A devout Christian Scientist who lived in splendor first on Park Avenue and later on Sutton Place South, she turned down a role in the musical "On The Twentieth Century" because she found the role -- of a dotty woman impersonating an evangelist -- to be too tawdry. The role went to Imogene Coca.
Cousin of animator Grim Natwick.
First appeared on Broadway under the direction of Joshua Logan, who considered her one of America's finest character actresses. Natwick inspired great devotion among many: John Ford, who directed her in The Long Voyage Home (1940), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and The Quiet Man (1952) adored her, as did both Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams. Katharine Cornell and her husband, director Guthrie McClintic, cast her in many of their plays.
In Italy, she was often dubbed by Tina Lattanzi and Renata Marini. Rina Morelli, Giovanna Scotto, Lidia Simoneschi and Wanda Tettoni also lent their voice to Natwick at some point.
She and Angela Lansbury, both in The Court Jester (1956)--she did the famous "Vessel with the Pestle" routine with Danny Kaye--were reunited on Lansbury's series, "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), in the episode, "Murder, She Wrote: Murder in the Electric Cathedral (#2.16)" (1986)), 30 years later.
She is interred next to the remains of her sister on the exterior portion of the main mausoleum located at Lorraine Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
Was nominated for two Tony Awards: in 1957 as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "The Waltz of the Toreadors" and in 1972 as Best Actress (Musical) for "70 Girls 70".