiving a threat the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” police said.
That person was Jefferson, who was shot while standing in a bedroom. After firing, officers entered the home and began providing emergency aid, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The department released body camera footage of the shooting on Saturday, showing what happened outside of Jefferson’s home, as well as the residence itself, which had a door open and the lights on inside.
The video shows two officers walking around the outside of Jefferson’s home, looking into screen doors before walking into the backyard. Moving towards a closed window on the first floor, one of the officers quickly points a flashlight at it before drawing his weapon. He then yells, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” before firing a shot less than a second later.
At no point in the released video do the men clearly identify themselves as police officers.In addition to the statement and the body camera video, the police department also released edited footage of a firearm officers said they found at the residence, but did not offer any additional information about where Jefferson was in relation to it or if the weapon was ever visible to the officers.
Texas is an open carry state, and state residents are allowed to possess and carry firearms with few exceptions.The officer who shot Jefferson was not named by the police statement. The agency did say that he is a “white male who has been with the department since April of 2018.” The unnamed officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
Body camera footage and the results of the investigation will be handed over to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, which will decide if the officer will face any charges.The shooting has left Fort-Worth’s black residents devastatedJefferson’s shooting, which is the seventh local police shooting involving a civilian since June 1 according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has left the area’s black residents angered and confused.
Community members say that the shooting proves that they cannot call the police for assistance.“The Fort Worth police murdered this woman. They murdered this woman in her own house,” said Rev. Michael Bell, a local pastor who joined a group of community leaders for a Saturday press conference. “And now, African Americans, we have no recourse.
If we call the police, they will come and kill us. And we know that.”A similar fear was echoed by James Smith, the neighbor of Jefferson’s who called police after noticing the open door and lights at her home, saying that he was concerned about Jefferson and her 8-year old nephew, who also lived at the residence.
“I’m shaken. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I feel it’s partly my fault,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Saturday. “If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive.”“I don’t know what went on in the house, but I know that she wasn’t a threat,” he added.
Jack Howland✔@JHowl04 · Oct 12, 2019Replying to @JHowl04Smith was standing outside of the East Allen Avenue home a little after 9 a.m. Saturday along with Pastor @KyevTatum, a community activist. He admitted he was wrestling with his feelings, saying, "If I had never dialed the police department, she'd still be alive."
Jack Howland✔@JHowl04Here's Smith describing why he decided to call a non-emergency police number around 2 a.m. Saturday: 7,8119:37 AM - Oct 12, 2019
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The shooting of Jefferson, who was born in Dallas and graduated from Xavier University in Louisiana according to her Facebook page, has quickly drawn comparisons to the 2018 shooting of Botham Jean, a 26-year old black man fatally shot by former off-duty Dallas officer Amber Guyger as he ate ice cream in his apartment.
