Gladys George(bornGladys Clare Evans;September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for anAcademy Awardfor her leading role inValiant Is the Word for Carrie(1936), she spent most of her career in supporting roles in films such asMarie Antoinette(1938),The Roaring Twenties(1939),The Maltese Falcon(1941),The Best Years of Our Lives(1946), andFlamingo Road(1949).
Gladys George | |
|---|---|
 George in 1937 | |
| Born | Gladys Clare Evans September 13, 1904 |
| Died | December 8, 1954(aged 50) Los Angeles,California,U.S. |
| Resting place | Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1918–1954 |
| Spouses | Ben Erway
(m.1922;div.1930)Edward Fowler
(m.1933;div.1935)Kenneth Bradley
(m.1946;div.1951) |
Early life
editGeorge was born on September 13, 1904[1]inPatten, MainetoBritishparents, Sir Arthur Evans Clare, a "noted Shakespearean actor", and his wife, Lady Alice.[2][3]Another source indicated "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time."[4]
Career
editGeorge went on the stage at the age of 3 and toured the United States, appearing with her parents, who were British actors.[4]She starred onstage in the 1920s, and she had made several films during the early part of that decade. For her role in the filmValiant Is the Word for Carrie(1936), she received aBest Actressnomination at the9th Academy Awards.[5]
Other roles were inMadame X(1937),Marie Antoinette(1938),The Roaring Twenties(1939),The Way of All Flesh(1940),The Maltese Falcon(1941),The Hard Way(1943),The Best Years of Our Lives(1946),He Ran All the Way(1951),Detective Story(1951), andLullaby of Broadway(1951).
George's Broadway credits includeThe Distant City,Lady in Waiting,andThe Betrothal.[6]
Personal life
editGladys George was married and divorced four times. All of the unions were childless.[citation needed]
- On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California.[7]"They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930."[8]The couple divorced in October 1930.[9]
- Her second husband was millionaire paper manufacturer Edward Fowler, who walked out in 1933 after finding the actress in the arms of her leading manLeonard Penn.At the time, George was playing a nymphomaniacal star in the Broadway hitPersonal Appearance.[10]
- George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935.[11]
- Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 41, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.[12][13]
Illnesses and death
editGeorge was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, andcirrhosis of the liver.[12]She died from acerebral hemorrhagein 1954 in Los Angeles, California, aged 50, and was interred in theValhalla Memorial Park Cemeteryin Burbank, California.[14]
Filmography
edit| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hot Dollars | 1919 | Janet Muir | film debut |
| The Woman in the Suitcase | 1920 | Ethel | |
| Below the Surface | 1920 | Alice | |
| Homespun Folks | 1920 | Beulah Rogers | |
| The Easy Road | 1921 | Isabel Grace | |
| Chickens | 1921 | Julia Stoneman | |
| The House that Jazz Built | 1921 | Lila Drake | |
| Straight Is the Way | 1934 | Shirley | |
| Valiant Is the Word for Carrie | 1936 | Carrie Snyder | Nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress.Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated. |
| They Gave Him a Gun | 1937 | Rose Duffy | Co-starred withSpencer Tracy. |
| Madame X | 1937 | Madame X / Jacqueline Fleuriot / Miss Pran | Only film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS. |
| Love Is a Headache | 1938 | Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee | |
| Marie Antoinette | 1938 | Madame du Barry | First time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination. |
| I'm from Missouri | 1939 | Julie Bliss | |
| Here I Am a Stranger | 1939 | Clara Paulding | |
| The Roaring Twenties | 1939 | Panama Smith | James Cagneyfilm with one of many substantial early supporting roles forHumphrey Bogart. |
| A Child Is Born | 1939 | Florette Laverne | |
| The House Across the Bay | 1940 | Mary Bogel | |
| The Way of All Flesh | 1940 | Anna Kriza | |
| The Lady from Cheyenne | 1941 | Elsie | |
| Hit the Road | 1941 | Molly Ryan | |
| The Maltese Falcon | 1941 | Iva Archer | |
| The Hard Way | 1943 | Lily Emery | |
| The Crystal Ball | 1943 | Madame Zenobia | |
| Nobody's Darling | 1943 | Eve Hawthorne | |
| Christmas Holiday | 1944 | Valerie De Merode | |
| Minstrel Man | 1945 | Mae White | |
| Steppin' in Society | 1945 | Penelope Webster | |
| The Best Years of Our Lives | 1946 | Hortense Derry | |
| Millie's Daughter | 1947 | Millie Maitland | |
| Alias a Gentleman | 1948 | Madge Parkson | |
| Flamingo Road | 1949 | Lute Mae Sanders | |
| Bright Leaf | 1950 | Rose | |
| Undercover Girl | 1950 | Liz Crow | |
| Lullaby of Broadway | 1951 | Jessica Howard | |
| He Ran All the Way | 1951 | Mrs. Robey | |
| Detective Story | 1951 | Miss Hatch | |
| Silver City | 1951 | Mrs. Barber | |
| It Happens Every Thursday | 1953 | Mrs. Lucinda Holmes |
References
edit- ^"Family Tree Legends".Archived fromthe originalon August 8, 2014.RetrievedDecember 1,2014.lists Gladys Clare Evans born September 13, 1904, Maine - died December 8, 1954, Los Angeles, California.
- ^"SIR ARTHUR EVANS CLARE; Actor, Father of Gladys George, Is Dead in Hollywood".The New York Times.October 26, 1939. p. O29.Retrieved2020-07-18.
- ^"Gladys George Made Her Hit, Had to Run".The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.May 12, 1940. p. E7.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^abTildesley, Alice L. (November 8, 1936)."Are You a" Yes-Woman "?".The Charleston Daily Mail.p. 76.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^"The 9th Academy Awards (1937)".Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.8 October 2014.Archivedfrom the original on November 12, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 19,2019.
- ^"Gladys George".Playbill.Retrieved5 March2016.
- ^"Ben Erway, Oakland Actor, And Gladys George Are Wed".Oakland Tribune.April 1, 1922. p. 4.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^"Utah Actress Asks Divorce".The OgdenStandard-Examiner.Associated Press.September 20, 1930. p. 1.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^"Star Divorced".Oakland Tribune.October 8, 1930. p. 1.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^"Must Wait 3 Years to Wed in N.Y."The Milwaukee Sentinel.August 27, 1935. p. 18.Retrieved5 March2016.[dead link]
- ^"Gladys George Marries Actor Named in Suit".The Salt Lake Tribune.Associated Press. September 19, 1935. p. 8.RetrievedMarch 5,2016– via Newspapers.
- ^abGladys GeorgeTCM. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^"Gladys George Is Married".The New York Times.July 10, 1946. p. 19.
- ^Wilson, Scott (2016).Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed.McFarland. p. 275.
Further reading
edit- Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Gladys George".The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age(softcover) (First ed.). Independently published. pp. 101–103.ISBN978-1-7200-3837-5.
- Maltin, Leonard (2015) [First published 1969]. "Gladys George".The Real Stars: Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players(softcover) (Sixth/ eBook ed.). CreateSpace Independent. pp. 88–102.ISBN978-1-5116-4485-3.
External links
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