Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a former MGM contract player who appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Byington received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Penelope Sycamore in You Can't Take It with You (1938).

Biography

Byington spoke some Spanish, which she learned during the time spent with her husband in Buenos Aires; and she studied Brazilian Portuguese in her Golden Years. In July 1958, she confided to reporter Hazel Johnson that she had acquired a "small coffee plantation" in Brazil the month before and was learning Portuguese. "Miss Byington explained that she first listens to a 'conditioning record' before she goes to sleep. An hour later, her Portuguese lessons automatically begin feeding into her pillow by means of a small speaker."

Byington was fascinated by metaphysics and science fiction novels, including George Orwell's 1984. She surprised her co-stars in December Bride with her knowledge of the Earth's satellites and the constellations in the night sky.

In August 1955, Byington began taking flying lessons in Glendale, California; but the studio made her stop because of insurance problems.

In January 1957, she testified in the trial of the Sica brothers as a character witness in behalf of the DaLonne Cooper, who was a friend and the Script Supervisor for December Bride.


Marriage and engagement
In 1909, Spring Byington married Roy Chandler, the manager of the theater troupe she worked with in Buenos Aires. They remained there until 1916, when Spring returned to New York to give birth to her first daughter, Phyllis Helene. Her second daughter, Lois Irene, was born in 1917. The couple divorced about 1920. Between then and the mid-1930s, she devoted her time to developing her career.

In the late 1930s, Byington was once again engaged to be married; this time to an Argentine industrialist. Following an engagement of a couple of years and several months before they were to be married, he died unexpectedly. Following this, she chose to devote her life to her career and family.

A number of Hollywood historians have claimed that Byington was a lesbian. Actress Marjorie Main's biographer Michelle Vogel has noted that Main and Byington were reported widely as having had a long-term relationship. When asked about Byington's sexual orientation, Main acknowledged: "It's true, she didn't have much use for men.

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