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American actress (1888–1954)

Florence Bates (néeRabe;^[2] April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles.

Life and career

Bates was the second child born to Jewish immigrant parents, Rosa and Sigmund Rabe,^[3] in San Antonio, Texas, where her father was the owner of an antique store. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in mathematics, after which she taught school.^[4]

In 1909, she met and married her first husband, Joseph Ramer, and gave up her career to raise their daughter.

When the marriage ended in divorce, she began to study law and, in 1914 at the age of 26, passed the bar examination. She was one of the first female lawyers in her home state and practiced law for four years in San Antonio.^[5]

After the death of her parents, Bates left the legal profession to help her sister operate t