Gloria Grahame
(1923 - 1981)She always played the Vixen or the "Other Woman"...the girl from the 'wrong side of the tracks" but she played them well. Born Gloria Grahame Hallward in Los Angeles, California on November 28, 1923 the daughter of an industrial designer, Michael Hallward, she began acting on stage at the age of 9 as her mother, actress Jean MacDougall Grahame was an acting teacher. As a graduate of Hollywood High School she was already a professional actor and very active in drama and worked her way to the Broadway stage. She made her film debut in the 1940s and by the 1950s she had developed her film persona as the blonde, sultry, seductive, pouty lipped leading lady with the soft, whiney voice. In 1952 she won an Oscar for her role in "The Bad and the Beautiful." Even more memorable was her role in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) as Violet, who George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) saves from going astray. Among her other films were: "Blonde Fever" (1944) as Sally Murfin; "Without Love" (1945) as Flower Girl; "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) as Violet Bick; "Crossfire" (1947) as Ginny Tremaine; "Song of the Thin Man" (1947) as Fran Ledue Page; "Merton of the Movies" (1947) as Beulah Baxter; "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947) as Nurse; "A Woman's Secret" (1949) as Susan Caldwell aka Estrellita; "Roughshod" (1949) as Mary Wells; "In a Lonely Place" (1949) with Bogart, as Laurel Gray; "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) as Angel; "Macao" (1952) as Margie; "Sudden Fear" (1952) as Irene Neves; "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) with Kirk Douglas, as Rosemary Bartlow; "The Glass Wall" (1953) as Maggie Suthland; "Man on a Tightrope" (1953) as Zama Cernik, a favorite of mine; "The Big Heat" (1953) as Debby Marsh; "Prisoners of the Casbah" (1953) as Princess Nadja; "Human Desire" (1954) as Vicki Buckley; "Naked Alibi" (1954) as Marianna; "The Good Die Young" (1954) as Denise; "The Cobweb" (1955) as Karen McIver; "Not as A Stranger" (1955) with Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra, as Harriet Lang; "Oklahoma!" (1955) as Ado Annie Carnes; "The Man Who Never Was" (1956) as Lucy Sherwood; "Ride Out for Revenge" (1957) as Amy Porter; "Odds Against Tomorrow" (1959) as Helen; "Ride Beyond Vengeance" (1966) as Bonnie Shelley; "Blood and Lace" (1971) as Mrs. Deere; "The Todd Killings" (1971) as Mrs. Roy; "Chandler" (1971) as Selma; "The Loners" (1972) as Annabelle; "Tarot" (1973) as Angella; "Mansion of the Doomed" (1977) as Katherine; "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square; (1979) as Ma Fox; "Head Over Heels" (1979) as Clara; "Melvin and Howard" (1980) as Mrs. Sisk and "The Nesting (1981) as Florinda Costello, her last film. On TV she appeared in the TV movies: "Escape" (1971); "Black Noon" (1971) and "Girl on the Late, Late Show" (1974). She appeared in the mini-series: "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976) as Sue Prescott and "Seventh Avenue" (1977) as Moll. She guest starred on such series as: "G. E. Theater"; "Harrigan and Son"; "The New
Breed"; "Sam Benedict"; Burke's Law"; "The Outer Limits"; "The Fugitive"; "Mannix" and "Tales of the Unexpected." She was married to actor Stanley Clements (August 1945 - June 1948); director Nicholas Ray (June 1948 - August 1952) one child, Timothy; Cy Howard (August 1954 - October 1957) one daughter, Paulette and Tony Ray (May 1960 - May 1976) two boys, Anthony and James; all ending in divorce. Her last days were spent in Liverpool, England with a friend but returned to New York just hours before her death. She died on October 5, 1981 in New York, New York of cancer with peritonitis.
From Great Character Actors, Page 2.
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