Anita Louise

Anita Louise
Anita Louise in Call It a Day (1937)
Born	Anita Louise Fremault (1915-01-09)January 9, 1915 New York, New York, U.S.
Died	April 25, 1970(1970-04-25) (aged 55) West Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	stroke
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Other names	Anita Fremault
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1921–1970
Spouse(s)	Buddy Adler (m. 1940–1960; his death) 2 children Henry Berger (m. 1962–1970; her death)

Anita Louise (January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938) and The Little Princess (1939). She was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star, and frequently described as one of the cinema's most fashionable and stylish women.

Louise had delicate features and blonde hair, with ageless grace, which saw her through thirty years before the Motion picture camera, beginning as a child actress before becoming a featured player during Hollywood Golden Age.

Life and career

Anita Louise was born Anita Louise Fremault on January 9, 1915 in New York City. She made her acting debut on Broadway at the age of six, and within a year was appearing regularly in Hollywood films. By her late teens she was being cast in leading and supporting roles in major productions, and was highly regarded for her delicate features and blonde hair. Louise made her first credited screen debut at the age of nine in the film The Sixth Commandment (1924).In 1929, Louise dropped her Freamault surname, billing herself by her first and second names only, Anita Louise.

As her stature in Hollywood grew, she was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star, and was frequently described as one of cinema's most fashionable and stylish women. Her reputation was further enhanced by her role as Hollywood society hostess, with her parties attended by the elite of Hollywood, and widely and regularly reported in the news media

Among her film successes were Madame Du Barry (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Sisters (1938), and The Little Princess (1939).

By the 1940s, she was reduced to mostly secondary roles and her film career started to slow.Some of her films during this time are Casanova Brown (1944), Nine Girls (1944), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), Blondie's Big Moment (1947), and Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947). Her last appearance on big screen in the 1952 war film Retreat, Hell.In 1950s. Louise was reduced to minor roles and acted very infrequently until the advent of television in the 1950s provided her with further opportunities. In middle age she played one of her most widely seen roles as the gentle mother, Nell McLaughlin, in the CBS television series My Friend Flicka from 1956–1957, with co-stars Johnny Washbrook, Gene Evans, and Frank Ferguson.Louise was also the substitute host of The Loretta Young Show (1953) when Loretta Young was recuperating from surgery. Other shows Anita hosted include The United States Steel Hour (1962) and Playhouse 90 (1957). Her last television appearance was in 1970 was in an episode of the Mod Squad.

Personal life and death

Louise virtually retired after My Friend Flicka, which was rebroadcast thereafter for a generation. Her husband of twenty years, the film producer Buddy Adler, died in 1960. They had two sons. She married Henry Berger in 1962. Louise died of a stroke on April 25, 1970 in West Los Angeles, California. She was buried next to Berger at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. She was 55 years old.

Louise has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of her contribution to Motion Pictures at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

Film

Louise in The Little Princess (1939)

Anita Louise in The Gorilla (1939)

Louise with Roger Pryor in Glamour for Sale (1940)

Year	Title	Role
1922	Down to the Sea in Ships	(uncredited)
1924	The Sixth Commandment
1924	Lend Me Your Husband
1927	The Music Master
1927	Memories
1928	4 Devils	Louise
1928	A Woman of Affairs	Diana as a Child (uncredited)
1929	The Spirit of Youth	Toodles Ewing
1929	Square Shoulders	Mary Jane
1929	Wonder of Women	Lottie
1929	The Marriage Playground	Blanca Wheater
1930	The Florodora Girl	Vibart Child
1930	What a Man	Marion Kilbourne
1930	Just Like Heaven	Mimi
1930	The Third Alarm	Milly Morton
1931	Everything's Rosie	Rosie Droop
1931	The Great Meadow	Betty Hall
1931	Millie	Constance 'Connie' Maitland
1931	The Woman Between	Helen Weston
1931	Heaven On Earth	Towhead
1932	The Phantom of Crestwood	Esther Wren
1933	Our Betters	Elizabeth 'Bessie' Saunders
1934	The Most Precious Thing in Life	Patty O'Day
1934	Are We Civilized?	Norma Bockner
1934	Cross Streets	Clara Grattan
1934	I Give My Love	Lorna March
1934	Judge Priest	Ellie May Gillespie
1934	Madame DuBarry	Marie Antoinette
1934	The Firebird	Mariette Pointer
1934	Bachelor of Arts	Mimi Smith
1935	Lady Tubbs	Wynne Howard
1935	Here's to Romance	Lydia Lubov
1935	Personal Maid's Secret	Diana Abercrombie
1935	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Titania, Queen of the Fairies
1936	The Story of Louis Pasteur	Annette Pasteur
1936	Brides Are Like That	Hazel Robinson
1936	Anthony Adverse	Maria
1937	Green Light	Phyllis Dexter
1937	Call It a Day	Vera, the maid
1937	The Go Getter	Margaret Ricks
1937	That Certain Woman	Florence 'Flip' Carson Merrick
1937	First Lady	Emmy Page
1937	Tovarich	Helene Dupont
1938	My Bill	Muriel Colbrook
1938	Marie Antoinette	Princesse de Lamballe
1938	The Sisters	Helen Elliot Johnson
1938	Going Places	Ellen Parker
1939	The Little Princess	Rose Hamilton
1939	The Gorilla	Norma Denby
1939	These Glamour Girls	Daphne 'Daph' Graves
1939	Hero For a Day	Sylvia Higgins
1939	Main Street Lawyer	Honey Boggs
1939	Reno	Mrs. Joanne Ryder
1940	Wagons Westward	Phyllis O'Conover
1940	Glamour for Sale	Ann Powell
1940	The Villain Still Pursued Her	Mary Wilson
1941	The Phantom Submarine	Madeline Neilson
1941	Two in a Taxi	Bonnie
1941	Harmon of Michigan	Peggy Adams
1943	Dangerous Blondes	Julie Taylor
1944	Nine Girls	Paula Canfield
1944	Casanova Brown	Madge Ferris
1945	Love Letters	Helen Wentworth
1946	The Fighting Guardsman	Amelie de Montrevel
1946	The Bandit of Sherwood Forest	Lady Catherine Maitland
1946	The Devil's Mask	Janet Mitchell
1946	Personality Kid	Laura Howard
1946	Shadowed	Carol Johnson
1947	Blondie's Big Moment	Miss Gary
1947	Bulldog Drummond at Bay	Doris Hamilton
1952	Retreat, Hell!	Ruth Hansen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Stars Over Hollywood		1 episode
1952	Footlights Theater		1 episode
1953	Your Favorite Story
1952–55	The Ford Television Theatre	Marie McCoy, Mother
1955	Lux Video Theatre
1956	My Friend Flicka	Nell McLaughlin
1956	Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1957	The Millionaire	Nancy Wellington
1957	Playhouse 90	Mabel Seymour Greer
1957	Letter to Loretta	Laura
1962	The United States Steel Hour	Mrs. McCabe
1969	Mannix	Althea Greene
1970	The Mod Squad

External links

• Anita Louise at IMDb
• Anita Louise at AllMovie
• Anita Louise at the TCM Movie Database
• Photographs and literature