Died August 14, 2012. Born November 20, 1919.

American actress who worked on Broadway in the 1930s. In 1944, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the war-time film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. In 1948, she played a cattle owner's daughter alongside Barbara Bel Geddes in Blood on the Moon. At MGM, she routinely portrayed the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men. She moved to Warner Brothers in the 1950s, but usually played the same type of roles.

Thaxter's career stalled after an attack of infantile paralysis in 1952. She made a comeback in television series such as Rawhide, Wagon Train and Cannon, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1978, Thaxter was cast along with Glenn Ford as Ma and Pa Kent in Superman.

Thaxter died on August 14, 2012 in Longwood, Florida after a nine-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 92 years old. In keeping with her wishes, she was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.