Gladys George

Gladys George (September 13, 1904[1] – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen..

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Health 5 Selected filmography 6 References 7 External links

Early life
She was born as Gladys Clare Evans on September 13, 1904[1] in Patten, Maine (Another source says Hatton, Maine;[2] a third source says "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time.")[3] to English parents. Her father was Sir Arthur Claire, "noted Shakespearean actor."[2]

Career
George went on the stage at the age of 3[3] and toured the United States, appearing with her parents. She starred on stage in the 1920s, although she had made several films in the early part of that decade. She starred in Personal Appearance, a comedy by Lawrence Riley. This role was reprised by Mae West in the classic film, Go West, Young Man, which West adapted from the play. In 1936 George was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Valiant Is the Word for Carrie.[4]

George's Broadway credits include The Distant City, Lady in Waiting, and The Betrothal.[5]

Her only other first billed roles were in Madame X (1937) and Love is a Headache.[6] She also appeared in The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Way of All Flesh (1940), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and He Ran All the Way (1951). She played the widow of Miles Archer (Iva Archer) in The Maltese Falcon and Mme. Du Barry in Marie Antoinette.

Her last successful roles were as Lute Mae Sanders in Flamingo Road, her brief appearance as the corrupt nurse Miss Hatch in Detective Story, and Lullaby of Broadway as the alcoholic mother of Doris Day's wholesome character.

Personal life
Gladys George was married and divorced four times. On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California.[7] "They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930."[8] The couple divorced in October 1930.[9] Her second husband was millionaire paper manufacturer Edward Fowler, who walked out in 1933 after finding the actress in the arms of her leading man, Leonard Penn. At the time George was playing a nymphomaniacal star in the Broadway hit Personal Appearance.[10] George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935.[11] Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 46, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.[12]

Health
George was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.[13] She died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, aged 50, and was interred in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Selected filmography
Film

Film

Role

Date

Notes

Red Hot Dollars Janet Muir 1919 film debut The Woman in the Suitcase Ethel 1920 Below the Surface Alice 1920 Homespun Folks Beulah Rogers 1920 The Easy Road Isabel Grace 1921 Chickens Julia Stoneman 1921 The House that Jazz Built Lila Drake 1921 Straight Is the Way Shirley 1934 Valiant Is the Word for Carrie Carrie Snyder 1936 Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated. They Gave Him a Gun Rose Duffy 1937 Co-starred with Spencer Tracy. Madame X Madame X/Jacqueline Fleuriot/Miss Pran 1937 Only film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS. Love Is a Headache Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee 1938 Marie Antoinette Madame du Barry 1938 First time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination. I'm from Missouri Julie Bliss 1939 Here I Am a Stranger Clara Paulding 1939 The Roaring Twenties Panama Smith 1939 Film contains one of the more substantial of Humphrey Bogart's early roles. A Child Is Born Florette Laverne 1939 The House Across the Bay Mary Bogel 1940 The Maltese Falcon Iva Archer 1941 The Crystal Ball Madame Zenobia 1943 The Hard Way Lily Emery 1943 The Best Years of Our Lives Hortense Derry 1946 Flamingo Road Lute Mae Sanders 1949 Lullaby of Broadway Jessica Howard 1951