| Subject: Actress Jane McArthur |
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Dies at 90
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Date Posted: Monday, March 29, 07:54:32am
Jane McArthur Tuttle
1929 - 2020
Jane McArthur Tuttle was born in Norfolk, VA on August 20th, 1929 to Gertrude Felty and Guy McArthur. Her father was a physician in the Navy and was killed in an automobile accident on his way home from assignment when she was 14 years old. Growing up in a military family, Jane lived all over the United States, including Brooklyn, Haiti, Hawaii, Florida, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and California. On March 29th, 2020, at 90 years old, she was able to die at home in her sleep, thanks to Visiting Nurse Services of New York, and especially the wonderful support of Justine Grant. When faced with the difficult decision to opt for home hospice care, of her life she said, "I had fun.
Jane was a role model to many -- welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds into her home and her life with her warmth and laughter. Jane had a joy for life; she was an avid reader, a world explorer, an accomplished cook and excellent storyteller. Her retirement was spent traveling all over the globe. When she was no longer able to travel, she gave talks for other seniors about how to travel at every age, her passion infectious. When she needed two canes to walk, she still climbed hills in Northern Ireland and Scotland (her ancestral roots) and navigated the cobbled streets of Cuba and England with aplomb. When not travelling she was active in her neighborhood, founding a robust book club, going to Broadway plays, auditing college courses, and kept up with regular exercise classes. She was an overnight volunteer at Ethical Culture's women's shelter for over twenty years, as well as financially contributing to many charitable organizations.
Her first career was as an actress, graduating from Stanford University in speech and drama, additionally studying and performing in Summerstock and Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She performed in 18 stage productions, including off Broadway in "The Rehearsal," "The Hostage," "Teach Me How to Cry," and Broadway's Original cast of "The Young and the Beautiful," (1955). In 1959 she starred in Thorton Wilder's "Our Town," playing in the Circle in the Square and winning the Drama Desk Award for her role as Emily Webb, with one particularly memorable performance in front of Eleanor Roosevelt visible to her from the stage. Jane also appeared on over 250 television shows, (when it was recorded live!) such as Playhouse 90, Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns, Omnibus, West Point, and Armstrong Circle Theater.
In the late 1960s, she left the theater and went back to school to earn a Masters degree in speech pathology at NYU. She then began her second career, working in New York City's public school system with children in Special Education classes until her retirement in 1993. She married James Tuttle in 1959 and is survived by her step-son Douglas Tuttle of Nevada, cousin Beth McArthur of Connecticut and many dear friends near and far.
Published in New York Times from Mar. 27 to Mar. 28, 2021.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=jane-mcarthur-tuttle&pid=198176116
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