Margaret Lindsay

This article is about the American film actress. For other uses, see Margaret Lindsay (disambiguation).

Margaret Lindsay
Lindsay in the 1930s
Born	Margaret Kies (1910-09-19)September 19, 1910 Dubuque, Iowa, U.S.
Died	May 9, 1981(1981-05-09) (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1932–1974
Partner	Mary McCarty
Relatives	Jane Gilbert (sister)

Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successful films of the 1930s and 1940s such as Baby Face, Jezebel (1938) and Scarlet Street (1945) and her leading roles in lower-budgeted B movie films such as the Ellery Queen series at Columbia in the early 1940s. Critics regard her portrayal of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hepzibah Pyncheon in the 1940 film The House of the Seven Gables as Lindsay's standout career role.

Early life

Lindsay was born in Dubuque, Iowa, the eldest of six children of a pharmacist father who died in 1930. According to Tom Longden of the Des Moines Register, "Peg" was "a tomboy who liked to climb pear trees" and was a "roller-skating fiend". She graduated in 1930 from Visitation Academy in Dubuque.

Career

1930s

She was often mistaken as being British due to her convincing English accent. Her fellow dramatic-school student Robert Cummings was then posing as the Englishman "Blade Stanhope Conway" and convinced Margaret Kies to follow his example and adopt a new British identity - Margaret Lindsay.

She impressed Universal Studios enough to sign her for their 1932 version of The Old Dark House. As James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard wrote in Hollywood Players: The Thirties (Arlington House, 1976), Lindsay returned to America and arrived in Hollywood, only to discover that Gloria Stuart had been cast in her role in the film. After some minor roles in Pre-Code films such as Christopher Strong and the groundbreaking Baby Face, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Lindsay was cast in the Fox Film Corporation's award-winning Cavalcade. Lindsay was selected for a role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon voyage takes place on the Titanic.

Lindsay in Public Enemy's Wife (1936)

Lindsay co-starred with Bette Davis in four Warners films: as Davis's sister in Fog Over Frisco (1934); in Dangerous (1935), for which Davis won her first Best Actress Academy Award; in Bordertown with Paul Muni, and as Davis's rival for Henry Fonda's affections in Jezebel (1938).

Glenda Farrell (left) and Lindsay (right) in The Law in Her Hands (1936)

Humphrey Bogart, Margaret Lindsay & Donald Woods in American adventure film Isle of Fury (1936)

1940s

Michael Brunas, John Brunas, and Tom Weaver wrote in Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931–46 that Lindsay "...one of the loveliest and most talented of '30s leading ladies, contributes a fine, mature performance that's probably the best, certainly the most striking, in the picture... [h]ad a Bette Davis played Hepzibah, this same performance would be hailed as a classic..."

In a 2004 Classic Images article about actor Jon Hall, film historian Colin Briggs wrote that a letter he had received from Lindsay indicated that her part in The House of the Seven Gables was her "favorite role." Lindsay's letter to Briggs also stated that the film she had the most fun with was The Vigilantes Return (1947), in which she co-starred with Jon Hall. That "role was a complete departure from my usual parts and I grabbed it...I even warbled a Mae West type ditty. As a man-chasing saloon singer after Jon Hall it was for me a totally extroverted style and I relished the opportunity...I have a framed still from that film on a wall in my home."

Lindsay with Boris Karloff in British Intelligence (1940)

Her 1940s film series work in Hollywood included Columbia's first entry in its Crime Doctor series, as well as her continuing role as Nikki Porter in Columbia's Ellery Queen series (1940–1942). Author Jon Tuska's affection for the Ellery Queen series mystified its star Ralph Bellamy. During an interview by Tuska for his 1978 book, The Detective in Hollywood, he remarked, "I'm one of the few who does [like the series]." "I don't know how...They were such quickie pictures", Bellamy replied.

Jon Tuska cited Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as the best of the Bellamy-Lindsay pairings. "The influence of The Thin Man series was apparent in reverse," Tuska noted about Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery. "Ellery and Nikki are unmarried but obviously in love with each other. Probably the biggest mystery...is how Ellery ever gets a book written. Not only is Nikki attractive and perfectly willing to show off her figure...but she also likes to write her own stories on Queen's time, and gets carried away doing her own investigations", Tuska opined.

Lindsay appeared in a supporting role in the 1942 film The Spoilers, starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne, and in Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street (1945) with Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. While her work in the late 1940s would occasionally involve a supporting role in MGM films like Cass Timberlane (1948) with Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, her film career went into decline, with roles in films at Poverty Row studios like Monogram Pictures and PRC. She returned to the stage and co-starred with Franchot Tone in The Second Man.

1950s and 1960s

She made her television debut in 1950 in "The Importance of Being Earnest", which allowed her to display her finely honed British accent. More television work followed. Lindsay appeared in only four films during the 1950s and two in the 1960s. Her final feature film was "Tammy and the Doctor" (1963).

Personal life

Early in her career, Lindsay lived with her sister Helen in Hollywood. Later in life, she lived with her youngest sister Mickie. She never married.

According to biographer and historian William J. Mann, Lindsay was the life partner of musical theatre, film, and television actress Mary McCarty. Her dating companions were stars such as Cesar Romero, Richard Deacon, and even Liberace. She was also linked to Janet Gaynor.

Death

Lindsay died at the age of 70 of emphysema in 1981 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

Family

Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies, was also an actress under the stage name Jane Gilbert.

Complete filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	Okay, America!	Ruth Drake
1932	The Fourth Horseman	Molly O'Rourke
1932	The All American	Miss Bowen
1932	Once in a Lifetime	Dr. Lewis' Secretary
1933	Cavalcade	Edith Harris
1933	West of Singapore	Shelby Worrell
1933	Christopher Strong	Autograph Seeker at Party	Uncredited
1933	Private Detective 62	Janet
1933	Baby Face	Ann Carter
1933	Voltaire	Nanette
1933	Captured!	Monica A. Allison
1933	Paddy the Next Best Thing	Eileen Adair
1933	From Headquarters	Lou Winton
1933	The World Changes	Jennifer Clinton Nordholm
1933	The House on 56th Street	Eleanor Van Tyle Burgess
1933	Lady Killer	Lois Underwood
1934	Merry Wives of Reno	Madge
1934	Fog Over Frisco	Valkyr Bradford
1934	The Dragon Murder Case	Bernice
1934	Gentlemen Are Born	Joan Harper
1935	Bordertown	Dale Elwell
1935	Devil Dogs of the Air	Betty Roberts
1935	The Florentine Dagger	Florence
1935	The Case of the Curious Bride	Rhoda Montaine
1935	G Men	Kay McCord
1935	Personal Maid's Secret	Joan
1935	Frisco Kid	Jean Barrat
1935	Dangerous	Gail Armitage
1936	The Lady Consents	Gerry Mannerly
1936	The Law in Her Hands	Mary Wentworth
1936	Public Enemy's Wife	Judith Roberts Maroc
1936	Isle of Fury	Lucille Gordon
1936	Sinner Take All	Lorraine
1937	Green Light	Frances Ogilvie
1937	Song of the City	Angelina Romandi
1937	Slim	Cally
1937	Back in Circulation	Arline Wade
1938	Breakdowns of 1938	Short subject Uncredited
1938	Gold is Where You Find It	Rosanne
1938	Jezebel	Amy Bradford Dillard
1938	When Were You Born	Doris Kane (Leo)
1938	Garden of the Moon	Toni Blake
1938	Broadway Musketeers	Isabel 'Isabelle' Dowling Peyton
1938	There's That Woman Again	Mrs. Nacelle
1939	On Trial	Mae Strickland
1939	Hell's Kitchen	Beth
1939	The Under-Pup	Mrs. Cooper
1939	20,000 Men a Year	Ann Rogers
1940	British Intelligence	Helene von Lorbeer
1940	Honeymoon Deferred	Janet Payne Farradene
1940	The House of the Seven Gables	Hepzibah Pyncheon
1940	Double Alibi	Sue Casey
1940	Meet the Wildcat	Ann Larkin
1940	Ellery Queen, Master Detective	Nikki Porter
1941	Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery	Nikki Porter
1941	The Hard-Boiled Canary	Sylvia Worth
1941	Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime	Nikki Porter
1941	Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring	Nikki Porter
1942	A Close Call for Ellery Queen	Nikki Porter
1942	A Tragedy at Midnight	Beth Sherman
1942	A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen	Nikki Porter
1942	The Spoilers	Helen Chester
1942	Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen	Nikki Porter
1943	No Place for a Lady	June Terry
1943	Let's Have Fun	Florence Blake
1943	Crime Doctor	Grace Fielding
1944	Alaska	Roxie Reagan
1945	Adventures of Rusty	Ann Mitchell
1945	Club Havana	Rosalind
1945	Scarlet Street	Millie Ray
1946	Her Sister's Secret	Renee DuBois Gordon
1947	The Vigilantes Return	Kitty
1947	Seven Keys to Baldpate	Connie Lane
1947	Louisiana	Alvern Adams
1947	Cass Timberlane	Chris Grau
1948	B.F.'s Daughter	'Apples' Sanler
1956	The Bottom of the Bottle	Hannah Cady
1956	Emergency Hospital	Dr. Janet Carey
1958	The Restless Years	Dorothy Henderson
1959	Jet Over the Atlantic	Mrs. Lanyard
1960	Please Don't Eat the Daisies	Mona James
1963	Tammy and the Doctor	Rachel Colman, Head Nurse
1974	The Chadwick Family	Elly	TV Movie

Further reading

• Bellamy, Ralph. (1979). When the Smoke Hits the Fan. Garden City, New York: Doubleday ISBN 0-385-14860-7.
• Bookbinder, Robert. (1985). Classics of the Gangster Film. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1053-6.
• Briggs, Colin. (2004). Jon Hall: The King of Technicolor in Classic Images, January, 2004 issue. Muscatine, Iowa: Classic Images.
• Brunas, Michael, Brunas, John and Weaver, Tom. (1990). Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931 - 1946. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-369-1.
• Dickens, Homer. (1989). The Complete Films of James Cagney. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1152-4.
• Dooley, Roger. (1984). From Scarface to Scarlett: American Films in the 1930s. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 0-15-633998-6
• Hardy, Phil (editor). (2000). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-881-2.
• Katz, Ephraim. (2001). The Film Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. Revised by Klein, Fred and Nolen, Ronald Dean. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-273755-4.
• Lawrence, Jerome (1974). Actor: The Life and Times of Paul Muni. News York, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780399113413. OCLC 1083129.
• Maltin, Leonard. (1994). Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Dutton/Penguin. ISBN 0-525-93635-1.
• Mann, William J. (2001) Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670030171.
• McCarty, Clifford. (1990). The Complete Films of Humphrey Bogart. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0955-4.
• McCarty, John. (2004). Bullets Over Hollywood: The American Gangster Film from the Silents to The Sopranos. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81301-7.
• Parish, James Robert, editor. (1971). The Great Movie Series. South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes. ISBN 0-498-07847-7.
• Parish, James Robert and Leonard, William T. (1976). Hollywood Players: The Thirties. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers. ISBN 0-87000-365-8.
• Ringgold, Gene. (1990). The Complete Films of Bette Davis. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1177-X
• Sennett, Ted. (1971). Warner Brothers Presents. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers. ISBN 0-87000-136-1.
• Svehla, Gary J. and Susan, editors. (1998). Vincent Price [Midnight Marquee Actors Series]. Baltimore, MD: Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 1-887664-21-1.
• Thomas, Tony. (1990). The Complete Films of Errol Flynn. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0237-1.
• Tuska, Jon (1978). The Detective in Hollywood. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-12093-1.
• Variety Obituaries, Volume 9: 1980 - 1983. New York and London: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8240-0843-X,
• Williams, Lucy Chase. (1998). The Complete Films of Vincent Price. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press ISBN 0-8065-1600-3.

External links

• Margaret Lindsay at the Internet Broadway Database
• Margaret Lindsay at AllMovie
• Margaret Lindsay at the TCM Movie Database
• Margaret Lindsay bio at Ellery Queen fansite
• Margaret Lindsay at IMDb