Gloria Grahame
Encyclopedia
Gloria Grahame was an American Academy Award–winning actress.
Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life
(1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios. Often cast in film noir
projects, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
for Crossfire
(1947), and she won this award for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful
(1952). She achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear
(1952), Human Desire
(1953),The Big Heat
(1953), and Oklahoma! (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards.
She returned to work on the stage, but continued to appear in films and television productions, usually in supporting roles. Diagnosed with stomach cancer
in 1980, Grahame refused to accept the diagnosis and travelled to England to work in a play. Her health rapidly failed and she returned to New York City, where she died in 1981.
. Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, her father, was an architect
and author and her mother, Jeanne McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher. McDougall taught her younger daughter acting during her childhood and adolescence. The couple had another daughter, Joy Hallward (1911–2003), an actress who married John Mitchum
(the younger brother of actor Robert Mitchum
).
Grahame was signed to a contract with MGM Studios under her professional name after Louis B. Mayer
saw her performing on Broadway
for several years.
(1944
) and then scored one of her most widely praised roles as the promiscuous Violet, saved from disgrace by George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life
(1946
). MGM was not able to develop her potential as a star and her contract was sold to RKO Studios in 1947.
Grahame was often featured in film noir
pictures as a tarnished beauty with an irresistible sexual allure. During this time, she made films for several Hollywood studios. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress
for Crossfire
(1947
).
Grahame starred with Humphrey Bogart
in the 1950
film In a Lonely Place
, a performance which garnered her considerable praise. Though today it is considered among her finest performances, it wasn't a box-office hit and Howard Hughes
, owner of RKO Studios, admitted that he never saw it. When she asked to be loaned out for roles in Born Yesterday
and A Place in the Sun, Hughes refused and instead made her do a supporting role in Macao
. However, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in MGM's The Bad and the Beautiful
(1952
).
Other memorable roles included the scheming Irene Nieves in Sudden Fear
(1952
), the femme fatale Vicki Buckley in Human Desire
(1953), and mob moll Debby Marsh in Fritz Lang
's The Big Heat
(1953
) in which, in a horrifying off-screen scene, she is scarred by hot coffee thrown in her face by Lee Marvin
's character.
Grahame's career began to wane after her performance in the musical film Oklahoma! (1955
). Grahame, whom audiences were used to seeing as a film noir siren, was miscast as an ignorant country lass in a wholesome musical, and the paralysis of her upper lip from plastic surgery altered her speech and appearance. She began a slow return to the theater, and returned to films occasionally to play supporting roles, mostly in minor releases. She appeared on television too, including an episode of the ABC
sitcom, Harrigan and Son
, starring Pat O'Brien
, and a memorable episode of the gothic sci-fi series The Outer Limits
, in which she spoofed her own career by playing a forgotten film star living in the past. She also appeared in "The Homecoming", a 1964 television episode of The Fugitive, starring David Janssen
.
Grahame has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6522 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to Motion Pictures.
and later to Ray's son, Anthony, with whom she had an affair while still married to Ray. All of this took a toll on her career, as did a two-year hiatus after the birth of her daughter in 1956. Marital and child custody problems hampered her performance on the set of Oklahoma! Additionally, the actress's concern over the appearance of her upper lip led her to pursue plastic surgery and dental operations that caused visible scarring and ultimately rendered the lip largely immobile because of nerve damage, which affected her speech.
She married:
In the late 1970s, Grahame traveled to England to perform in plays. While there, she met Liverpool actor Peter Turner with whom she had a romantic relationship. They moved to the USA and lived in New York
and California
, where their affair ended. Turner subsequently returned to England
.
but refused surgery, insisting that she did not have the disease. In 1981, she traveled to England to perform in a play. While there, a procedure to have fluid drained from her stomach resulted in a perforated bowel. This became apparent only after she collapsed during a rehearsal.
Peter Turner heard the news that Grahame was ill in a hotel in Lancaster
, England. Accompanied by members of his family, he collected her and took her to his home in Aigburth
, Liverpool
. There, he and his family nursed her until some of her children arrived to take her back to New York where, at the age of 57, she died.
She is interred in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
in Chatsworth, California, as Gloria H. Grahame.
Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
(1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios. Often cast in film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
projects, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for Crossfire
Crossfire (film)
-External links:* review at DVD Savant by Glenn Erickson* film trailer at YouTube...
(1947), and she won this award for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1952 MGM melodramatic film that tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It was directed by Vincente Minelli and stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland. The film was...
(1952). She achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear
Sudden Fear
Sudden Fear is a 1952 RKO Radio Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a noir-ish tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel by Edna Sherry. Sudden Fear was directed by David...
(1952), Human Desire
Human Desire
Human Desire is a black-and-white film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and based on the novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola. The story was filmed twice before: La Bête humaine directed by Jean Renoir and Die Bestie im Menschen .-Plot:Railroad supervisor Carl Buckley gets fired from his job...
(1953),The Big Heat
The Big Heat
The Big Heat is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin. It is about a cop who takes on the crime syndicate that controls his city after the brutal murder of his beloved wife. The film was written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm based on a...
(1953), and Oklahoma! (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards.
She returned to work on the stage, but continued to appear in films and television productions, usually in supporting roles. Diagnosed with stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
in 1980, Grahame refused to accept the diagnosis and travelled to England to work in a play. Her health rapidly failed and she returned to New York City, where she died in 1981.
Early life
Grahame was born Gloria Hallward in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, her father, was an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and author and her mother, Jeanne McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher. McDougall taught her younger daughter acting during her childhood and adolescence. The couple had another daughter, Joy Hallward (1911–2003), an actress who married John Mitchum
John Mitchum
John Mitchum was an American actor from the 1940s in films and, later, television. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and the younger brother of Julie Mitchum and Robert Mitchum, he initially appeared in only unbilled and extra roles before gradually receiving bigger character parts in middle age...
(the younger brother of actor Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
).
Grahame was signed to a contract with MGM Studios under her professional name after Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
saw her performing on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
for several years.
Career
She made her film debut in Blonde FeverBlonde Fever
-Plot:Peter Donay , a restauranteur, is happily married to Delilah , who has a pleasant but plain personality. Peter's head suddenly turns to curvaceous waitress Sally Murfin . At first, Sally is only somewhat amused by the flirtatious Donny. However, she soon realizes that he won a $40,000 lottery...
(1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) and then scored one of her most widely praised roles as the promiscuous Violet, saved from disgrace by George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
(1946
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
). MGM was not able to develop her potential as a star and her contract was sold to RKO Studios in 1947.
Grahame was often featured in film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
pictures as a tarnished beauty with an irresistible sexual allure. During this time, she made films for several Hollywood studios. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for Crossfire
Crossfire (film)
-External links:* review at DVD Savant by Glenn Erickson* film trailer at YouTube...
(1947
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
).
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
in the 1950
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
film In a Lonely Place
In a Lonely Place
In a Lonely Place is a film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was adapted by Edmund North from the 1947 novel In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes.Bogart stars in the film as Dixon Steele, a...
, a performance which garnered her considerable praise. Though today it is considered among her finest performances, it wasn't a box-office hit and Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, owner of RKO Studios, admitted that he never saw it. When she asked to be loaned out for roles in Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday (1950 film)
Born Yesterday is a 1950 film based on the play of the same name by Garson Kanin and directed by George Cukor. The screenplay was written by Albert Mannheimer with uncredited contributions from Kanin....
and A Place in the Sun, Hughes refused and instead made her do a supporting role in Macao
Macao (film)
Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
. However, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in MGM's The Bad and the Beautiful
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1952 MGM melodramatic film that tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It was directed by Vincente Minelli and stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland. The film was...
(1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
).
Other memorable roles included the scheming Irene Nieves in Sudden Fear
Sudden Fear
Sudden Fear is a 1952 RKO Radio Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a noir-ish tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel by Edna Sherry. Sudden Fear was directed by David...
(1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
), the femme fatale Vicki Buckley in Human Desire
Human Desire
Human Desire is a black-and-white film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and based on the novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola. The story was filmed twice before: La Bête humaine directed by Jean Renoir and Die Bestie im Menschen .-Plot:Railroad supervisor Carl Buckley gets fired from his job...
(1953), and mob moll Debby Marsh in Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's The Big Heat
The Big Heat
The Big Heat is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin. It is about a cop who takes on the crime syndicate that controls his city after the brutal murder of his beloved wife. The film was written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm based on a...
(1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) in which, in a horrifying off-screen scene, she is scarred by hot coffee thrown in her face by Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
's character.
Grahame's career began to wane after her performance in the musical film Oklahoma! (1955
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
). Grahame, whom audiences were used to seeing as a film noir siren, was miscast as an ignorant country lass in a wholesome musical, and the paralysis of her upper lip from plastic surgery altered her speech and appearance. She began a slow return to the theater, and returned to films occasionally to play supporting roles, mostly in minor releases. She appeared on television too, including an episode of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom, Harrigan and Son
Harrigan and Son
Harrigan and Son is an ABC sitcom about a father-and-son team of lawyers, played by Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry as Jim Harrigan, Sr., and Jim, Jr. In supporting roles, as secretaries, are Georgine Darcy as Gypsy and Helen Kleeb as Miss Claridge. The series aired 34 episodes at 8 p.m. Eastern Time...
, starring Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
, and a memorable episode of the gothic sci-fi series The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, in which she spoofed her own career by playing a forgotten film star living in the past. She also appeared in "The Homecoming", a 1964 television episode of The Fugitive, starring David Janssen
David Janssen
David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
.
Grahame has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6522 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to Motion Pictures.
Personal life
Grahame had a string of stormy romances and failed marriages during her time in Hollywood, including marriages to director Nicholas RayNicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
and later to Ray's son, Anthony, with whom she had an affair while still married to Ray. All of this took a toll on her career, as did a two-year hiatus after the birth of her daughter in 1956. Marital and child custody problems hampered her performance on the set of Oklahoma! Additionally, the actress's concern over the appearance of her upper lip led her to pursue plastic surgery and dental operations that caused visible scarring and ultimately rendered the lip largely immobile because of nerve damage, which affected her speech.
She married:
- Stanley Clements (1926–1981), actor, married August 1945, divorced 1 June 1948.
- Nicholas RayNicholas RayNicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
, director, married 1 June 1948, separated 1951, divorced 1952. The couple had one child, Timothy (born November 1948, aka David Cyrus Howard during his mother's third marriage). Their marriage ended when Ray found Grahame in bed with his 13 year old son by his first marriage, Anthony, whom she later married. - Cy Howard, writer, married 1954, divorced 1957. They had one daughter, Marianna Paulette (born 1956).
- Anthony Ray, her former stepson, married May 1960, divorced 1974. The Rays had two sons, Anthony Jr (born 1963) and James (born 1965).
In the late 1970s, Grahame traveled to England to perform in plays. While there, she met Liverpool actor Peter Turner with whom she had a romantic relationship. They moved to the USA and lived in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where their affair ended. Turner subsequently returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Death
In 1980, Grahame was diagnosed with stomach cancerStomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
but refused surgery, insisting that she did not have the disease. In 1981, she traveled to England to perform in a play. While there, a procedure to have fluid drained from her stomach resulted in a perforated bowel. This became apparent only after she collapsed during a rehearsal.
Peter Turner heard the news that Grahame was ill in a hotel in Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
, England. Accompanied by members of his family, he collected her and took her to his home in Aigburth
Aigburth
Aigburth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Mossley Hill, and Garston.-History:...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. There, he and his family nursed her until some of her children arrived to take her back to New York where, at the age of 57, she died.
She is interred in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
The Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 22601 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. It has been used as a cemetery since 1924, and there was a Native American graveyard next to the cemetery before a fire destroyed the old wooden crosses that marked the site. The Old...
in Chatsworth, California, as Gloria H. Grahame.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Blonde Fever Blonde Fever -Plot:Peter Donay , a restauranteur, is happily married to Delilah , who has a pleasant but plain personality. Peter's head suddenly turns to curvaceous waitress Sally Murfin . At first, Sally is only somewhat amused by the flirtatious Donny. However, she soon realizes that he won a $40,000 lottery... |
Sally Murfin | |
| 1945 | Without Love Without Love Without Love is a 1942 play by Philip Barry, later made into a 1945 romantic comedy film starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The film was directed by Harold S... |
Flower girl | |
| 1946 | It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern.... |
Violet Bick | |
| 1947 | It Happened in Brooklyn It Happened in Brooklyn It Happened in Brooklyn is a 1947 MGM musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Whorf and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, and Jimmy Durante and featuring Gloria Grahame and Marcy McGuire... |
Nurse | |
| Crossfire Crossfire (film) -External links:* review at DVD Savant by Glenn Erickson* film trailer at YouTube... |
Ginny Tremaine | Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role | |
| Song of the Thin Man Song of the Thin Man Song of the Thin Man is a 1947 comedy-crime film directed by Edward Buzzell, the last of the six Thin Man films. Like the others, it stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Nick Jr. is played by Dean Stockwell... |
Fran Ledue Page | ||
| Merton of the Movies Merton of the Movies Merton of the Movies is a 1919 book written by Harry Leon Wilson. In 1922, it was adapted into a Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. A 1924 silent movie version was directed by James Cruze and starred Glenn Hunter who had created the role on Broadway... |
Beulah Baxter | ||
| 1949 | A Woman's Secret A Woman's Secret A Woman's Secret is a 1949 film noir. It was based on the novel Mortgage on Life by Vicki Baum. It was directed by Nicholas Ray and starred Maureen O'Hara, Gloria Grahame and Melvyn Douglas.-Plot summary:... |
Susan Caldwell aka Estrellita | |
| Roughshod | Mary Wells | ||
| 1950 | In a Lonely Place In a Lonely Place In a Lonely Place is a film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was adapted by Edmund North from the 1947 novel In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes.Bogart stars in the film as Dixon Steele, a... |
Laurel Gray | |
| 1952 | The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture... |
Angel | |
| Macao | Margie | ||
| Sudden Fear Sudden Fear Sudden Fear is a 1952 RKO Radio Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a noir-ish tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel by Edna Sherry. Sudden Fear was directed by David... |
Irene Neves | ||
| The Bad and the Beautiful The Bad and the Beautiful The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1952 MGM melodramatic film that tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It was directed by Vincente Minelli and stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland. The film was... |
Rosemary Bartlow | Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated - Golden Globe |
|
| 1953 | The Glass Wall The Glass Wall The Glass Wall is a black-and-white 1953 film directed by Maxwell Shane. The film was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:... |
Maggie Summers | |
| Man on a Tightrope Man on a Tightrope Man on a Tightrope is a 1953 American film directed by Elia Kazan, starring Fredric March, Terry Moore and Gloria Grahame. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood was based on a 1952 novel of the same title by Neil Paterson... |
Zama Cernik | ||
| The Big Heat The Big Heat The Big Heat is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin. It is about a cop who takes on the crime syndicate that controls his city after the brutal murder of his beloved wife. The film was written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm based on a... |
Debby Marsh | ||
| Prisoners of the Casbah | Princess Nadja aka Yasmin | ||
| 1954 | Human Desire Human Desire Human Desire is a black-and-white film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and based on the novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola. The story was filmed twice before: La Bête humaine directed by Jean Renoir and Die Bestie im Menschen .-Plot:Railroad supervisor Carl Buckley gets fired from his job... |
Vicki Buckley | |
| Naked Alibi Naked Alibi Naked Alibi is a 1954 black-and-white film starring Sterling Hayden. Portions of the film, considered film noir, were shot in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.-Plot:... |
Marianna | ||
| The Good Die Young The Good Die Young The Good Die Young is a crime thriller made in the United Kingdom by Remus Productions, featuring a number of American characters. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Macaulay.... |
Denise Blaine | ||
| 1955 | The Cobweb The Cobweb (film) The Cobweb is a MGM film. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and based on a novel by William Gibson. It was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection on January 18, 2011.... |
Karen McIver | |
| Not as a Stranger Not as a Stranger Not as a Stranger was a 1954 novel written by Morton Thompson. The romantic melodrama became widely popular, topping that year's list of bestselling novels in the United States. The novel was adapted into a 1955 film of the same name by United Artists Pictures... |
Harriet Lang | ||
| Oklahoma! | Ado Annie Carnes | ||
| 1956 | The Man Who Never Was The Man Who Never Was The Man Who Never Was is a nonfiction 1953 book by Ewen Montagu and a 1956 Second World War war film, based on the book and dramatising actual events... |
Lucy Sherwood | |
| 1957 | Ride Out for Revenge | Amy Porter | |
| 1959 | Odds Against Tomorrow Odds Against Tomorrow Odds Against Tomorrow is a 1959 film noir produced and directed by Robert Wise for HarBel Productions, a company founded by the film's star, Harry Belafonte. Belafonte selected Abraham Polonsky to write the script, which is based on a novel by William P. McGivern. As a blacklisted writer Polonsky... |
Helen | |
| 1966 | Ride Beyond Vengeance Ride Beyond Vengeance Ride Beyond Vengeance is a 1966 western film. It stars Chuck Connors, Michael Rennie, Kathryn Hays and Bill Bixby.The film was directed by Bernard McEveety and produced by Andrew J. Fenady from the story "The Night of the Tiger" by Al Dewlen. Glenn Yarbrough sang the title song vocals. It was... |
Bonnie Shelley | |
| 1971 | Blood and Lace Blood and Lace Blood and Lace is a 1971 horror film directed by Philip Gilbert, starring Gloria Grahame, Melody Patterson, Len Lesser, and Milton Selzer.-Plot:After her prostitute mother and her john are beaten to death while... |
Mrs. Deere | |
| The Todd Killings | Mrs. Roy | ||
| Chandler | Selma | ||
| 1972 | The Loners | Annabelle | |
| 1973 | Tarot | Angela | |
| 1974 | Mama's Dirty Girls | Mama Love | |
| 1976 | Mansion of the Doomed | Katherine | |
| 1979 | A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (film) A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square is a 1979 British heist film directed by Ralph Thomas, written by Guy Elmes and starring Richard Jordan, Oliver Tobias, and David Niven... |
Ma Fox | |
| Head Over Heels Head Over Heels (1979 film) Chilly Scenes of Winter is a 1979 romantic comedy film, written and directed by Joan Micklin Silver.The film is an adaptation of the 1976 novel Chilly Scenes of Winter by Ann Beattie.-Name change:... |
Clara | ||
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard Melvin and Howard Melvin and Howard is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme. The screenplay by Bo Goldman was inspired by real-life Utah service station owner Melvin Dummar, who was listed as the beneficiary of USD$156 million in a will allegedly handwritten by Howard Hughes that was... |
Mrs. Sisk | |
| 1982 | The Nesting The Nesting The Nesting is a 1981 horror film directed and co-written by Armand Weston.-Plot:... |
Florinda Costello |
External links
- Gloria Grahame at Film Reference
- Gloria Grahame – Article by Donald Chase