Ruth Hudson Hale

Ruth was born in 1908. She was adopted as an infant by William and Edith Hudson. She was adorable and charming from day one. Her parents cherished her. Ruth tells of the time her father brought her a doll all the way from Germany. He had been on a mission and when he returned he opened his suitcase only to find the doll was broken. William raced to the Store in Salt Lake to purchase a new doll for little Ruth. The family was very frugal but when Ruth was 14 her father bought her a stylish Fur coat. She tells that her father made sure to leave his 2 children a large piece of land for their inheritance. The Hudson home was at 3408 West 4100 South

Ruth was loved by all. She was a fast runner, a great swimmer and a wonderful actress. Ruth said that " Acting was her life long passion. One of her earliest memories she had was climbing to the top of the haystack on her father's farm in Granger, Utah, on moonlit nights to perform on her makeshift stage with chickens as her fellow actors".

Ruth graduated from the University of Utah

Her family said " Ruth served in the Eastern States Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon returning, she resumed teaching at Cyprus High School. After some time, Ruth eyed a handsome, young returned missionary whose family had moved to the area from Star Valley, Wyoming. After 'letting' him beat her at a game of tennis, the two began a storied courtship and shared the stage together for the first time in a summer play. Nathan became the love of her life and on December 22, 1933, they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. After that event, one cannot speak of Ruth without Nathan because they worked hand in hand at home, in church, and in business through 61 glorious years of union."

Ruth and Nathan were called as the Granger 1st Ward Drama Directors. There wasn't much money in the fund and so the duo wrote "Handcart Trails". They directed the play and it soon became a traveling play where the group traveled all over the valley to perform. The play was also published. The started the Granger Little Theatre which was a group of talented local actors that traveled all over performing the Hales Plays. This began Ruth and Nathan's career. They wrote more than 80 plays.

Soon the duo moved to California to pursue Nathan's dream of becoming an actor. The two opened the Glendale California Theater in 1947. In 1974 they opened a Theater in South Salt Lake and then the Hale Theater on Main-street opened in 1985. In 1998 They opened the West Valley Hale Center Theater. "Their legacy met its dream when their love for theater came full circle in a new, state of the art facility only 2 miles from Ruth's first haystack stage in Granger Utah". They quickly opened more theaters. One in Orem & Gilbert Arizona Recently the West Valley Location has been closed and a new Hale Theater was built in Sandy.