Ruthie Tompson

Not to be confused with Rudy Thompson.

Ruthie Tompson
Tompson at age 104
Birth:	22 July 1910 Portland, Maine, United States
Death:	10 October 2021 Woodland Hills, California, United States
Age:	111 years, 80 days
Country:	USA
Unvalidated

Ruthie Tompson (22 July 1910 – 10 October 2021) was an American animator and supercentenarian. She is most well known for her work on animated features at The Walt Disney Company. Her age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Ruthie Tompson was born on 22 July 1910 in Portland, Maine to Nahum and Athene (Sterling) Tompson and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She had one younger sister, Dorothy. She moved with her family to Oakland, California in November 1918 at age eight. In 1924, her parents divorced and her mother, Arlene, remarried artist John Roberts. The family relocated to Los Angeles and their house was in the same block as the house of Robert Disney, uncle of Walt Disney. This is where Roy and Walt Disney lived when they first came to Los Angeles.

As she stated in an interview, Tompson first met the Disneys when she visited her neighbor Robert's new baby. The location of The Walt Disney Company, then known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, was not far from her home – she passed it on her way to grammar school. She was invited into the office after many times of standing outside and watching them work through the window. She visited the office often and ended up appearing in the Alice Comedies.

Ruthie Tompson died in her sleep from natural causes at her home at the Motion Picture and Television Fund in Woodland Hills, California on 10 October 2021 at the age of 111 years, 80 days.

Gallery

Ruthie Tompson as a young woman.

Ruthie Tompson as an older woman.

Ruthie Tompson (aged 103), Connie Sawyer (aged 101), Shirley Toodie Wieberg and Monica Lewis (aged 92) attend the Shorts Program 2 during the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California, USA on 14 June 2014.

Ruthie Tompson at the age of 105

Ruthie Tompson at age 107.

Ruthie Tompson at age 108.

References

• "Ruthie Tompson" - D23
• "102-Year-Old Hollywood Vet: Walt Disney Hired Me After I Snooped on His Studio" - The Hollywood Reporter.
• "Harvard Undergrad Receives Scholarship From 105-Year-Old Women in Animation Vet" - Variety.
• Disney Legend Ruthie Tompson Shares Memories Ahead of Her 110th Birthday Animation Magazine, 6 July 2020
• Pre-110th Birthday Confirmation Facebook, 10 July 2021
• Remembering Disney Legend Ruthie Tompson The Walt Disney Company, 11 October 2021
• Ruthie Tompson, legendary Disney animator on 'Snow White' and 'Pinocchio,' dies at 111 USA Today, 11 October 2021