Georgia Backus

Georgia Backus
Georgia Backus in 1930
Born	(1901-10-13)October 13, 1901 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Died	September 7, 1983(1983-09-07) (aged 81) Sun City, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, radio writer, radio director, radio producer

Georgia Belden Backus (October 13, 1901 – September 7, 1983) was an American character actress on stage, radio and screen, and a writer, director and producer of radio dramas. In 1930 she was named dramatic director of the Columbia Broadcasting System, to guide the development of the new art of the radio play. A member of the repertory company presenting Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre radio programs, she played supporting roles in some 30 films during the 1940s and 1950s. Her first screen credit was Citizen Kane (1941), in which she played the severe assistant in the Thatcher library. Her career was ended by the Hollywood blacklist.

Georgia Belden Backus was born October 13, 1901, in Columbus, Ohio, to a theatrical family. She was named for her uncle, George Backus, a light comedic actor who performed in Florenz Ziegfeld's original stage production of Way Down East. She earned a place in a local stock company at the age of 14. She attended Smith College, and as a student at Ohio State University she toured the state as leading lady and manager of the campus dramatic society. After she received her diploma she chose a career in the theatre.

While living in New York Backus worked in stock theatre and on the Broadway stage, and began to write plays and short stories. She was soon acting, writing and directing for radio. In 1930 CBS put Backus in charge of all of the network's dramatic presentations, to guide the development of the new art of the radio play. She put together an innovative team and announced three experimental dramas, beginning with Behind the Words: A Drama of Thoughts (December 26, 1930). She then directed a series titled The Columbia Experimental Dramatic Laboratory (1931–32), which would lay the foundation for the historic dramatic series, the Columbia Workshop. She was also an audition director for The March of Time and was a member of the show's prestigious ensemble cast. Backus was regularly featured on Arabesque,Brenthouse,The Eno Crime Club and The Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre