Joan Bennett
Encyclopedia
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage
, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures
from the era of silent movies
well into the sound era
. She is possibly best-remembered for her film noir
femme fatale
roles in director
Fritz Lang
's movies such as The Woman in the Window
(1944) and Scarlet Street
(1945).
Bennett had three distinct phases to her long and successful career, first as a winsome blonde ingenue
, then as a sensuous brunette femme fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of Hedy Lamarr
), and finally as a warmhearted wife/mother figure.
In 1951, Bennett's screen career was marred by scandal
after her third husband, film producer Walter Wanger, shot and injured her agent
Jennings Lang. Wanger suspected that Lang and Bennett were having an affair, a charge which she adamantly denied.
In the 1960s, she achieved success for her portrayal of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
on TV
's Dark Shadows
, for which she received an Emmy nomination. For her final movie role, as Madame Blanc in Suspiria
(1977), she received a Saturn Award
nomination.
, the third of three daughters of actor Richard Bennett
and actress/literary agent Adrienne Morrison
. Adrienne Morrison's father was famous stage actor Lewis Morrison. Lewis Morrison (an Anglo-Scottish surname), whose real name was Morris Morris (an English, Scottish and Welsh surname), was a former mixed English and Spanish (his Spanish mother's maiden name was Carvalho) Confederate and Union lieutenant who served in the Confederate and Union Native Guards in the American Civil War. Her older sisters were actress Constance Bennett
and actress/dancer Barbara Bennett
, who was the mother of Morton Downey, Jr.
Part of a famous theatrical family, Bennett's maternal grandfather was Jamaica
-born Shakespearean
actor Lewis Morrison
, who embarked on a stage career in the late 1860s. He was of English and Spanish ancestry. On the side of her maternal grandmother, actress Rose Wood, the profession dated back to traveling minstrel
s in 18th century England
.
Bennett first appeared in a silent movie as a child with her parents and sisters in her father's drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he adapted for the screen. She attended Miss Hopkins School for Girls in Manhattan
, then St. Margaret's, a boarding school
in Waterbury, Connecticut
, and L'Hermitage, a finishing school
in Versailles
, France
.
On September 15, 1926, she and John M. Fox were married in London
. They were divorced on July 30, 1928 in Los Angeles
. They had one child, Adrienne Ralston Fox (born February 20, 1928, later named Diana Bennett Markey, then Diana Bennett Wanger)
for 136 performances and for which she received good reviews. By age 19, she had become a movie star through such roles as Phyllis Benton in the mystery
/thriller talkie Bulldog Drummond
starring Ronald Colman
, which was her first important role, and Lady Clarissa Pevensey opposite George Arliss
in the biopic
Disraeli
(both 1929).
She moved quickly from movie to movie throughout the 1930s. Bennett appeared as a blonde (her natural hair color) for several years. She starred in the role of Dolores Fenton in the United Artists
musical
Puttin' on the Ritz
(1930) opposite Harry Richman
and as Faith Mapple, his beloved, opposite John Barrymore
in an early sound version of Moby Dick
(1930) at Warner Brothers
Studios
.
Under contract to Fox Film Corporation, she appeared in several movies. Receiving top billing, she played the role of Jane Miller opposite Spencer Tracy
in She Wanted a Millionaire
(1932). She was billed second, after Tracy, for her role as Helen Riley, a personable waitress who trades wisecracks, in Me and My Gal
(1932).
On March 16, 1932, she married screenwriter/film producer Gene Markey
in Los Angeles, but the couple divorced in Los Angeles on June 3, 1937. They had one child, Melinda Markey (born February 27, 1934).
Bennett left Fox to play Amy, a pert sister competing with Katharine Hepburn
's Jo in Little Women
(1933), which was directed by George Cukor
for RKO
. This movie brought Bennett to the attention of
independent film producer Walter Wanger
, who signed her to a contract and began managing her career. She played the role of Sally MacGregor, a psychiatrist's young wife slipping into insanity, in Private Worlds
(1935) with Claudette Colbert
, Charles Boyer
, and Joel McCrea
. Wanger and director Tay Garnett
persuaded Bennett to change her hair from blonde to brunette as part of the plot for her role as Kay Kerrigan in the scenic Trade Winds
(1938) opposite Fredric March
.
With her change in appearance, Bennett began an entirely new screen career as her persona evolved into that of a glamorous, seductive femme fatale. She played the role of Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask
(1939) opposite Louis Hayward
, and the role of the Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg in The Son of Monte Cristo
(1940) opposite Hayward.
During the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara
in Gone with the Wind
, Bennett was given a screen test
and impressed producer David O. Selznick
to such an extent, she was one of the final four actresses along with Jean Arthur
, Vivien Leigh
and Paulette Goddard
. Selznick eventually cast Vivien Leigh
in the coveted role.
On January 12, 1940, Bennett and Walter Wanger
were married in Phoenix
. They were divorced in September 1965 in Mexico
. They had two children together, Stephanie Wanger (born June 26, 1943) and Shelley Wanger (born July 4, 1948). The following year in March 1949, she became a grandmother at 39. Similar to her co-star Elizabeth Taylor
who became a grandmother at the same age.
Combined with her sultry eyes and husky voice, Bennett's new brunette look gave her an earthier, more arresting persona. She won praise for her performances as Brenda Bentley in the crime
/drama
The House Across the Bay
(1940), also featuring George Raft
, and as Carol Hoffman in the anti-Nazi drama The Man I Married
, a film in which Francis Lederer
also starred.
She then appeared in a sequence of highly regarded film noir
thrillers directed by Fritz Lang
, with whom she and Wanger formed their own production company. Bennett appeared in four movies under Lang's direction, including as Cockney prostitute Jerry Stokes in Man Hunt
(1941) opposite Walter Pidgeon
, as mysterious model Alice Reed in The Woman in the Window
(1944) with Edward G. Robinson
, and as vulgar blackmailer Katharine "Kitty" March in Scarlet Street
(1945), another film with Robinson.
Bennett was the shrewish, cuckolding wife, Margaret Macomber, in Zoltan Korda
's The Macomber Affair
(1947) opposite Gregory Peck
, as the deceitful wife, Peggy, in Jean Renoir
's The Woman on the Beach
(also 1947) opposite Robert Ryan
and Charles Bickford
, and as the tormented blackmail victim Lucia Harper in Max Ophuls
' The Reckless Moment
(1949) opposite James Mason
. Then, easily shifting images again, she changed her screen persona to that of an elegant, witty and nurturing wife and mother in two classic comedies
directed by Vincente Minnelli
.
Playing the role of Ellie Banks, wife of Spencer Tracy
and mother of Elizabeth Taylor
, Bennett appeared in both Father of the Bride
(1950) and Father's Little Dividend
(1951).
She made a number of radio appearances from the 1930s to the 1950s, performing on such programs as The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show
, Duffy's Tavern
, and the anthology series Lux Radio Theater
.
With the increasing popularity of television, Bennett made five guest appearances in 1951, including an episode of Sid Caesar
and Imogene Coca
's Your Show of Shows
.
Jennings Lang
. She and the onetime vice-president of the Sam Jaffe Agency
, who now headed MCA
's West Coast
television
operations, met on the afternoon of December 13, 1951, to talk over an upcoming TV show.
Bennett parked her Cadillac
convertible in the lot at the back of the MCA offices, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford Drive, across the street from the Beverly Hills Police Department
, and she and Lang drove off in his car. Meanwhile, her husband Walter Wanger
drove by at about 2:30 p.m. and noticed his wife's car parked there. Half an hour later, he again saw her car there and stopped to wait. Bennett and Lang drove into the parking lot a few hours later and he walked her to her convertible. As she started the engine, turned on the headlights and prepared to drive away, Lang leaned on the car, with both hands raised to his shoulders, and talked to her.
In a fit of jealousy, Wanger walked up and twice shot and wounded the unsuspecting agent. One bullet hit Jennings in the right thigh, near the hip, and the other penetrated his groin. Bennett said she did not see Wanger at first. She said she suddenly saw two livid flashes, then Lang slumped to the ground. As soon as she recognized who had fired the shots, she told Wanger, "Get away and leave us alone." He tossed the pistol into his wife's car.
She and the parking lot's service station manager took Lang to the agent's doctor. He was then taken to a hospital, where he recovered. The police, who had heard the shots, came to the scene and found the gun in Bennett's car when they took Wanger into custody. Wanger was booked and fingerprinted, and underwent lengthy questioning.
"I shot him because I thought he was breaking up my home," Wanger told the chief of police
of Beverly Hills
. He was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder. Bennett denied a romance, however. "But if Walter thinks the relationships between Mr. Lang and myself are romantic or anything but strictly business, he is wrong," she declared. She blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown
. The following day Wanger, out on bond, returned to their Holmby Hills
home, collected his belongings and moved. Bennett, however, said there would not be a divorce.
On December 14, Bennett issued a statement
in which she said she hoped her husband "will not be blamed too much" for wounding her agent. She read the prepared statement in the bedroom of her home to a group of newspapermen while TV cameras recorded the scene.
Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler
, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense
. He then decided to waive his rights to a jury and threw himself on the mercy of the court. Wanger served a four-month sentence in the County Honor Farm at Castaic
, 39 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles
, quickly returning to his career to make a series of successful films.
Meanwhile, Bennett went to Chicago
to appear on the stage
in the role as the young witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book, and Candle
, then went on national tour with the production.
Bennett made only five movies in the decade that followed, as the shooting incident was a stain on her career and she became virtually blacklisted. Blaming the scandal that occurred for destroying her career in the motion picture industry, she once said, "I might as well have pulled the trigger myself." Although Humphrey Bogart
, a longtime friend of Bennett's, pleaded with the studio on her behalf to keep her role as Amelie Ducotel in We're No Angels (1955), that movie proved to be one of her last.
As the movie offers dwindled after the scandal, Bennett continued touring in stage successes, such as Susan and God, Once More, with Feeling, The Pleasure of His Company and Never Too Late. Her next TV appearance was in the role as Bettina Blane for an episode of General Electric Theater
in 1954. Other roles include Honora in Climax! (1955) and Vickie Maxwell in Playhouse 90
(1957). In 1958, she appeared as the mother in the short-lived television comedy/drama Too Young to Go Steady to teenagers played by Brigid Bazlen
and Martin Huston
.
She starred on Broadway in the comedy Love Me Little (1958), which ran for only eight performances.
Despite the shooting scandal and the damage it caused Bennett's career, she and Wanger remained married until 1965. She continued to work steadily on the stage
and in television
, including her guest role as Denise Mitchell in an episode of TV's Burke's Law
.
Bennett was a cast regular on the gothic
daytime television
soap opera
Dark Shadows
, which attracted a major cult TV following, for its entire five year run, 1966 to 1971, receiving an Emmy Award
nomination in 1968 for her performance as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
, mistress of the haunted Collinwood Mansion
. Her other roles on Dark Shadows were Naomi Collins, Judith Collins Trask, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard PT, Flora Collins, and Flora Collins PT. In 1970, she appeared as Elizabeth in House of Dark Shadows
, the feature film adaptation of the series. She declined to appear in the sequel Night of Dark Shadows
however, and her character Elizabeth was mentioned as being recently deceased.
Her autobiography
, The Bennett Playbill, written with Lois Kibbee
, was published in 1970.
Other TV guest appearances include Bennett's roles as Joan Darlene Delaney in an episode of The Governor & J.J.
(1970) and as Edith in an episode of Love, American Style
(1971). She starred in five made-for-TV movies
between 1972 and 1982.
Bennett also appeared in one more feature film, as Madame Blanc in Italian
director Dario Argento
's horror
thriller Suspiria
(1977), for which she received a 1978 Saturn Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
On February 14, 1978, she and retired publisher
/movie critic
David Wilde were married in White Plains, New York
. Their marriage lasted until her death.
Celebrated for not taking herself too seriously, Bennett said in a 1986 interview, "I don't think much of most of the films I made, but being a movie star
was something I liked very much."
at her home in Scarsdale, New York
. She is interred in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut
, with her parents.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
for her work in Motion Pictures, at 6310 Hollywood Boulevard
, Hollywood
.
, as well as network television
productions, series
work and made-for-TV movies
, which are listed here in their entirety.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
from the era of silent movies
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
well into the sound era
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
. She is possibly best-remembered for her 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...
femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
roles in director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
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 movies such as The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley who meets and becomes enamored with a young femme fatale....
(1944) and Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne by director Jean Renoir.The principal actors Edward G...
(1945).
Bennett had three distinct phases to her long and successful career, first as a winsome blonde ingenue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
, then as a sensuous brunette femme fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
), and finally as a warmhearted wife/mother figure.
In 1951, Bennett's screen career was marred by scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
after her third husband, film producer Walter Wanger, shot and injured her agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
Jennings Lang. Wanger suspected that Lang and Bennett were having an affair, a charge which she adamantly denied.
In the 1960s, she achieved success for her portrayal of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...
on TV
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
's Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
, for which she received an Emmy nomination. For her final movie role, as Madame Blanc in Suspiria
Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
(1977), she received a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
nomination.
Early life
She was born in the Palisades section of Fort Lee, New JerseyFort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
, the third of three daughters of actor Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett (actor)
Richard Bennett was an American actor who became a stage and silent screen matinee idol over the early decades of the twentieth century.-Early Life:...
and actress/literary agent Adrienne Morrison
Adrienne Morrison
Mabel Adrienne Morrison was a semi-successful stage actress of the early 20th century. She married actor Richard Bennett, with whom she had three daughters who later would become actresses. She was the daughter of actress and actor Lewis Morrison. She appeared as Nat-u-ritch, the Indian squaw, in...
. Adrienne Morrison's father was famous stage actor Lewis Morrison. Lewis Morrison (an Anglo-Scottish surname), whose real name was Morris Morris (an English, Scottish and Welsh surname), was a former mixed English and Spanish (his Spanish mother's maiden name was Carvalho) Confederate and Union lieutenant who served in the Confederate and Union Native Guards in the American Civil War. Her older sisters were actress Constance Bennett
Constance Bennett
-Early life:She was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison , a wealthy performer of English and Spanish ancestry...
and actress/dancer Barbara Bennett
Barbara Bennett
Barbara Jane Bennett was an American silent film actress.Born into an acting family, she was the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison. Her sisters were actresses Constance and Joan Bennett.Bennett would never succeed to...
, who was the mother of Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and later a television talk show host of the 1980s who pioneered the "trash TV" format on his program The Morton Downey Jr. Show....
Part of a famous theatrical family, Bennett's maternal grandfather was Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
-born Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
actor Lewis Morrison
Morris W. Morris
Morris W. Morris was a Jamaican-born American stage actor best known for his longtime performance in the role of "Mephistopheles" in "Faust". Morris was of English and Spanish ancestry....
, who embarked on a stage career in the late 1860s. He was of English and Spanish ancestry. On the side of her maternal grandmother, actress Rose Wood, the profession dated back to traveling minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
s in 18th century 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...
.
Bennett first appeared in a silent movie as a child with her parents and sisters in her father's drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he adapted for the screen. She attended Miss Hopkins School for Girls in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, then St. Margaret's, a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
, and L'Hermitage, a finishing school
Finishing school
A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...
in Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
On September 15, 1926, she and John M. Fox were married in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They were divorced on July 30, 1928 in Los Angeles
Los 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...
. They had one child, Adrienne Ralston Fox (born February 20, 1928, later named Diana Bennett Markey, then Diana Bennett Wanger)
Career
Bennett's stage debut was at age 18, acting with her father in Jarnegan (1928), which ran on BroadwayBroadway 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 136 performances and for which she received good reviews. By age 19, she had become a movie star through such roles as Phyllis Benton in the mystery
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
/thriller talkie Bulldog Drummond
Bulldog Drummond (1929 film)
Bulldog Drummond is a detective film which tells the story of Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, a British officer bored with civilian life, who investigates an extortion case for a beautiful girl. The film stars Ronald Colman, Claud Allister, Lawrence Grant, Montagu Love, Wilson Benge, Joan...
starring Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
, which was her first important role, and Lady Clarissa Pevensey opposite George Arliss
George Arliss
George Arliss was an English actor, author and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.-Life and career:...
in the biopic
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
Disraeli
Disraeli (film)
Disraeli is a film that was adapted by Julien Josephson and De Leon Anthony from a play by Louis N. Parker. The film was directed by Alfred E. Green....
(both 1929).
She moved quickly from movie to movie throughout the 1930s. Bennett appeared as a blonde (her natural hair color) for several years. She starred in the role of Dolores Fenton in the United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz
"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a popular song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz . The title derives from the slang expression "putting on the Ritz," meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the...
(1930) opposite Harry Richman
Harry Richman
Harry Richman was an American entertainer. He was a singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and night club performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s....
and as Faith Mapple, his beloved, opposite John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
in an early sound version of Moby Dick
Moby Dick (1930 film)
Moby Dick is a 1930 film made by Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring John Barrymore and Joan Bennett. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast, starring Barrymore, which uses exactly the same plot as the 1930 version.- Plot :The film tells of a sea...
(1930) at Warner Brothers
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Studios
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
.
Under contract to Fox Film Corporation, she appeared in several movies. Receiving top billing, she played the role of Jane Miller opposite Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
in She Wanted a Millionaire
She Wanted a Millionaire
She Wanted a Millionaire is a pre-Code 1932 movie starring Joan Bennett and Spencer Tracy. The film was directed by John G. Blystone and also features Una Merkel. This is the only film that Bennett and Tracy made together in which she was billed over Tracy...
(1932). She was billed second, after Tracy, for her role as Helen Riley, a personable waitress who trades wisecracks, in Me and My Gal
Me and My Gal
Me and My Gal is a 1932 American motion picture drama and romantic comedy starring Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett, directed by Raoul Walsh, and released by the Fox Film Corporation...
(1932).
Gene Markey
Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey was an American author, producer, screenwriter, and highly decorated naval officer.-Biography:...
in Los Angeles, but the couple divorced in Los Angeles on June 3, 1937. They had one child, Melinda Markey (born February 27, 1934).
Bennett left Fox to play Amy, a pert sister competing with Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
's Jo in Little Women
Little Women (1933 film)
Little Women is a 1933 American drama film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman is based on the classic novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott...
(1933), which was directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
for RKO
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...
. This movie brought Bennett to the attention of
independent film producer Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
, who signed her to a contract and began managing her career. She played the role of Sally MacGregor, a psychiatrist's young wife slipping into insanity, in Private Worlds
Private Worlds
Private Worlds is a drama film which tells the story of the staff and patients at a mental hospital, and the chief of the hospital who has problems dealing with a female psychiatrist. It stars Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, and Helen Vinson.The movie was written by...
(1935) with Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
, Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
, and Joel McCrea
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
. Wanger and director Tay Garnett
Tay Garnett
Tay Garnett was an American film director and writer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Garnett served as a naval aviator in World War I and entered films as a screenwriter in 1920. He was a gagwriter for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, then joined Pathé and began to direct films in 1928...
persuaded Bennett to change her hair from blonde to brunette as part of the plot for her role as Kay Kerrigan in the scenic Trade Winds
Trade Winds (1938 film)
Trade Winds is a 1938 comedy film distributed by United Artist. It was directed by Tay Garnett, and starred Fredric March and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell and Frank R...
(1938) opposite Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
.
With her change in appearance, Bennett began an entirely new screen career as her persona evolved into that of a glamorous, seductive femme fatale. She played the role of Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film)
The Man in the Iron Mask is a 1939 American film very loosely adapted from the last section of the novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père, which is itself based on the French legend of the Man in the Iron Mask....
(1939) opposite Louis Hayward
Louis Hayward
Louis Charles Hayward was a British actor born in South Africa.-Biography:Born in Johannesburg, Hayward began his screen work in British films, notably as Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint in New York.] In 1939 he played a dual role in The Man in the Iron Mask.During World War II,...
, and the role of the Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg in The Son of Monte Cristo
The Son of Monte Cristo
The Son of Monte Cristo is a 1940 black-and-white film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, and George Sanders....
(1940) opposite Hayward.
During the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O' Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, Bennett was given a screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
and impressed producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
to such an extent, she was one of the final four actresses along with Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
, Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
and Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
. Selznick eventually cast Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
in the coveted role.
On January 12, 1940, Bennett and Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
were married in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. They were divorced in September 1965 in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They had two children together, Stephanie Wanger (born June 26, 1943) and Shelley Wanger (born July 4, 1948). The following year in March 1949, she became a grandmother at 39. Similar to her co-star Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
who became a grandmother at the same age.
Combined with her sultry eyes and husky voice, Bennett's new brunette look gave her an earthier, more arresting persona. She won praise for her performances as Brenda Bentley in the crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
/drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
The House Across the Bay
The House Across the Bay
The House Across the Bay is a 1940 film directed by Archie Mayo, produced by Walter Wanger, written by Myles Connolly and Kathryn Scola, and released by United Artists. The picture involves a singer who waits for an imprisoned gangster to be released from Alcatraz, and also features Lloyd Nolan...
(1940), also featuring George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
, and as Carol Hoffman in the anti-Nazi drama The Man I Married
The Man I Married
The Man I Married is a 1940 drama film starring Joan Bennett and Francis Lederer. An American woman marries a German, only to lose him to the Nazi Party when the couple travel to Germany.-Cast:...
, a film in which Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer was a film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.-Europe:...
also starred.
She then appeared in a sequence of highly regarded 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...
thrillers directed by 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...
, with whom she and Wanger formed their own production company. Bennett appeared in four movies under Lang's direction, including as Cockney prostitute Jerry Stokes in Man Hunt
Man Hunt (1941 film)
Man Hunt is a 1941 American thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Walter Pidgeon and Joan Bennett. It is based on the 1939 novel Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household and is set just prior to the Second World War. A Jewish liberal, Lang had fled Germany into exile in the mid 1930s - this was...
(1941) opposite Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
, as mysterious model Alice Reed in The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley who meets and becomes enamored with a young femme fatale....
(1944) with Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
, and as vulgar blackmailer Katharine "Kitty" March in Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne by director Jean Renoir.The principal actors Edward G...
(1945), another film with Robinson.
Bennett was the shrewish, cuckolding wife, Margaret Macomber, in Zoltan Korda
Zoltán Korda
Zoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
's The Macomber Affair
The Macomber Affair
The Macomber Affair is a 1947 in filmZ1947 psychological drama set in British East Africa concerning a fatal triangle of a frustrated wife, a weak husband, and the professional hunter who comes between them. The film was distributed by United Artists, directed by Zoltan Korda, and starring by...
(1947) opposite Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, as the deceitful wife, Peggy, in Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
's The Woman on the Beach
The Woman on the Beach
The Woman on the Beach is a film noir directed by Jean Renoir, released by RKO Radio Pictures, and starring Robert Ryan, Joan Bennett, and Charles Bickford.-Overview:...
(also 1947) opposite Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
and Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
, and as the tormented blackmail victim Lucia Harper in Max Ophuls
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
' The Reckless Moment
The Reckless Moment
The Reckless Moment is a film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. Starring Joan Bennett and James Mason, the film is based on The Blank Wall , a novel written by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding...
(1949) opposite James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
. Then, easily shifting images again, she changed her screen persona to that of an elegant, witty and nurturing wife and mother in two classic comedies
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
.
Playing the role of Ellie Banks, wife of Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and mother of Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Bennett appeared in both Father of the Bride
Father of the Bride (1950 film)
Father of the Bride is a 1950 American comedy film about a man trying to cope with preparations for his daughter's upcoming wedding. The movie stars Spencer Tracy in the titular role, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, and Leo G. Carroll. It was adapted by Frances Goodrich...
(1950) and Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend is a 1951 comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie is the sequel to Father of the Bride ....
(1951).
She made a number of radio appearances from the 1930s to the 1950s, performing on such programs as The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
, Duffy's Tavern
Duffy's Tavern
Duffy's Tavern was a popular American radio situation comedy which ran for a decade on several networks , concluding with the December 28, 1951 broadcast....
, and the anthology series Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
.
With the increasing popularity of television, Bennett made five guest appearances in 1951, including an episode of Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...
and Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca
Imogene Fernandez de Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows....
's Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
.
Scandal
For twelve years, Bennett was represented by agentTalent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang was an American film producer, as well as a screenwriter and actor.- Biography :...
. She and the onetime vice-president of the Sam Jaffe Agency
Sam Jaffe (producer)
Sam Jaffe was, at different points in his career in the motion picture industry, an agent, a producer and a studio executive. He was brother-in-law to B.P...
, who now headed MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
's West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
television
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
operations, met on the afternoon of December 13, 1951, to talk over an upcoming TV show.
Bennett parked her Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
convertible in the lot at the back of the MCA offices, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford Drive, across the street from the Beverly Hills Police Department
Beverly Hills Police Department
The Beverly Hills Police Department is the police department of the City of Beverly Hills, California. The current police chief of the BHPD is David L. Snowden.-History:...
, and she and Lang drove off in his car. Meanwhile, her husband Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger was an American film producer. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a...
drove by at about 2:30 p.m. and noticed his wife's car parked there. Half an hour later, he again saw her car there and stopped to wait. Bennett and Lang drove into the parking lot a few hours later and he walked her to her convertible. As she started the engine, turned on the headlights and prepared to drive away, Lang leaned on the car, with both hands raised to his shoulders, and talked to her.
In a fit of jealousy, Wanger walked up and twice shot and wounded the unsuspecting agent. One bullet hit Jennings in the right thigh, near the hip, and the other penetrated his groin. Bennett said she did not see Wanger at first. She said she suddenly saw two livid flashes, then Lang slumped to the ground. As soon as she recognized who had fired the shots, she told Wanger, "Get away and leave us alone." He tossed the pistol into his wife's car.
She and the parking lot's service station manager took Lang to the agent's doctor. He was then taken to a hospital, where he recovered. The police, who had heard the shots, came to the scene and found the gun in Bennett's car when they took Wanger into custody. Wanger was booked and fingerprinted, and underwent lengthy questioning.
"I shot him because I thought he was breaking up my home," Wanger told the chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
of Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
. He was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder. Bennett denied a romance, however. "But if Walter thinks the relationships between Mr. Lang and myself are romantic or anything but strictly business, he is wrong," she declared. She blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
. The following day Wanger, out on bond, returned to their Holmby Hills
Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California
Holmby Hills is an affluent neighborhood in the district of Westwood in western Los Angeles. It is bordered by the city of Beverly Hills on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, Westwood on the west, and Bel Air on the north. Sunset Boulevard is the area's principal thoroughfare which divides...
home, collected his belongings and moved. Bennett, however, said there would not be a divorce.
On December 14, Bennett issued a statement
News release
A press release, news release, media release, press statement or video release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy...
in which she said she hoped her husband "will not be blamed too much" for wounding her agent. She read the prepared statement in the bedroom of her home to a group of newspapermen while TV cameras recorded the scene.
Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler
Jerry Giesler
Jerry Giesler was an American criminal defense lawyer.For more than half a century, Jerry Giesler was a household name across the United States. He was the first president of the Criminal Courts Bar Association in Los Angeles.-Early career:Giesler was born in Iowa...
, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense
Defense (legal)
In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability...
. He then decided to waive his rights to a jury and threw himself on the mercy of the court. Wanger served a four-month sentence in the County Honor Farm at Castaic
Castaic, California
Castaic, California, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, north of Santa Clarita and a few miles from Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. It is approximately 39 miles from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center. As of the 2010...
, 39 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, quickly returning to his career to make a series of successful films.
Meanwhile, Bennett went to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to appear on the stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in the role as the young witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book, and Candle
Bell, book, and candle
The phrase "bell, book, and candle" refers to a method of excommunication for one who had committed a particularly grievous sin. Apparently introduced around the late 9th century, the practice was once used by the Catholic Church; in modern times, a simple pronouncement is made...
, then went on national tour with the production.
Bennett made only five movies in the decade that followed, as the shooting incident was a stain on her career and she became virtually blacklisted. Blaming the scandal that occurred for destroying her career in the motion picture industry, she once said, "I might as well have pulled the trigger myself." Although Humphrey Bogart
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....
, a longtime friend of Bennett's, pleaded with the studio on her behalf to keep her role as Amelie Ducotel in We're No Angels (1955), that movie proved to be one of her last.
As the movie offers dwindled after the scandal, Bennett continued touring in stage successes, such as Susan and God, Once More, with Feeling, The Pleasure of His Company and Never Too Late. Her next TV appearance was in the role as Bettina Blane for an episode of General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
in 1954. Other roles include Honora in Climax! (1955) and Vickie Maxwell in Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
(1957). In 1958, she appeared as the mother in the short-lived television comedy/drama Too Young to Go Steady to teenagers played by Brigid Bazlen
Brigid Bazlen
Brigid Mary Bazlen was an American actress. Although she made only three Hollywood films, The Honeymoon Machine, King of Kings, and How the West Was Won, because all three remain popular films from the early 1960s, she is still remembered...
and Martin Huston
Martin Huston
Martin W. Huston, also known as Marty Huston , was an American actor of primarily television and stage....
.
She starred on Broadway in the comedy Love Me Little (1958), which ran for only eight performances.
Later years
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and in television
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, including her guest role as Denise Mitchell in an episode of TV's Burke's Law
Burke's Law
Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...
.
Bennett was a cast regular on the gothic
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
daytime television
Daytime television
Daytime television is the general term for television shows produced that are intended to air during the daytime hours on weekdays. This article is about American daytime television, for information about international daytime television see Daytime television....
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
, which attracted a major cult TV following, for its entire five year run, 1966 to 1971, receiving an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination in 1968 for her performance as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...
, mistress of the haunted Collinwood Mansion
Collinwood Mansion
Collinwood Mansion is a fictional house featured in the Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows . Built in 1795 by Joshua Collins, Collinwood has been home to the Collins family and other sometimes un-welcome supernatural visitors since its inception. The house is located near the town of...
. Her other roles on Dark Shadows were Naomi Collins, Judith Collins Trask, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard PT, Flora Collins, and Flora Collins PT. In 1970, she appeared as Elizabeth in House of Dark Shadows
House of Dark Shadows
House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis based on his Dark Shadows television series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: parts of the locals appeared on the Dark Shadows series as...
, the feature film adaptation of the series. She declined to appear in the sequel Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to House of Dark Shadows. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine....
however, and her character Elizabeth was mentioned as being recently deceased.
Her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, The Bennett Playbill, written with Lois Kibbee
Lois Kibbee
Lois Kibbee was an American actress.Kibbee was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The daughter of actor Milton Kibbee and the niece of actor Guy Kibbee, Lois is best remembered for portrayal of Geraldine Weldon Whitney Saxon on the CBS/ABC daytime soap opera The Edge of Night, where she appeared from...
, was published in 1970.
Other TV guest appearances include Bennett's roles as Joan Darlene Delaney in an episode of The Governor & J.J.
The Governor & J.J.
The Governor & J.J. is a television series that ran from 1969 to 1970 on CBS in the United States and in Canada, where it ran on CBC. Selected episodes were rerun by CBS during the summer of 1972. It was produced by Talent Associates and CBS Productions...
(1970) and as Edith in an episode of Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
(1971). She starred in five made-for-TV movies
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
between 1972 and 1982.
Bennett also appeared in one more feature film, as Madame Blanc in Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
director Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
's horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
thriller Suspiria
Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
(1977), for which she received a 1978 Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
On February 14, 1978, she and retired publisher
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
/movie critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
David Wilde were married in White Plains, New York
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
. Their marriage lasted until her death.
Celebrated for not taking herself too seriously, Bennett said in a 1986 interview, "I don't think much of most of the films I made, but being a movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
was something I liked very much."
Death
Bennett died at age 80 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...
at her home in Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...
. She is interred in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut
Lyme, Connecticut
Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,016 at the 2000 census. Lyme and its neighboring town Old Lyme are the namesake for Lyme disease.-Geography:...
, with her parents.
She 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...
for her work in Motion Pictures, at 6310 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
, Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
.
Filmography
Bennett appeared in a large number of motion picturesFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, as well as network television
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
productions, series
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
work and made-for-TV movies
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
, which are listed here in their entirety.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | unborn soul | ||
| 1923 | Page | uncredited | |
| 1928 | Power | a dame | |
| 1929 | extra | uncredited | |
| 1929 | Bulldog Drummond Bulldog Drummond (1929 film) Bulldog Drummond is a detective film which tells the story of Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, a British officer bored with civilian life, who investigates an extortion case for a beautiful girl. The film stars Ronald Colman, Claud Allister, Lawrence Grant, Montagu Love, Wilson Benge, Joan... |
Phyllis Benton | |
| 1929 | Three Live Ghosts Three Live Ghosts (1929 film) Three Live Ghosts is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Beryl Mercer, Hilda Vaughn, Harry Stubbs, Nancy Price, Robert Montgomery, and Tenen Holtz. Three veterans of World War I return home to London after the armistice, only to find they have been mistakenly... |
Rose Gordon | |
| 1929 | Disraeli Disraeli (film) Disraeli is a film that was adapted by Julien Josephson and De Leon Anthony from a play by Louis N. Parker. The film was directed by Alfred E. Green.... |
Lady Clarissa Pevensey | |
| 1929 | The Mississippi Gambler | Lucy Blackburn | |
| 1930 | Puttin' on the Ritz Puttin' on the Ritz (film) Puttin' on the Ritz is a musical film, directed by Edward Sloman and starred Harry Richman, Joan Bennett, and James Gleason. The screenplay was written by James Gleason and William K. Wells, based on a story by John W... |
Delores Fenton | |
| 1930 | Crazy That Way | Ann Jordan | |
| 1930 | Moby Dick Moby Dick (1930 film) Moby Dick is a 1930 film made by Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring John Barrymore and Joan Bennett. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast, starring Barrymore, which uses exactly the same plot as the 1930 version.- Plot :The film tells of a sea... |
Faith Mapple, his beloved | |
| 1930 | Maybe It's Love (a.k.a. Eleven Men and a Girl) | Nan Sheffield | |
| 1930 | Scotland Yard | Xandra, Lady Lasher | |
| 1931 | Many a Slip | Pat Coster | |
| 1931 | Doctors' Wives Doctors' Wives (1931 film) Doctors' Wives is a 1931 romantic drama film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Frank Borzage. The film stars Warner Baxter and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, based on a novel by Henry Lieferant and Sylvia Lieferant.-Cast:*Warner Baxter as Dr. Judson... |
Nina Wyndram | |
| 1931 | Hush Money Hush Money Hush Money is a 1931 American comedy-drama film featuring Joan Bennett, Hardie Albright, Owen Moore, Myrna Loy, and George Raft. The movie was directed by Sidney Lanfield.-Cast:*Joan Bennett as Joan Gordon*Hardie Albright as Stuart Elliot... |
Joan Gordon | |
| 1932 | She Wanted a Millionaire She Wanted a Millionaire She Wanted a Millionaire is a pre-Code 1932 movie starring Joan Bennett and Spencer Tracy. The film was directed by John G. Blystone and also features Una Merkel. This is the only film that Bennett and Tracy made together in which she was billed over Tracy... |
Jane Miller | |
| 1932 | Careless Lady | Sally Brown | |
| 1932 | Vivienne Ware | ||
| 1932 | Week Ends Only Week Ends Only Week Ends Only is a 1932 film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Alan Crosland , and starring by Joan Bennett, Ben Lyon and John Halliday. The screenplay was written by William M... |
Venetia Carr | |
| 1932 | Wild Girl Wild Girl (film) Wild Girl is a 1932 film starring Charles Farrell, Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy, and Eugene Pallette. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, based on a play by Paul Armstrong, Jr. which in turn was based on the story "Salomy Jane's Kiss" by Bret Harte.... |
Salomy Jane | |
| 1932 | Me and My Gal Me and My Gal Me and My Gal is a 1932 American motion picture drama and romantic comedy starring Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett, directed by Raoul Walsh, and released by the Fox Film Corporation... |
Helen Riley | |
| 1933 | Arizona to Broadway Arizona to Broadway Arizona to Broadway is a 1933 crime romance film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed by James Tinling. The screenplay was written by William M. Conselman and Henry Johnson. The film stars James Dunn and Joan Bennett.... |
Lynn Martin | |
| 1933 | Little Women Little Women (1933 film) Little Women is a 1933 American drama film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman is based on the classic novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott... |
Amy | |
| 1934 | Prudence Kirkland | ||
| 1934 | Adele Verin | ||
| 1935 | Private Worlds Private Worlds Private Worlds is a drama film which tells the story of the staff and patients at a mental hospital, and the chief of the hospital who has problems dealing with a female psychiatrist. It stars Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Joel McCrea, Joan Bennett, and Helen Vinson.The movie was written by... |
Sally MacGregor | |
| 1935 | Mississippi Mississippi (1935 film) Mississippi is a musical comedy starring Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, and Joan Bennett. The film was produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. and directed by A. Edward Sutherland from an adaptation of a Booth Tarkington story by Herbert Fields and Claude Binyon... |
Lucy Rumford | |
| 1935 | Two for Tonight Two for Tonight Two for Tonight is a 1935 musical comedy film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Frank Tuttle, produced by Douglas MacLean. The film stars Bing Crosby and Joan Bennett. The music is by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel.-Cast:... |
Bobbie Lockwood | |
| 1935 | She Couldn't Take It She Couldn't Take It She Couldn't Take It is a 1935 comedy film made at Columbia Pictures, directed by Tay Garnett, written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne and Oliver H.P... |
Carol Van Dyke | |
| 1935 | Helen Berkeley | ||
| 1936 | Big Brown Eyes Big Brown Eyes Big Brown Eyes is a 1936 crime/detective film. In the film, police officer Danny Barr is chasing jewel robbers. His girlfriend Eve Fallon is initially working as a manicurist, but quickly takes a job as a reporter assisting in the effort against the jewel thieves... |
Eve Fallon | |
| 1936 | Thirteen Hours by Air Thirteen Hours by Air Thirteen Hours by Air is a 1936 mystery film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen, and starred Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett... |
Felice Rollins | |
| 1936 | Two in a Crowd Two in a Crowd Two in a Crowd is a 1936 romantic comedy film made by Universal Pictures, directed by Alfred E. Green, and starring by Joan Bennett and Joel McCrea. The screenplay was written by Lewis R. Foster, Doris Malloy and Earle Snell, based on story by Lewis R. Foster .- External links :* at Allmovie... |
Julia Wayne | |
| 1936 | Wedding Present Wedding Present (1936 film) Wedding Present is a 1936 romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Richard Wallace, and starred Joan Bennett and Cary Grant... |
Monica "Rusty" Fleming | |
| 1937 | Vogues of 1938 Vogues of 1938 Vogues of 1938 is a 1937 musical film distributed by United Artists, directed by Irving Cummings, written by Bella Spewack and Sam Spewack, and starring by Warner Baxter and Joan Bennett... |
Wendy Van Klettering | |
| 1938 | I Met My Love Again I Met My Love Again I Met My Love Again is a 1938 romantic drama film distributed by United Artists, directed by Joshua Logan, Arthur Ripley and George Cukor. The screenplay was written by David Hertz, based on the novel Summer Lightning by Allene Corliss. The film stars Joan Bennett and Henry Fonda.-Synopsis:Two... |
Julie | |
| 1938 | Ivy Preston | ||
| 1938 | Artists and Models Abroads Artists and Models Abroads Artists and Models Abroad is a 1938 film made by Paramount Pictures directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring by Jack Benny and Joan Bennett... |
Patricia Harper | |
| 1938 | Trade Winds Trade Winds (1938 film) Trade Winds is a 1938 comedy film distributed by United Artist. It was directed by Tay Garnett, and starred Fredric March and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell and Frank R... |
Kay Kerrigan | |
| 1939 | Princess Maria Theresa | ||
| 1939 | Hilda | ||
| 1940 | Green Hell Green Hell Green Hell is a 1940 adventure film directed by James Whale with photography by Karl Freund. The cast includes Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Bennett, John Howard, George Sanders, Alan Hale, Sr., Vincent Price and Ray Mala... |
Stephanie Richardson | |
| 1940 | Brenda Bentley | ||
| 1940 | Carol Hoffman | ||
| 1940 | Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg | ||
| 1941 | She Knew All the Answers She Knew All the Answers She Knew All the Answers is a 1941 comedy film made by Columbia Pictures, directed by Richard Wallace, and starring by Joan Bennett and Franchot Tone... |
Gloria Winters | |
| 1941 | Man Hunt Man Hunt (1941 film) Man Hunt is a 1941 American thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Walter Pidgeon and Joan Bennett. It is based on the 1939 novel Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household and is set just prior to the Second World War. A Jewish liberal, Lang had fled Germany into exile in the mid 1930s - this was... |
Jerry Stokes | |
| 1941 | Wild Geese Calling Wild Geese Calling Wild Geese Calling is a 1941 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by John Brahm, and starring by Henry Fonda and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Horace McCoy, based on novel by Stewart Edward White. The music score is by Alfred Newman.... |
Sally Murdock | |
| 1941 | Confirm or Deny Confirm or Deny Confirm or Deny is a 1941 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Archie Mayo, and starring by Don Ameche and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Jo Swerling, based on a story by Samuel Fuller and Henry Wales.-Main cast:... |
Jennifer Carson | |
| 1942 | Anita Woverman | ||
| 1942 | Twin Beds | Julie Abbott | |
| 1942 | Girl Trouble Girl Trouble (1942 film) Girl Trouble is a 1942 comedy film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Harold D. Schuster, and starring Don Ameche and Joan Bennett.-Plot:... |
June Delaney | |
| 1943 | Margin for Error | Sophia Baumer | |
| 1944 | Alice Reed | ||
| 1945 | Nob Hill Nob Hill (1945 film) Nob Hill is a 1945 technicolor film about a Barbary Coast saloon keeper starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. Part musical and part drama, the movie was directed by Henry Hathaway.-Cast:*George Raft as Tony Angelo*Joan Bennett as Harriet Carruthers... |
Harriet Carruthers | |
| 1945 | Scarlet Street Scarlet Street Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne by director Jean Renoir.The principal actors Edward G... |
Katharine "Kitty" March | |
| 1946 | Colonel Effingham's Raid Colonel Effingham's Raid Colonel Effingham's Raid is a 1946 comedy film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Irving Pichel. The screenplay was written by Kathryn Scola, based on a novel by Berry Fleming. The music score is by Cyril J. Mockridge... |
Ella Sue Dozier | |
| 1947 | Margaret Macomber | ||
| 1947 | Peggy | ||
| 1948 | Secret Beyond the Door... Secret Beyond the Door... Secret Beyond the Door... is a psychological thriller and modern updating of the Bluebeard fairytale, directed by Fritz Lang, produced by Lang's Diana Productions, and released by Universal Pictures. The film starred Joan Bennett and was produced by her husband Walter Wanger... |
Celia Lamphere | |
| 1948 | Hollow Triumph Hollow Triumph Hollow Triumph, also known as The Scar in the United Kingdom, is a film noir released in 1948. It was directed by Steve Sekely and stars Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett.-Plot:... |
Evelyn Hahn | |
| 1949 | Lucia Harper | ||
| 1950 | Father of the Bride Father of the Bride (1950 film) Father of the Bride is a 1950 American comedy film about a man trying to cope with preparations for his daughter's upcoming wedding. The movie stars Spencer Tracy in the titular role, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, and Leo G. Carroll. It was adapted by Frances Goodrich... |
Ellie Banks | |
| 1950 | For Heaven's Sake For Heaven's Sake (1950 film) For Heaven's Sake is a 1950 fantasy film starring Clifton Webb as an angel trying to save the marriage of a couple played by Joan Bennett and Robert Cummings... |
Lydia Bolton | |
| 1951 | Father's Little Dividend Father's Little Dividend Father's Little Dividend is a 1951 comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie is the sequel to Father of the Bride .... |
Ellie Banks | |
| 1951 | Kathy Joplin | ||
| 1954 | Highway Dragnet Highway Dragnet Highway Dragnet is a 1954 crime drama film directed by Nathan Juran, based on story by U.S. Anderson and Roger Corman. The film stars Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix. It tells the story of a former Korean War-era Marine, who hitches a ride with a female fashion photographer and her... |
Mrs. Cummings | |
| 1955 | We're No Angels | Amelie Ducotel | |
| 1956 | There's Always Tomorrow There's Always Tomorrow There's Always Tomorrow is a 1956 drama film made by Universal Pictures, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring by Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Bernard C... |
Marion Groves | |
| 1956 | Navy Wife Navy Wife Navy Wife is a 1956 comedy film directed by Edward Bernds , and starring Joan Bennett, Gary Merrill, Shirley Yamaguchi... |
Peg Blain | |
| 1960 | Desire in the Dust Desire in the Dust Desire in the Dust is a 1960 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by William F. Claxton, and produced by Robert L. Lippert. The film stars Raymond Burr as Col. Ben Marquand, Martha Hyer and Joan Bennett... |
Mrs. Marquand | |
| 1970 | House of Dark Shadows House of Dark Shadows House of Dark Shadows is a 1970 feature-length horror film directed by Dan Curtis based on his Dark Shadows television series. Filming took place at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York with additional footage at nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: parts of the locals appeared on the Dark Shadows series as... |
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard Elizabeth Collins Stoddard Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by... |
|
| 1977 | Suspiria Suspiria Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was... |
Madame Blanc | |
Television programs
- Nash Airflyte Theatre (1951) episode: Peggy
- Your Show of ShowsYour Show of ShowsYour Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
(1951) 1 episode - DangerDanger (TV series)Danger is an anthology series which brought half hour-long dramas to television from 1950 to 1955.-Television:It first aired on September 19, 1950 on CBS. The first episode, entitled "The Black Door", was directed by Yul Brynner with a story by Henry Norton and a teleplay by Irving Elman. It...
(1951) episode: A Clear Case of Suicide - Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (1951) episode: Smith Serves
- Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (1951) episode: The Dream
- General Electric TheaterGeneral Electric TheaterGeneral Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
(1954) episode: You Are Young Only Once ... Bettina Blane - The Best of BroadwayThe Best of BroadwayThe Best of Broadway is a 60-minute television anthology series telecast on CBS from 1954 to 1955 for a total of 9 episodes.*Episode 1: The Royal Family *Episode 2: The Man Who Came to Dinner...
(1954) episode: The Man Who Came to Dinner ... Lorraine Sheldon - Climax! (1955) episode: The Dark Fleece ... Honora
- The Ford Television Theatre (1955) episode: Letters Marked Personal ... Marcia Manners
- The Ford Television Theatre (1956) episode: Dear Diane ... Marion
- Playhouse 90Playhouse 90Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
(1957) episode: The Thundering Wave ... Vickie Maxwell - The DuPont Show of the Month (1957) episode: Junior Miss ... Grace Graves
- PursuitPursuit (TV series)Pursuit is the title of a 30 minute American television anthology drama series which aired on the CBS from 1955—1956.Among the presentations were Kiss Me Again,Stranger starring Jeffrey Hunter, and Margaret O'Brien, Epitaph For a Golden Girl starring Michael Rennie, Rip Torn, and Sally Forrest,...
(1958) episode: Epitaph for a Golden Girl - Too Young to Go Steady (1959) (own series) ... Mary Blake
- Mr. BroadwayMr. BroadwayMr. Broadway is a 13-episode CBS adventure and drama television series starring Craig Stevens , formerly of Peter Gunn, as New York City public relations specialist Mike Bell. The program aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays from September 26 to December 26, 1964...
(1964) episode: Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan ... Mrs. Kelsey - Burke's LawBurke's LawBurke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...
(1965) episode: Who Killed Mr. Colby in Ladies' Lingerie? ... Denise Mitchell - Dark ShadowsDark ShadowsDark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
(1966–1971) (series regular, 386 episodes) ... Elizabeth Collins StoddardElizabeth Collins StoddardElizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by... - The Governor & J.J.The Governor & J.J.The Governor & J.J. is a television series that ran from 1969 to 1970 on CBS in the United States and in Canada, where it ran on CBC. Selected episodes were rerun by CBS during the summer of 1972. It was produced by Talent Associates and CBS Productions...
(1970) episode: Check the Check ... Joan Darlene Delaney - Love, American StyleLove, American StyleLove, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
(1971) episode segment: Love and the Second Time ... Edith - Dr. Simon LockeDr. Simon LockeDr. Simon Locke was a Canadian medical drama that was syndicated to television stations in the United States from 1971 to 1974 through the sponsorship of Colgate-Palmolive....
(1972) episode: The Cortessa Rose ... Cortessa
Made-for-TV movies
- Gidget Gets MarriedGidget Gets MarriedGidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...
(1972) ... Claire Ramsey - The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972) ... Aunt Alexandra
- Suddenly, Love (1978) ... Mrs. Graham
- This House Possessed (1981) ... Rag Lady
- Divorce Wars: A Love Story (1982) ... Adele Burgess
As herself
- Screen Actors (1950) (uncredited)
- The Colgate Comedy HourThe Colgate Comedy HourThe Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
(1951]) 1 episode - What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
(1951) 1 episode - The Ken Murray Show (1951) 1 episode
- Ford Festival (1951)
- Climax! (1956) episode: The Louella Parsons Story
- To Tell the TruthTo Tell the TruthTo Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
(1958) 1 episode - The Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
(1964, 1967, 1970, 1970, 1977) 5 episodes - The Merv Griffin ShowThe Merv Griffin ShowThe Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
(1967) 1 episode - Personality (1968) 1 episode
- The Hollywood Squares (1970) 1 episode
- The Virginia Graham Show (1970) 1 episode
- The Hollywood GreatsThe Hollywood GreatsHollywood Greats was a BBC Television series, which began in 1977. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving associates. He later made a series called British Greats in 1980...
(1977) 2 episodes: Humphrey Bogart; Spencer Tracy - The Guiding Light (1982) 1 episode
- The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn (1986)
Short subject
- Screen Snapshots (1932)
- Hollywood on Parade No. A-12 (1933)
- The Fashion Side of Hollywood (1935)
- Hollywood Party (1937)
- Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 9: Sports in Hollywood (1940)
- Hedda Hopper's Hollywood, No. 6 (1942)
- Screen Actors (1950) (uncredited)
Further reading
- How to Be Attractive, by Joan Bennett, 19431943 in literatureThe year 1943 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Orwell resigns from the BBC to become literary editor of Tribune.*Isaac Bashevis Singer becomes a naturalized citizen of the United States....
, New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
, 131 pp. - The Bennett Playbill, by Joan Bennett and Lois KibbeeLois KibbeeLois Kibbee was an American actress.Kibbee was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The daughter of actor Milton Kibbee and the niece of actor Guy Kibbee, Lois is best remembered for portrayal of Geraldine Weldon Whitney Saxon on the CBS/ABC daytime soap opera The Edge of Night, where she appeared from...
, 19701970 in literatureThe year 1970 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Deliverance by American poet James Dickey published...
, New York, Holt, Rinehart and WinstonHenry Holt and CompanyHenry Holt and Company is an American book publishing company. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt...
, 332 pp. - The Bennetts: An Acting Family, by Brian Kellow, 20042004 in literatureThe year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
, LexingtonLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, University Press of KentuckyUniversity Press of KentuckyThe University Press of Kentucky is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949 the press was established as a separate academic agency...
, 530 pp.