Christine McIntyre
Encyclopedia
Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911–July 8, 1984) was an actress who appeared in many movies in the 1930s and 1940s but is mainly known as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many Three Stooges
shorts
produced by Columbia Pictures
.
, Arizona
, Christine McIntyre was one of five children. A classically trained singer, McIntyre received a Bachelor of Music
degree at Chicago Musical College
in 1933. It was here that she developed her operatic soprano
voice, which would be put to good use in several Three Stooges films in the 1940s. McIntyre began singing in feature films at RKO Pictures
, and made her film debut in 1937's Swing Fever. She then appeared in a series of B-westerns featuring the likes of Ray Corrigan and Buck Jones
. She appeared with dark hair in these early roles, and also appeared occasionally in "mainstream" feature films (like 1939's Blondie Takes a Vacation). She sang songs such as "The Blue Danube" and "Voices of Spring" in a Vienna-themed short Soundies
musical film, and her performance was singled out as the best of the inaugural series. Her singing in this soundie may have given the Three Stooges the idea of using "Voices of Spring" in their short film Micro-Phonies
.
producer Hugh McCollum
signed Christine McIntyre to a decade-long contract. During her time at Columbia, she appeared in many short subjects starring Shemp Howard, Andy Clyde
, Joe Besser
, Bert Wheeler, and Hugh Herbert
. The Herbert comedy Wife Decoy is actually a showcase for McIntyre, who is the principal character. In this film, she appears as a brunette who dyes her hair blonde. From then on in her screen appearances, she remained a blonde. In all of her Columbia comedies she demonstrated a capable range, playing charming heroines, scheming villains, and flighty socialites equally well.
McIntyre's association with the Three Stooges would become her most memorable. Her debut appearance with the team was in Idle Roomers
, followed by No Dough Boys
. McIntyre's singing voice was featured prominently in 1945's Micro-Phonies
, as she sung both "Voices of Spring
" and "Lucia Sextet
." She would again sing "Lucia Sextet" three years later in Squareheads of the Round Table
.
Her performance as Miss Hopkins in Brideless Groom
featured a knockabout scene in which she beats voice instructor Shemp Howard into submission. Director Edward Bernds
remembers:
Producer McCollum and director Bernds recognized Christine McIntyre's abilities, and often tailored material especially for her, allowing her to improvise as she saw fit.
McIntyre also won a feature-film contract with Monogram Pictures
. After playing a newspaper publisher in News Hounds
, a comedy with The Bowery Boys
, she usually played opposite Monogram's cowboy stars in low-budget Westerns. Her attractive features belied that she was close to 40 years of age at the time, much more mature than the conventional ingenue.
McIntyre married radio personality J. Donald Wilson in 1953. By this time, her mentors Hugh McCollum and Edward Bernds had left Columbia, leaving Jules White
in charge of short subjects. White favored strenuous, extremely physical humor, and forced the ladylike McIntyre to submit to low comedy; in a single film, her character was tackled, hit with messy projectiles, covered with cake batter, and knocked into a cross-eyed stupor. When her contract at Columbia expired in 1954, she was all too happy to retire from show business, eventually developing a career in real estate
. Columbia continued to use old footage of McIntyre through 1958, which is why she received billing in films made after her retirement.
in January 1984 took its toll on McIntyre. She was already suffering from cancer
at the time of his passing, and his death worsened her illness. McIntyre died in Van Nuys, California
on July 8, 1984, six months after her husband. She was 73. She had no children. McIntyre is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery
in Culver City, California
.
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
shorts
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
produced by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
.
Early career
A native of NogalesNogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Christine McIntyre was one of five children. A classically trained singer, McIntyre received a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
degree at Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College is a division of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt UniversityIt was founded in 1867, less than four decades after the city of Chicago was incorporated...
in 1933. It was here that she developed her operatic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
voice, which would be put to good use in several Three Stooges films in the 1940s. McIntyre began singing in feature films at RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
, and made her film debut in 1937's Swing Fever. She then appeared in a series of B-westerns featuring the likes of Ray Corrigan and Buck Jones
Buck Jones
Buck Jones was an American motion picture star of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, best known for his work starring in many popular western movies...
. She appeared with dark hair in these early roles, and also appeared occasionally in "mainstream" feature films (like 1939's Blondie Takes a Vacation). She sang songs such as "The Blue Danube" and "Voices of Spring" in a Vienna-themed short Soundies
Soundies
Soundies were an early version of the music video: three-minute musical films, produced in New York City, Chicago, and Hollywood between 1940 and 1946, often including short dance sequences. The completed Soundies were generally released within a few months of their filming; the last group was...
musical film, and her performance was singled out as the best of the inaugural series. Her singing in this soundie may have given the Three Stooges the idea of using "Voices of Spring" in their short film Micro-Phonies
Micro-Phonies
Micro-Phonies is the 87th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
.
The Three Stooges and Columbia Pictures
It was in 1944 that Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
producer Hugh McCollum
Hugh McCollum
Hugh McCollum was an American film producer best known for his credits on Three Stooges short subject comedies.-Career:...
signed Christine McIntyre to a decade-long contract. During her time at Columbia, she appeared in many short subjects starring Shemp Howard, Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde
Andy Clyde was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than four decades. He broke into silent films in 1925 as a Mack Sennett comic...
, Joe Besser
Joe Besser
Joe Besser was an American comedian, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters, and is now best remembered for his brief stint as a member of the Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957-59...
, Bert Wheeler, and Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.-Career:...
. The Herbert comedy Wife Decoy is actually a showcase for McIntyre, who is the principal character. In this film, she appears as a brunette who dyes her hair blonde. From then on in her screen appearances, she remained a blonde. In all of her Columbia comedies she demonstrated a capable range, playing charming heroines, scheming villains, and flighty socialites equally well.
McIntyre's association with the Three Stooges would become her most memorable. Her debut appearance with the team was in Idle Roomers
Idle Roomers (1944 film)
Idle Roomers is the 80th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Synopsis:...
, followed by No Dough Boys
No Dough Boys
No Dough Boys is the 82nd short subject starring the slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
. McIntyre's singing voice was featured prominently in 1945's Micro-Phonies
Micro-Phonies
Micro-Phonies is the 87th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
, as she sung both "Voices of Spring
Frühlingsstimmen
"Frühlingsstimmen" , Op. 410, is a waltz by Johann Strauss II, written in 1882, for orchestra and solo soprano voice.-History:Strauss dedicated the work to the pianist and composer Alfred Grünfeld...
" and "Lucia Sextet
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
." She would again sing "Lucia Sextet" three years later in Squareheads of the Round Table
Squareheads of the Round Table
Squareheads of the Round Table is the 106th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
.
Her performance as Miss Hopkins in Brideless Groom
Brideless Groom
Brideless Groom is the 101st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
featured a knockabout scene in which she beats voice instructor Shemp Howard into submission. Director Edward Bernds
Edward Bernds
Edward Bernds was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois.-Career:While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur licenses...
remembers:
Producer McCollum and director Bernds recognized Christine McIntyre's abilities, and often tailored material especially for her, allowing her to improvise as she saw fit.
McIntyre also won a feature-film contract with Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
. After playing a newspaper publisher in News Hounds
News Hounds
News Hounds is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the seventh film in the series.-Plot:Slip is a copy boy for a newspaper, but dreams of having his own byline. Sach is an aspiring photographer for the same paper. The two of them come across a plot to fix sporting...
, a comedy with The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
, she usually played opposite Monogram's cowboy stars in low-budget Westerns. Her attractive features belied that she was close to 40 years of age at the time, much more mature than the conventional ingenue.
McIntyre married radio personality J. Donald Wilson in 1953. By this time, her mentors Hugh McCollum and Edward Bernds had left Columbia, leaving Jules White
Jules White
Jules White born Julius Weiss was a film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring the Three Stooges.-Early years:...
in charge of short subjects. White favored strenuous, extremely physical humor, and forced the ladylike McIntyre to submit to low comedy; in a single film, her character was tackled, hit with messy projectiles, covered with cake batter, and knocked into a cross-eyed stupor. When her contract at Columbia expired in 1954, she was all too happy to retire from show business, eventually developing a career in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. Columbia continued to use old footage of McIntyre through 1958, which is why she received billing in films made after her retirement.
Later years
Wilson's sudden death from a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in January 1984 took its toll on McIntyre. She was already suffering from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at the time of his passing, and his death worsened her illness. McIntyre died in Van Nuys, California
Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Van Nuys is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.-History:Look at the two photos of Van Nuys' first year—and then listen to what the Los Angeles Times wrote on February 23, 1911, the day after the Van Nuys town lot auction--"Between dawn and dusk, in the...
on July 8, 1984, six months after her husband. She was 73. She had no children. McIntyre is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....
in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
.
Selected filmography
- Idle RoomersIdle RoomersIdle Roomers may refer to:* Idle Roomers , a 1931 comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle.* Idle Roomers , a 1944 short subject starring the Three Stooges...
(1944) - No Dough BoysNo Dough BoysNo Dough Boys is the 82nd short subject starring the slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1944) - Three Pests in a MessThree Pests in a MessThree Pests in a Mess is the 83rd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
- Micro-PhoniesMicro-PhoniesMicro-Phonies is the 87th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1945) - G.I. Wanna HomeG.I. Wanna HomeG.I. Wanna Home is the 94th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1946) - GildaGildaGilda is a 1946 American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale. The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis' wardrobe for Hayworth , and...
(1946) - Society MugsSociety MugsSociety Mugs is a Columbia Pictures short film starring Shemp Howard and Tom Kennedy.-Plot:High society woman Muriel Allen wants to attend a swanky dinner party thrown by friend Alice Preston but husband Arthur decides instead to go on a fishing trip...
(1946) - Half-Wits HolidayHalf-Wits HolidayHalf-Wits Holiday is the 97th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1947) - All Gummed UpAll Gummed UpAll Gummed Up is the 103rd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1947) - Angel and the BadmanAngel and the BadmanAngel and the Badman is a 1947 black-and-white Western film, starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey and Bruce Cabot which examines the ability of a gunman to renounce violence. This film, which was the first one Wayne produced as well as starred in, was a departure for this genre at the...
(1947) - Heavenly DazeHeavenly DazeHeavenly Daze is the 109th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1948) - Vagabond LoafersVagabond LoafersVagabond Loafers is the 118th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:The Stooges are inept plumbers at Day and Nite Plumbers...
(1949) - Dopey DicksDopey DicksDopey Dicks is the 122nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1950) - Pest Man WinsPest Man WinsPest Man Wins is the 136th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1951) (stock footageStock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
) - Bedlam in ParadiseBedlam in ParadiseBedlam in Paradise is the 162nd short subject starring the American slapstick comedy team Three Stooges who made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1955) (stock footage) - Scheming SchemersScheming SchemersScheming Schemers is the 173rd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1956) (stock footage) - Pies and GuysPies and GuysPies and Guys is the 185th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1958) (stock footage) - Stop! Look! and Laugh!Stop, Look and LaughStop! Look! and Laugh! is a 1960 feature-length Three Stooges compilation featuring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly HowardEleven of the Stooges shorts were shown and bridged together with segments featuring Paul Winchell and his dummies, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff...
(1960) (stock footage)