Jump to content

Gladys George

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Volvie99 (talk | contribs) at 00:28, 24 October 2023. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Gladys George
George in 1937
Born
Gladys Clare Evans

(1904-09-13)September 13, 1904
Patten, Maine, U.S.
DiedDecember 8, 1954(1954-12-08) (aged 50)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeValhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
OccupationActress
Years active1918–1954
Spouses
Ben Erway
​
​
(m. 1922; div. 1930)​
Edward Fowler
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1935)​
​
​
(m. 1935; div. 1944)​
Kenneth Bradley
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1951)​

Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936), she spent most of her career in supporting roles in films such as Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Flamingo Road (1949).

Early life

George was born on September 13, 1904[1] in Patten, Maine to British parents, Sir Arthur Evans Clare, a "noted Shakespearean actor", and his wife, Lady Alice.[2][3] Another source indicated "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time."[4]

Career

George went on the stage at the age of 3 and toured the United States, appearing with her parents, who were British actors.[4] She starred onstage in the 1920s, and she had made several films during the early part of that decade. For her role in the film Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936), she received a Best Actress nomination at the 9th Academy Awards.[5]

Other roles were in Madame X (1937), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Way of All Flesh (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), He Ran All the Way (1951), Detective Story (1951), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951).

George's Broadway credits include The Distant City, Lady in Waiting, and The Betrothal.[6]

Personal life

Gladys George was married and divorced four times. All of the unions were childless.

  • On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California.[7] "They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930."[8] The couple divorced in October 1930.[9]
  • Her second husband was millionaire paper manufacturer Edward Fowler, who walked out in 1933 after finding the actress in the arms of her leading man Leonard Penn. At the time, George was playing a nymphomaniacal star in the Broadway hit Personal Appearance.[10]
  • George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935.[11]
  • Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 41, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.[12][13]

Health

George was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.[12] She died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, aged 50, and was interred in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, California.[14]

Filmography

Film
Title Year Role Notes
Red Hot Dollars 1919 Janet Muir film debut
The Woman in the Suitcase 1920 Ethel
Below the Surface 1920 Alice
Homespun Folks 1920 Beulah Rogers
The Easy Road 1921 Isabel Grace
Chickens 1921 Julia Stoneman
The House that Jazz Built 1921 Lila Drake
Straight Is the Way 1934 Shirley
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie 1936 Carrie Snyder Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated.
They Gave Him a Gun 1937 Rose Duffy Co-starred with Spencer Tracy.
Madame X 1937 Madame X / Jacqueline Fleuriot / Miss Pran Only film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS.
Love Is a Headache 1938 Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee
Marie Antoinette 1938 Madame du Barry First time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination.
I'm from Missouri 1939 Julie Bliss
Here I Am a Stranger 1939 Clara Paulding
The Roaring Twenties 1939 Panama Smith James Cagney film with one of many substantial early supporting roles for Humphrey Bogart.
A Child Is Born 1939 Florette Laverne
The House Across the Bay 1940 Mary Bogel
The Way of All Flesh 1940 Anna Kriza
The Lady from Cheyenne 1941 Elsie
Hit the Road 1941 Molly Ryan
The Maltese Falcon 1941 Iva Archer
The Hard Way 1943 Lily Emery
The Crystal Ball 1943 Madame Zenobia
Nobody's Darling 1943 Eve Hawthorne
Christmas Holiday 1944 Valerie De Merode
Minstrel Man 1945 Mae White
Steppin' in Society 1945 Penelope Webster
The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 Hortense Derry
Millie's Daughter 1947 Millie Maitland
Alias a Gentleman 1948 Madge Parkson
Flamingo Road 1949 Lute Mae Sanders
Bright Leaf 1950 Rose
Undercover Girl 1950 Liz Crow
Lullaby of Broadway 1951 Jessica Howard
He Ran All the Way 1951 Mrs. Robey
Detective Story 1951 Miss Hatch
Silver City 1951 Mrs. Barber
It Happens Every Thursday 1953 Mrs. Lucinda Holmes

References

  1. ^ "Family Tree Legends". Retrieved December 1, 2014. lists Gladys Clare Evans born September 13, 1904, Maine - died December 8, 1954, Los Angeles, California.
  2. ^ "SIR ARTHUR EVANS CLARE; Actor, Father of Gladys George, Is Dead in Hollywood". The New York Times. October 26, 1939. p. O29. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  3. ^ "Gladys George Made Her Hit, Had to Run". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 12, 1940. p. E7. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b Tildesley, Alice L. (November 8, 1936). "Are You a "Yes-Woman"?". The Charleston Daily Mail. p. 76. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ "The 9th Academy Awards (1937)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  6. ^ "Gladys George". Playbill. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Ben Erway, Oakland Actor, And Gladys George Are Wed". Oakland Tribune. April 1, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "Utah Actress Asks Divorce". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Associated Press. September 20, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ^ "Star Divorced". Oakland Tribune. October 8, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ^ "Must Wait 3 Years to Wed in N.Y." The Milwaukee Sentinel. August 27, 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 5 March 2016.[dead link]
  11. ^ "Gladys George Marries Actor Named in Suit". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. September 19, 1935. p. 8. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ a b Gladys George TCM. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Gladys George Is Married". The New York Times. July 10, 1946. p. 19.
  14. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed. McFarland. p. 275.

Further reading

  • Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Gladys George". The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Independently published. pp. 101–103. ISBN 978-1-7200-3837-5.
  • Maltin, Leonard (2015) [First published 1969]. "Gladys George". The Real Stars: Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players (softcover) (Sixth/ eBook ed.). CreateSpace Independent. pp. 88–102. ISBN 978-1-5116-4485-3.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gladys George.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gladys_George&oldid=1181590637"