Joan Blondell

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  • JOAN BLONDELL


    Information From IMDb


    Date of Birth
    30 August 1906, New York City, New York, USA


    Date of Death
    25 December 1979, Santa Monica, California, USA (leukemia)


    Birth Name
    Rose Joan Blondell


    Height
    5' 3" (1.60 m)


    Spouse
    Michael Todd (4 July 1947 - 8 June 1950) (divorced)
    Dick Powell (19 September 1936 - 14 July 1944) (divorced) 1 child
    George Barnes (1932 - 4 September 1936) (divorced) 1 child


    Mini Biography
    With blonde hair, big blue eyes and a big smile,
    Joan was usually cast as the wisecracking working girl
    who was the lead's best friend. Born into vaudeville to a comic named Eddie,
    Joan was on the stage when she was three years old.
    For years, she toured the circuit with her parents and joined a stock company
    when she was 17. She made her New York debut with the Ziegfeld Follies
    and appeared in several Broadway productions.
    She was starring with James Cagney on Broadway in "Penny Arcade" (1929)
    when Warner Brothers decided to film the play as Sinners' Holiday (1930).
    Both Cagney and Joan were given the leads, and the film was a success.
    She would be teamed with Cagney again in The Public Enemy (1931)
    and Larceny Lane (1931) among others.
    In The Office Wife (1930), she stole the scene when she was dressing for
    work. While Warner Brothers made Cagney a star,
    Joan never rose to that level.
    In gangster movies or musicals, her performances were good enough
    for second leads, but not first lead.
    In the 1930s, she made a career playing gold-diggers
    and happy-go-lucky girlfriends.
    She would be paired with Dick Powell in ten musicals during these years,
    and they were married for ten years.
    By 1939, Joan had left Warner Brothers to become an independent actress,
    but by then, the blonde role was being defined by actresses like Veronica Lake.
    Her work slowed greatly as she went into straight comedy or dramatic roles.
    Three of her better roles were in Topper Returns (1941), Cry 'Havoc' (1943),
    and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).
    By the 50s, Joan would garner an Academy Award nomination for
    The Blue Veil (1951), but her biggest career successes would be on the stage,
    including a musical version of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."
    In 1957, Joan would again appear on the screen as a drunk in Lizzie (1957)
    and as mature companion to Jayne Mansfield in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957).
    While she would appear in a number of television shows during the 50s and 60s,
    she had the regular role of Winifred on "The Real McCoys" (1957) during the 1963 season.
    Her role in the drama The Cincinnati Kid (1965) was well received,
    but most of her remaining films would be comedies such as Waterhole Three (1967)
    and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971). Still in demand for TV,
    she was cast as Lottie on "Here Come the Brides" (1968) and as Peggy on "Banyon" (1971).
    IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana


    Trivia
    Older sister of actress Gloria Blondell.


    Mother of Norman S. Powell from her marriage to George Barnes. He was adopted by Dick Powell in February, 1938. Mother of Ellen Powell from her marriage to Dick Powell.


    Made six movies with James Cagney at Warner Brothers - more than any other individual actress. Cagney said that the only woman he loved other than his wife was Blondell.


    Measurements: 37-21 1/2-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).


    Was nominated for Broadway's 1958 Tony Award as best supporting or featured actress (dramatic) for The Rope Dancers.


    According to the July 24, 1944, issue of Time Magazine, Blondell divorced Dick Powell on the grounds of cruelty alleging that "when she objected to the incessant coming and going of guests, Powell crooned: 'If you don't like it, you can get the hell out.'".


    Attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.


    In the UK sitcom "Dad's Army" (1968), Private Pike has a crush on her and has dozens of pictures of her on his bedroom walls.


    Her marriage to theatrical impresario Michael Todd was an emotional and financial disaster. Todd was a heavy spender who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars gambling (high-stakes bridge was one of his weaknesses) and went through a controversial bankruptcy during their marriage. While continuing to live the high-life on a huge estate in New York's Westchester County, the irresponsible Todd ran through Blondell's savings, and then eventually dumped her for the much younger Elizabeth Taylor.


    She playfully called her friend Bette Davis's four ex-husbands "The Four Skins" since they were all gentiles.


    June Allyson was the step-mother mother of her daughter Ellen Powell after Allyson married Blondell's ex-husband Dick Powell.


    Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" by Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).


    Her daughter Ellen had a long battle with cocaine that she overcame in 1984.


    Her daughter Ellen was a studio hairstylist.


    She has a granddaughter, Joanie (born circa 1961) from daughter Ellen.


    Her daughter Ellen was born in 1938.


    She has a grandson Scott from son Norman. Scott has a step-son, David, and two grandchildren, Zander and Dakota.


    Her granddaughter Stephanie Powell is married to Sean Murphy, owner of a surf travel company.


    In 1927, while closing the library she worked at, she was raped by a police officer. He told her he would kill her if she told anyone. She kept her silence for decades, until finally telling her grown daughter. She went public with this in her memoirs.


    Her son Norman was named after Claudette Colbert's first husband, actor-director Norman Foster.


    Her son, Norman Scott, was born on November 2, 1934. He was born in the breach position, with the cord wrapped around his neck. Her labor was complicated, due to a fractured coccyx, and lasted twenty hours.


    Like her second husband Dick Powell and aquaintance June Allyson she was a lifelong stauch supporter of the Republican party.


    Personal Quotes
    "There's a very fine line between underacting and not acting at all. And not acting is what a lot of actors are guilty of. It amazes me how some of these little numbers with dreamy looks and a dead pan are getting away wit it. I'd hate to see them on stage with a dog act."


    In the 20s, you were a face. And that was enough. In the '30s, you also had to be a voice. And your voice had to match your face, if you can imagine that. Jimmy Cagney and Eddie Robinson had voices that were as important as the characters they played. You knew what you were getting even before you paid for the ticket.


    [on Al Jolson] The screen didn't give him enough space to project in. I remember as a kid seeing him on stage and I think to this day there have been two great performers in the world: one is Jolson and the other is Judy Garland. They had some kind of magic in front of people that no one could surpass -- they were sheer, magnificent talent beyond belief.


    [on Leslie Howard] Leslie Howard was a darling flirt. He'd be caressing your eyes and have his hand on someone else's leg at the same time. He was adorable. He was a little devil and just wanted his hands on every woman around. He just loved ladies.


    [on Jean Harlow] You know, she never wore underclothes and she was walking past the guys on The Public Enemy (1931) one day and James Cagney said, "How do you hold those things up?" and she said, "I ice them." And she was very serious.


    [on director Edmund Goulding] He did something that drove actors crazy. He'd get out there and act out everybody's role for them -- even the women! And we were supposed to imitate him. We wanted to give our own interpretations.


    [on Clark Gable] It was the joy of your life to know Clark Gable. He was everything good you could think of. He had delicious humor, he had great compassion, he was always a fine old teddy bear. In no way was he conscious of his good looks, as were most other men in pictures at that time. Clark was very unactorly.


    [on Bette Davis] When Bette's good, she's real good. When she's bad, she's awful. But at least she's not afraid to bat an eyelash.


    Salary
    Sinners' Holiday (1930) $250/week (three-week shoot)


    Filmography
    Actor
    1981 The Woman Inside...Aunt Coll
    1979 The Glove...Mrs. Fitzgerald
    1979 The Rebels (TV movie)...Mrs. Brumple
    1979 Fantasy Island (TV series)– Bowling/Command Performances (1979) … Naomi Gittings
    1979 The Champ...Dolly Kenyon
    1979 $weepstake$ (TV series)– Episode #1.2 (1979) … Mme. Grimaldi
    1978 The Love Boat (TV series)– Ship of Ghouls (1978) … Ramona Bevans
    1978 Battered (TV movie)...Edna Thompson
    1978 Grease...Vi
    1977 Opening Night...Sarah Goode
    1977 The Baron
    1976 Starsky and Hutch (TV series)– The Las Vegas Strangler (1976) … Mrs. Pruitt
    1976 Death at Love House (TV movie)...Marcella Geffenhart
    1976 Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood...Landlady
    1976 Switch (TV series)– One of Our Zeppelins Is Missing (1976) … Mrs. Lear
    1975 Police Story (TV series)– Little Boy Lost (1975) … Doreen
    1975 Winner Take All (TV movie)...Beverly Craig
    1975 The Dead Don't Die (TV movie)...Levenia
    1974 Bobby Parker and Company (TV movie)...His Mother
    1974 The Snoop Sisters (TV series)– The Devil Made Me Do It (1974) … Madame Mimi
    1973 The New Dick Van Dyke Show (TV series)– Exit Laughing (1973) … Aunt Louise
    1973 Medical Center (TV series)– Stranger in Two Worlds (1973) … Doris
    1973 The Rookies (TV series)– Cry Wolf (1973) … Mrs. Darrin
    1971-1973 Love, American Style (TV series)
    (segment "Love and the Lovesick Sailor") / (segment "Love and the Swinging Surgeon")
    – Love and the Footlight Fiancee/Love and the Plane Fantasy/Love and the Swinging Surgeon/Love and the Teller's Tale (1973) … (segment "Love and the Swinging Surgeon")
    – Love and the Lovesick Sailor/Love and the Mistress/Love and the Reincarnation/Love and the Sex Survey (1971) … (segment "Love and the Lovesick Sailor")
    1972-1973 Banyon (TV series)
    – The Murder Game (1972) … Peggy Revere
    – The Lady Killer (1972) … Peggy Revere
    – The Clay Clarinet (1972) … Peggy Revere
    – Meal Ticket (1972) … Peggy Revere
    – Completely Out of Print (1972) … Peggy Revere
    In all 8 episodes
    1971 McCloud (TV series)– Top of the World, Ma! (1971) … Ernistine White
    1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter...Jenny
    1970 The Name of the Game (TV series)– Battle at Gannon's Bridge (1970) … Miss Wall
    1970 The Phynx...Ruby
    1968-1970 Here Come the Brides (TV series)
    – Two Women (1970) … Lottie Hatfield
    – The Last Winter (1970) … Lottie Hatfield
    – Absalom (1970) … Lottie Hatfield
    – Bolt of Kilmaren (1970) … Lottie Hatfield
    – How Dry We Are (1970) … Lottie Hatfield
    and all51 episodes »
    1969 Big Daddy
    1968 The Outsider (TV series)– There Was a Little Girl (1968) … Sadie Burch
    1968 Kona Coast...Kittibelle Lightfoot
    1968 That Girl (TV series)– Just Spell the Name Right (1968) … Marjorie Hobart
    1968 Stay Away, Joe...Glenda Callahan
    1968 Petticoat Junction (TV series)– Girl of Our Dreams (1968) … Florabelle Campbell
    1967 The Guns of Will Sonnett (TV series)– Sunday in Paradise (1967) … Miss Lottie
    1967 Family Affair (TV series)– Somebody Upstairs (1967) … Laura London
    1967 Waterhole Three...Lavinia
    1967 Winchester 73 (TV movie)...Larouge
    1967 The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series)– The U.F.O. Affair (1967) … Madam
    1966 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series)– The Concrete Overcoat Affair: Part I (1966) … Mrs. Fingers Stilletto
    1966 Theatre of Stars (TV series)– The Blue-Eyed Horse (1966) … Mrs. Melvin Freebie
    1966 Baby Makes Three (TV movie)...Joan Terry
    1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance...Mrs. Lavender
    1965 Slattery's People (TV series)– The Last Commuter (1965) … Mrs. Lewis
    1965 My Three Sons (TV series) Office Mother (1965) … Harriet Blanchard
    1965 The Lucy Show (TV series)
    – Lucy the Stunt Man (1965) … Joan
    – Lucy and Joan (1965) … Joan
    1965 The Cincinnati Kid...Lady Fingers
    1965 Disneyland (TV series) Kilroy: Part 4 (1965) … Rose Kelsey
    1964 Vacation Playhouse (TV series)– Hooray for Hollywood (1964) … Miss Zilke
    1964 Company of Cowards?...Easy Jenny
    1964 Dr. Kildare (TV series)– Dolly's Dilemma (1964) … Dolly Marlowe
    1964 Bonanza (TV series)– The Pressure Game (1964) … Lillian 'Aunt Lil' Manfred
    1963-1964 Burke's Law (TV series)
    – Who Killed 1/2 of Glory Lee? (1964) … Candy Sturdevant
    – Who Killed Harris Crown? (1963) … Ethel Kronkeit
    1964 The Greatest Show on Earth (TV series)– You're All Right, Ivy (1964) … T.T. Hill
    1964 The Twilight Zone (TV series)– What's in the Box (1964) … Phyllis Britt
    1963 Wagon Train (TV series)– The Bleeker Story (1963) … Ma Bleeker
    1963 The Virginian (TV series)– To Make This Place Remember (1963) … Rosanna Dobie
    1963 The Real McCoys (TV series)
    – Aunt Win Steps In (1963) … Aunt Win
    – Aunt Win's Conquest (1963) … Aunt Win
    – Aunt Win Arrives (1963) … Aunt Win
    1963 Death Valley Days (TV series)– The Train and Lucy Tutaine (1963) … Lucy Tutaine
    1962 The Dick Powell Show (TV series)– The Big Day (1962) … Emily Komack
    1961 Angel Baby...Mollie Hays
    1961 The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV series)– Sign of the Zodiac (1961) … Helene Terry
    1961 The Untouchables (TV series)– The Underground Court (1961) … Hannah 'Lucy' Wagnall
    1961 The Witness (TV series)– Ma Barker (1961) … Ma Barker
    1960 Adventures in Paradise (TV series)– The Forbidden Sea (1960) … Millicent Brass
    1957-1959 Playhouse 90 (TV series)
    – A Marriage of Strangers (1959) … Mrs. Patrick
    – Child of Trouble (1957) … Helen Green
    1958 Studio One (TV series)– A Funny-Looking Kid (1958) … Ruth Breen
    1957 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?...Violet
    1957 This Could Be the Night...Crystal St. Clair
    1957 Desk Set...Peg Costello
    1957 Lizzie...Aunt Morgan
    1956 The Opposite Sex...Edith
    1955 The United States Steel Hour (TV series)– White Gloves (1955) … Ellen
    1955 Playwrights '56 (TV series)– Snow Job (1955) … Mother
    1955 General Electric Theater (TV series)– Star in the House (1955) … Joan Preston
    1955 Shower of Stars (TV series)– Burlesque (1955)
    1955 Fireside Theatre (TV series)– Sergeant Sullivan Speaking (1955)
    1953 Lux Video Theatre (TV series)– Tango (1953) … May
    1953 Suspense (TV series)– Vacancy for Death (1953) … Clara
    1952 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (TV series)– The Pussyfootin' Rocks (1952) … Calamity Jane
    1951 The Blue Veil...Annie Rawlins
    1951 Nash Airflyte Theatre (TV series)– Pot o' Gold (1951)
    1950 For Heaven's Sake...Daphne Peters
    1947 Christmas Eve...Ann Nelson
    1947 Nightmare Alley...Zeena Krumbein
    1947 The Corpse Came C.O.D....Rosemary Durant
    1945 Adventure...Helen Melohn
    1945 Don Juan Quilligan...Marjorie Mossrock
    1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...Sissy Edwards
    1943 Cry 'Havoc'...Grace
    1942 Lady for a Night...Jenny 'Jen' Blake Alderson
    1941 Three Girls About Town...Hope Banner
    1941 Model Wife...Joan Keating Chambers
    1941 Topper Returns...Gail Richards
    1940 The Tragedy of Divorce...Geraldine 'Jerry' Brokaw
    1940 Choose Your Partner...Molly Mahoney
    1939 The Amazing Mr. Williams...Maxine Carroll
    1939 Good Girls Go to Paris...Jenny Swanson
    1939 Orphan of the Ring...Doris Harvey
    1939 East Side of Heaven...Mary Wilson
    1939 Unfit to Print...Jane Morgan
    1938 There's Always a Woman...Sally Reardon
    1937 Stand-In...Lester Plum
    1937 The Perfect Specimen...Mona Carter
    1937 Back in Circulation...Timothea 'Timmy' Blake
    1937 Romance Is Sacred...Miss Dorothy Ellis
    1936 Gold Diggers of 1937...Norma Perry
    1936 Three Men on a Horse...Mabel
    1936 Stage Struck...Peggy Revere
    1936 Bullets or Ballots...Lee Morgan
    1936 Sons o' Guns...Yvonne
    1936 Colleen...Minnie Hawkins
    1935 Miss Pacific Fleet...Gloria Fay
    1935 We're in the Money...Ginger Stewart
    1935 Broadway Gondolier...Alice Hughes
    1935 Traveling Saleslady...Angela Twitchell
    1934 The Kansas Princess...Rosie Sturges
    1934 Dames...Mabel Anderson
    1934 Hit Me Again...Vicki Wallace Thorpe
    1934 He Was Her Man...Rose Lawrence
    1934 I've Got Your Number...Marie Lawson
    1933 Convention City...Nancy Lorraine
    1933 Havana Widows...Mae Knight
    1933 Footlight Parade...Nan Prescott
    1933 Goodbye Again...Anne Rogers, Bixby's Secretary
    1933 Gold Diggers of 1933...Carol
    1933 Blondie Johnson...Blondie Johnson
    1933 Her Reputation...Tony Landers
    1933 Just Around the Corner (short)...Mrs. Graham
    1932 Lawyer Man...Olga Michaels
    1932 Central Park...Dot
    1932 Three on a Match...Mary Keaton, aka Mary Bernard
    1932 Big City Blues...Vida Fleet
    1932 Miss Pinkerton...Nurse Adams, aka Miss Pinkerton
    1932 Make Me a Star...'Flips' Montague
    1932 The Famous Ferguson Case...Maizie Dickson
    1932 The Crowd Roars...Anne Scott
    1932 The Greeks Had a Word for Them...Schatzi Sutro
    1932 Gentleman for a Day...Ruth Collins
    1931 Larceny Lane...Anne Roberts
    1931 The Reckless Hour...Myrtle Nichols
    1931 Night Nurse...B. Maloney
    1931 Big Business Girl...Pearl
    1931 My Past...Marion Moore
    1931 The Public Enemy...Mamie
    1931 Too Many Women...Fifi
    1931 Illicit...Helen 'Duckie' Childers
    1931 Millie...Angie Wickerstaff
    1931 Other Men's Women...Marie
    1931 How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 10: 'Trouble Shots' (short)...Gallery Member (uncredited)
    1930 Sinners' Holiday...Myrtle
    1930 The Office Wife...Katherine Murdock
    1930 The Devil's Parade (short)
    1930 Broadway's Like That (short)...Ruth's Pal
    1930 The Heart Breaker (short)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Joan Blondell was a prolific actor who in all made nearly
    160 movies and TV series.


    She was in many of the well known TV series,
    and made many fine movies, but never rose to be the great star.
    Although I would say, she didn't do too bad from her filmography!


    She made just 1 movie with Duke,


    http://www.dukewayne.com/showthread.php?t=1935"] Lady for a Night[/URL]. 1942..Jenny 'Jen' Blake Alderson



    This is really a Joan Blondell film, featuring Duke.
    It's OK, not good, but watchable.
    Duke make a poor attempt at comedy and although
    he enjoyed comedy parts, this is a dreary one!


    Duke said at the time,

    Quote

    It's a woman's picture

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().