Biography
Ruth Hale thought of herself as predominantly a writer, and she wrote over 70 plays, but she was better known as an actress and a theater owner. She and her husband Nathan founded community theaters in California, Utah, and Arizona; their children and grandchildren continue the family legacy to this day.
After studying at the University of Utah for two years, Ruth taught school until she was 19 years old, then left for a religious mission in the eastern United States for the LDS (Mormon) Church. Upon her return to return to Utah, she met and married Nathan Hale , and they were asked to be drama leaders in their ward (Mormon congregation). They began writing their own plays to avoid paying royalties and for 8 years they toured around the Salt Lake Valley appearing in their plays. But Nathan was not happy with his job at Utah Copper, so Ruth suggested that he might be able to break into movies because of the shortage of leading men in Hollywood during WWII. They moved to southern California in 1943 and Nathan took a job as a milkman so he would be available for acting work during the days and evenings. He appeared with the Altadena Players at the Pasadena Playhouse and Ruth continued to write plays, selling some of them at $100 each. In 1946 the Hales participated in the production of two films about the Mormon welfare program, with a team assembled by Judge Whitaker. This was the real start of film production within the Mormon Church.
With other film work not materializing, the Hales opened the 125-seat Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale, California in 1947. They soon moved and expanded when they found success, partly because they were staging plays free of profanity and illicit love affairs. This led to bookings of entire performances by church groups of various denominations. The Hales' children found themselves cast in productions, and maneuvering through their home as stage requirements routinely changed their furniture. Ruth drew from her personal experiences for her writings; "Lilacs in the Rain" was based on a young man who had wanted to marry her before she left on her mission, and "Thank You Papa" was about her life with her feisty English father. Several actors would get their start at the Hales' theater, including Gordon Jump, Mike Farrell, Connie Stevens, Richard Hatch, and Melissa Gilbert.
As they had done with plays, the Hales initiated their own film work and produced three Mormon-themed films from 1955 to 1957, assisted by their nephew William Hale and many members of the Glendale West Ward. The first, "Choice Land," was a 20-minute film about America, with many Book of Mormon scenes, including Lehi leaving Jerusalem (shot in the desert) and Jaredites. The earthquake that leveled Zarahemla at the time of Christ's crucifixion was shot using a model of the city on a ping-pong table. The Pilgrims were shot wading knee-deep in snow at Mt. Wilson. "Oliver Cowdery" was filmed for $2,500 with a 10-minute court scene rehearsed and shot in one evening. A third film was titled "Is Fast Day a Headache?"
The Hales and their six children would go on to appear in one or more films produced for use by The Mormon Church. Ruth wrote the story for the controversial 'Til Death Do Us Part (1960), in which daughter Sherry played a young woman contemplating an interfaith marriage. In 1983 the Hales retired to Utah, leaving their daughter Sandra and her husband running the theater. Soon bored, they decided to open the Salt Lake Hale Center Theater with other family members; Hale Center theaters were subsequently opened elsewhere.
Starting the year Nathan died, Ruth added appearances in TV movies and theatrical films to her stage performances. She continued to act in her 90s, even appearing in a wheelchair after suffering a major stroke in February 2001. She makes a cameo appearance in The Singles Ward (2002), the directorial debut of grandson Kurt Hale. Another grandson, Will Swenson, has also entered the ranks of directors in LDS Cinema with Sons of Provo (2004).
