Ann Blyth
{{Short description|American actress (born 1928)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ann Blyth
| image = Ann Blyth MS452.jpg
| caption = Blyth in 1952
| birth_name = Anne Marie Blythe
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1928|8|16|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Mount Kisco, New York, U.S.
| occupation = Actress, singer
| years_active = 1933–1985
| known_for = Mildred Pierce
| spouse = {{marriage|James McNulty|1953|2007|end=d.}}
| children = 5
| family = Dennis Day (brother-in-law)
}}
Ann Blyth (born Anne Marie Blythe; August 16, 1928) is a retired American actress and singer. She began her career in radio as a child before transitioning to Broadway, where she appeared in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine (1941–42). Blyth signed with Universal Studios in the 1940s and made her film debut in Chip Off the Old Block (1944), followed by a series of musical comedies. Her breakout role came in Mildred Pierce (1945), where she played the scheming Veda Pierce, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Blyth worked extensively in film throughout the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in notable films such as Brute Force (1947), The Great Caruso (1951), and The King’s Thief (1955). After transitioning to theater and television in the late 1950s, she starred in productions such as The King and I and appeared on shows like The Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote. Blyth retired from acting in 1985. She is the earliest surviving Academy Award-nominee and one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Life and career
=Early life=
Anne Marie Blythe (she later dropped the "e" from her first and last names) was born in Mount Kisco, New York, on August 16, 1928.{{cite web |last1=Charles |first1=John |title=Ann Blyth |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/17988%7C13189/Ann-Blyth/#biography |website=TCM |publisher=Turner Classic Movie |access-date=January 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814073751/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/17988%7C13189/Ann-Blyth/#biography |archive-date=August 14, 2021}} After her father left the family, Anne, her elder sister Dorothy, and their mother moved to a walk-up apartment on East 31st Street in New York City, where her mother took in ironing.[https://www.guideposts.org/faith-in-daily-life/guideposts-classics-ann-blyth-on-personal-faith?nopaging=1 "Anne Blyth on Personal Faith"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004204728/https://www.guideposts.org/faith-in-daily-life/guideposts-classics-ann-blyth-on-personal-faith?nopaging=1 |date=October 4, 2016 }}, Guideposts, December 1952.
=''Watch on the Rhine''=
Blyth performed on children's radio shows in New York for six years, making her first appearance when she was five.{{cite news |title=Ann Blyth an Actress Since She Was 5 |date=January 29, 1950 |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |page=G3}} When she was nine, she joined the New York Children's Opera Company.{{cite news |title=THE BLYTH SPIRIT: Show Business Still Stimulating to Ann Blyth, Youthful But Veteran Trouper |author=WILLIAM BROWNELL |work=New York Times |date=October 12, 1952 |page=X5}}
Blyth's first acting role was on Broadway in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine (1941-42). She played the part of Paul Lukas's daughter, Babette. The play ran for 378 performances,{{cite web |url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1091 |title=Watch on the Rhine |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=August 9, 2015}} and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. After the New York run, the play went on tour, and while performing at the Biltmore Theatre Los Angeles, Blyth was offered a contract with Universal Studios.
=Universal=
Blyth began her acting career initially as "Anne Blyth", but changed the spelling of her first name to "Ann" at the beginning of her film career. She made her film debut in 1944, teamed with Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan in the teenager musical Chip Off the Old Block (1944). She followed it with two similar films: The Merry Monahans (1944), with O'Connor and Ryan again, and Babes on Swing Street (1944) with Ryan. She had a supporting role in the bigger-budgetted Bowery to Broadway (1944), a showcase of Universal musical talent.{{Cite news |title=Metro to Split Garson, Pidgeon Combination: 'The Bullfighter,' Latin-American Yarn, Chosen as Subject for Laurel and Hardy |author=Schallert, Edwin |date=April 22, 1944 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=5}}
On loan to Warner Brothers, Blyth was cast "against type" as Veda Pierce, the scheming, ungrateful daughter of Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (1945). Her dramatic portrayal won her outstanding reviews, and she received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Blyth was only 16 when she made the Michael Curtiz film.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-ann-blyth-classic-hollywood-20130812-story.html |last=King |first=Susan |title=Ann Blyth gets a TCM salute for her birthday |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 12, 2013}} (Crawford won the Best Actress award.)
After Mildred Pierce, Blyth sustained a broken back while tobogganning in Snow Valley in the Southern California mountainsBlyth, Ann, "My Career Took a Toboggan Ride", in Peale, Norman Vincent (ed.) Faith Made Them Champions. Carmel, New York: Guideposts Associates, Inc., 1954, pp. 114–117. and was not able to fully capitalize on the film's success.
She recovered and made two films for Mark Hellinger's unit at Universal: Swell Guy (1946), with Sonny Tufts, and Jules Dassin's Brute Force (1947) with Burt Lancaster.{{cite news |title=The Life Story of ANN BLYTH |work=Picture Show |location=London |volume=53 |issue=1389 |date=November 12, 1949 |page=12}} Universal lent her to MGM to play the female lead in Killer McCoy (1947), a boxing film with Mickey Rooney that was a box-office hit.{{Citation |title=The Eddie Mannix Ledger |publisher=Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study |place=Los Angeles}}.
Back at Universal, Blyth did a film noir with Charles Boyer and Jessica Tandy, A Woman's Vengeance (1948), affecting a British accent. She was then cast in the part of Regina Hubbard in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest (1948), an adaptation of the 1946 play wherein Regina had been played by Patricia Neal. The play was a prequel to The Little Foxes. Blyth followed it with Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) with William Powell. She was top-billed in Red Canyon (1949), a Western with Howard Duff.
Universal lent Blyth to Paramount Pictures to play the female lead in Top o' the Morning (1949), as Barry Fitzgerald's daughter, who is romanced by Bing Crosby. Back at Universal, she was teamed with Robert Montgomery in Once More, My Darling (1949), meaning she had to drop out of Desert Legion.{{cite news |title=ANN BLYTH SHIFTS ROLE AT U-I STUDIO |work=New York Times |date=February 4, 1949 |page=31}} She did a comedy with Robert Cummings: Free for All (1949). In April 1949, Universal suspended her for refusing a lead role in the baby adoption ring crime noir Abandoned; Gale Storm played it.{{cite news |title=GIL LAMB TO HEAD RKO VARIETY FILM: ' Make Mine Laughs' Scheduled the Studio -- U-I Suspends Ann Blyth From Salary |author=THOMAS F. BRADY |work=New York Times |date=May 3, 1949 |page=31}}
Universal lent her to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to star opposite Farley Granger in Our Very Own (1950). Universal gave her top billing in a romantic comedy, Katie Did It (1951). Blyth was borrowed by MGM for The Great Caruso (1951) opposite Mario Lanza, which was a massive box-office hit. Back at Universal she made Thunder on the Hill (1951) with Claudette Colbert and had the female lead in The Golden Horde (1951) with David Farrar. 20th Century Fox borrowed her to star opposite Tyrone Power in I'll Never Forget You (1952), a last-minute replacement for Constance Smith.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78984/ill-never-forget-you |title=Notes for I'll Never Forget You (1951) |access-date=February 6, 2010 |work=Turner Classic Movies}} She appeared on TV in Family Theater in an episode called "The World's Greatest Mother" alongside Ethel Barrymore.
Universal teamed Blyth with Gregory Peck in The World in His Arms (1952). She was top-billed in the comedy Sally and Saint Anne (1952) and was borrowed by RKO for One Minute to Zero (1952), a Korean War drama with Robert Mitchum, wherein she replaced Claudette Colbert, who came down with pneumonia.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
=Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer=
File:Studio publicity Ann Blyth.jpg
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had been interested in Blyth since she worked at the studio on The Great Caruso. In December 1952, she left Universal and signed a long-term contract with MGM.{{cite news |title=ANN BLYTH LEAVING UNIVERSAL DEC. 20: Seen Signing M-G-M Contract -- May Play Lead in New Version of 'Rose Marie' |author=THOMAS M. PRYORS |work=New York Times |date=December 4, 1952 |page=47}} She was the leading lady in All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) with Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor, stepping in for Elizabeth Taylor, who had to drop out due to pregnancy.{{cite news |title='Caesar' Pioneer to Do Gauguin; Adventuress Bids for Mala Powers |author=Schallert, Edwin |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 12, 1953 |page=A11}}
On television, Blyth appeared in The Lux Video Theatre version of A Place in the Sun with John Derek and Marilyn Erskine. Back at MGM, Blyth had the lead in the remake of Rose Marie (1954) with Howard Keel, which earned over $5 million, but lost money due to high costs. Plans to remake other MacDonald-Eddy films (such as The Girl of the Golden West) were discussed,{{Cite news |title=Ann Blyth: Success Without an Enemy |author=Hopper, Hedda |date=June 6, 1954 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=E1}} but did not occur.
Blyth was meant to be reteamed with Lanza in The Student Prince (1954), but he was fired from the studio and replaced in the picture by Edmund Purdom;{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/05/edward-purdom-obituary |title=Edmund Purdom (obituary) |author=Ronald Bergan |date=January 24, 2009 |work=The Guardian |access-date=February 11, 2019}} the film did well at the box office. Blyth and Purdom were reunited in a swashbuckler, The King's Thief (1955), with David Niven. She was teamed again with Keel on the musical Kismet (1955); despite strong reviews, the film was a financial flop. She was named as the female lead in The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955), but Kay Kendall was cast in the film, instead.{{Cite news |title=Ann Blyth, Taylor Named as Costars |author=Hopper, Hedda |date=July 25, 1953 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=A7}} For her final picture at the studio, MGM put Blyth in Slander (1957) opposite Van Johnson.
=Final features=
Sidney Sheldon cast Blyth in The Buster Keaton Story (1957) with O'Connor at Paramount. Warner Bros. then cast her in the title role of The Helen Morgan Story (1957) directed by Michael Curtiz with Paul Newman. Blyth reportedly beat 40 other actresses for the part.{{Cite news |title=40 Tested, but Ann Blyth Won |author=Hopper, Hedda |date=June 9, 1957 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=F1}} Though her voice was more like the original Helen Morgan, her vocals were dubbed by Gogi Grant. The soundtrack was much more successful than the film itself. Blyth made no further films.
In 1957, she sued Benedict Bogeaus for $75,000 for not making the film Conquest.{{cite news |title=Ann Blyth Seeks $75,000 in Suit |date=January 1, 1957 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=B1}}
=Theatre and television=
From the late 1950s into the 1970s, Blyth worked in musical theater and summer stock, starring in the shows The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Show Boat.{{cite news |last=Amador |first=Tavo |title=The Real Veda Pierce: A Serene Ann Blyth |url=http://www.ebar.com/arts_&_culture/movies//227729/the_real_veda_pierce:_a_serene_ann_blyth |newspaper=Bay Area Reporter |date=July 17, 2006}}{{cite web |title=Memories of Melody Top: Remembering Milwaukee's Summer Stock Theatre |url=http://www.memoriesofmelodytop.com/1970s.html |publisher=DGP |access-date=April 18, 2018}} She also appeared sporadically on television, including co-starring opposite James Donald in the 1960 adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel.
She guest-starred on episodes of The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Dick Powell Theatre, Saints and Sinners, Wagon Train (several episodes), The Twilight Zone ("Queen of the Nile"),{{cite news |title=Ann Blyth Stars Los Angeles Times |date=October 22, 1963 |page=F13}} Burke's Law, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Insight, and The Name of the Game. Several of these appearances were for Four Star Television, with whom Blyth signed a multiple-appearance contract.{{cite news |title=Multiple Contract Signed by Ann Blyth |date=June 21, 1962 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=C11}} Blyth became a spokesperson for Twinkies and Ho Hos.
Her last television appearances were in episodes of Switch and Quincy, M.E. in 1983 and Murder, She Wrote in 1985. She then officially retired.
For her contributions to the film industry, Blyth has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/ann-blyth |title=Hollywood Walk of Fame – Ann Blyth |website=walkoffame.com |publisher=Hollywood Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 21, 2017}}
=Live performance=
Blyth performed live in concert tours for many years with Harper MacKay serving as her accompanist and music director.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-08-mn-10799-story.html |title=Harper MacKay; Composer, Arranger of Music for Films, TV |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 8, 1995}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-14-va-50141-story.html |title=Playing Their Songs : Concert by John Raitt and Ann Blyth will target a crowd that craves 'hummable' music |author=Libby Slate |date=October 14, 1994 |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/03/arts/pop-and-jazz-in-review-210592.html |title=Pop and Jazz in Review |work=The New York Times |author=Stephen Holden |date=November 3, 1992}}
Personal life
In the December 1952 edition of Motion Picture and Television Magazine, Blyth stated in an interview that she was a Republican who had endorsed Dwight D. Eisenhower for president, the month before during the 1952 presidential election.Motion Picture and Television Magazine, December 1952, page 28, Ideal Publishers
In 1953, Blyth married obstetrician James McNulty, brother of singer Dennis Day, who had introduced them. The bridesmaids were actresses Joan Leslie, Jane Withers, and Betty Lynn. The couple received a special commendation from the pope.{{cite news |title=Ann Blyth Wed as 600 Watch Church Service: ANN BLYTH MARRIED |date=June 28, 1953 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=1}} After her marriage, Blyth took a hiatus from her career to focus on raising their five children.{{cite news |title=Daughter Born to Ann Blyth |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 11, 1963 |page=30}}{{cite news |author=Anderson, Nancy |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19740822&id=jWwzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6743,4832134&hl=en |title=Ann Blyth has Cake and Eats it |work=Lodi News-Sentinel |date=August 22, 1974}} In 1955, an armed man who had written her fan letters was arrested near her house.{{cite news |title=Armed Man Seized Near Home of Ann Blyth: Police Report Finding Spring-Blade Knife, Two Shotguns, Rifle and Blackjack in Auto |date=September 13, 1955 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=4}}
Honors
In 1973, she and McNulty, both Roman Catholics were accorded the honorific rank of Lady and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre in a ceremony presided over by Cardinal Cooke.
In 2003, Blyth was the recipient of the Living Legacy Award by the Women's International Center.{{cite web |url=http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/30/Ann+Blyth/index.html |title=Ann Blyth Profile |work=Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen |access-date=April 14, 2014}}
Later years
Blyth was widowed when Dr. McNulty died at 79 on May 13, 2007, in La Jolla, California.
Filmography
;Film
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=4|1944
| Glory Marlow III | |
| The Merry Monahans
| Sheila DeRoyce | |
| Babes on Swing Street
| Carol Curtis | |
| Bowery to Broadway
| Bessie Jo Kirby | |
| 1945
| Veda Pierce Forrester | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1946
| Marian Tyler | |
| rowspan=2|1947
| Ruth | |
| Killer McCoy
| Sheila Carrson | |
| rowspan=3|1948
| Doris Mead | Alternative title: The Gioconda Smile |
| Another Part of the Forest
| Regina Hubbard | |
| Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
| Lenore the Mermaid | |
| rowspan=4|1949
| Lucy Bostel | |
| Top o' the Morning
| Conn McNaughton | |
| Once More, My Darling
| Marita Connell | |
| Free for All
| Ann Abbott | |
| 1950
| Gail Macaulay | |
| rowspan=5|1951
| Katherine Standish | |
| The Great Caruso
| Dorothy Park Benjamin | |
| Thunder on the Hill
| Valerie Carns | Alternative title: Bonaventure |
| I'll Never Forget You
| Helen Pettigrew / Martha Forsyth | Alternative titles: The House in the Square (USA) |
| The Golden Horde
| Princess Shalimar | Alternative title: The Golden Horde of Genghis Khan |
| rowspan=3|1952
| Countess Marina Selanova | |
| Sally and Saint Anne
| Sally O'Moyne | |
| One Minute to Zero
| Mrs. Landa Day | |
| 1953
| All the Brothers Were Valiant | Priscilla "Pris" Holt | |
| rowspan=2|1954
| Rose Marie Lemaitre | |
| The Student Prince
| Kathie Ruder | |
| rowspan=2|1955
| Lady Mary | |
| Kismet
| Marsinah | |
| rowspan=3|1957
| Slander | Connie Martin | |
| The Buster Keaton Story
| Gloria Brent | |
| The Helen Morgan Story
| Alternative titles are Both Ends of the Candle and |
;Television
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1954
| Angela | Episode: "A Place in the Sun" |
| 1958–1963
| The Christophers | | 2 episodes |
| 1959
| The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Martha | Episode: "Suspected" |
| 1959–1963
| Nancy Winters / Eve Newhope / Clementine Jones / Martha Barham / Jenny / Phoebe Tannen | 5 episodes |
| 1960
| Christine | Television movie |
| 1962
| Lizzie Hogan | Episode: "Savage Sunday" |
| 1963
| Edith Berlitz | Episode: "The Year Joan Crawford Won the Oscar" |
| 1964
| Pamela Morris / Constance Taylor | Episode: "Queen of the Nile" |
| 1964–1965
| Deidre DeMara | 2 episodes |
| 1965
| Lady Mei | Episode: "Jungle of Fear" |
| 1969
| Kay Martin | Episode: "Swingers Only" |
| 1975
| Switch | Miriam Estabrook | Episode: "Mistresses, Murder and Millions" |
| 1979–1983
| Velma Whitehead | 2 episodes |
| 1985
| Francesca Lodge | Episode: "Reflections of the Mind", (final appearance) |
Radio appearances
Award nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Category ! style="background:#b0c4de;"|Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Award |
|---|
| 1946
|Mildred Pierce |{{nom}} |
| 1958
|Top Female Musical Performance |The Helen Morgan Story | {{nom}} |
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Further reading
- Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 22-23.
External links
{{Commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
- * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DtMzsXQtM4&nohtml5=False Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest, Ann Blyth]
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0001955}}
- {{tcmdb name}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes-person|ann_blyth}}
- [http://www.wic.org/bio/ablyth.htm Ann Blyth "Women's International Centre" biography and more recent photograph]
- [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1981 Photographs of Ann Blyth]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Ann}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:20th-century Roman Catholics
Category:21st-century Roman Catholics
Category:Actresses from Manhattan
Category:American child actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:American radio actresses
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American torch singers
Category:California Republicans
Category:Catholics from California
Category:Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players