Gertrude Michael

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Gertrude Michael
Born
Lillian Gertrude Michael

(1911-06-01)June 1, 1911
Talladega, Alabama, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 1964(1964-12-31) (aged 53)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Occupationactress
Years active1932–1961

Gertrude Michael (June 1, 1911 – December 31, 1964) was an American film, stage and television actress.

Biography

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl H. Michael,[1] she was born Lillian Gertrude Michael in Talladega, Alabama. She graduated from Talladega High school at the age of 14.[2] She became a singer on the radio.

Michael attended the University of Alabama, where she studied law, and Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, pursuing a study of music. Then she went to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music to continue studying music. Her work there earned her a scholarship for studying five years in Italy.[2]

Her childhood home in Talladega, Alabama was destroyed by fire in 2007.

In 1929 in Cincinnati she made her stage debut in the Stuart Walker stock theater company.[1] She subsequently appeared on Broadway in Rachel Crothers' Caught Wet (1931). She entered the movies playing Richard Arlen's fiancée in Wayward (1932), but her best-remembered role is probably as Rita Ross in Murder at the Vanities (1934), one of the last pre-Code films, in which she sang an ode to marijuana (Sweet Marijuana).

Among her television appearances, Michael was seen eleven times on Fireside Theater between 1950-1955 and three times on Schlitz Playhouse. She also made a guest appearance on Perry Mason in 1958 as Helen Rucker in "The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary."

She had an affair with writer Paul Cain (aka Peter Ruric). [citation needed] After they broke up, Cain wrote the role of the alcoholic lover (based on Michael) in his only novel published during his lifetime, Fast One. [citation needed]

Michael died, aged 53, from undisclosed causes, in Beverly Hills, California.

Partial filmography

Television appearances

  • Sea Hunt .... Mrs. Friedrich (1 episode, 1961)
  • Perry Mason .... Helen Rucker (1 episode, 1958)
  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (3 episodes, 1952–1957)
  • The 20th Century-Fox Hour .... Kate (1 episode, 1957)
  • The New Adventures of Charlie Chan .... Joyce Fenton (1 episode, 1957)
  • Cameo Theatre (1 episode, 1955)
  • Four Star Playhouse .... Fanny (1 episode, 1955)
  • The Ford Television Theatre .... Belle (1 episode, 1954)
  • Private Secretary .... Hollywood Star (1 episode, 1954)
  • The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse .... Coralee (1 episode, 1954)
  • Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson (1 episode, 1954)
  • Meet Corliss Archer ... Mrs. Wilson (1 episode)
  • Cavalcade of America .... Major Pauline Cushman (1 episode)

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Hugh Frank (February 19, 1933). "Beck Michael Makes Advance in Screen Work". The Anniston Star. Alabama, Anniston. p. 7. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b Williams, Whitney (December 16, 1934). "A New Queen Rules Movie Melodrama". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. p. 63. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gertrude Michael.
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