Emerging from a background in radio drama, Selby transitioned to the screen after lending her voice to the elephant Prissy in Disney's 1941 classic Dumbo. Her niche as a character actress saw her embodying archetypal small-town figures-gossip, aunts, teachers-across a prolific span of film and television.
On television she became a familiar face as Ma Smalley, the boarding-house proprietor on G…
