Bonita Granville

{{Infobox person

| name = Bonita Granville

| image = Studio publicity Bonita Granville.jpg

| caption = Granville c. 1946

| birth_name = Bonita Gloria Granville

| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|02|02}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|10|11|1923|02|02}}

| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.

| known_for = These Three
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Nancy Drew... Detective
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Now, Voyager

| resting_place = Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California

| other_names = Bonita Granville Wrather
"Bunny"{{cite web |title=Actress, philanthropist Bonita Granville Wrather |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-obituary-for-bonit/134018499/ |website=newspapers.com |date=October 13, 1988 |page=8 |publisher=Associated Press / The Bangor Daily News |access-date=3 November 2024}}

| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|producer}}

| years_active = 1926–1981

| spouse = {{marriage|Jack Wrather|1947|1984|end=d}}

| children = 2

}}

Bonita Gloria Granville Wrather{{cite web |title=Bonita Granville Wrather and Jack Wrather {{!}} Biographical Sketch |url=https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadid=00155#:~:text=American%20actress%2C%20producer%2C%20and%20executive,Timponi%20Granville%20and%20Bernard%20Granville. |website=norman.hrc.utexas.edu|publisher=University of Texas |access-date=5 May 2024}} (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988) was an American actress and producer.

The daughter of vaudevillians, Granville began her career on the stage at age three.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-bonita-granville-19881012-snap-story.html|title=Bonita Granville Wrather Dies of Cancer|first=Burt A.|last=Folkart|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 1988|access-date=July 18, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/12/obituaries/bonita-g-wrather-65-an-actress-and-executive.html|title=Bonita G. Wrather, 65, an Actress and Executive|first=Peter B.|last=Flint|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 12, 1988|access-date=July 18, 2020}} She initially began as a child actress, making her film debut in Westward Passage (1932). She rose to prominence for her role in These Three (1936), which earned her an Academy Award nomination at age fourteen. Her prominence continued with the Nancy Drew film series, and roles in Now, Voyager (1942) and Hitler's Children (1943).

After marrying Jack Wrather in 1947, Granville transitioned into producing with her husband on series such as Lassie (1959–1973). She also worked as a philanthropist and a businesswoman, most notably owning and operating the Disneyland Hotel and the {{RMS|Queen Mary||2}} in Long Beach, with her husband. She was appointed to the John F. Kennedy Center Board of Trustees by president Richard Nixon in 1972 and for another term by President Ronald Reagan in 1982.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/919fdb6a341a0e4020eb54f5c663f762|title=Actress and Philanthropist Dies Of Cancer|first=Richard|last=De Atley|work=AP News|date=October 12, 1988|access-date=July 19, 2020}}

In addition to her Oscar nomination, Granville received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for her contributions to the film industry. She and her husband were posthumously named Disney Legends in 2011.

Early life

Granville was born on February 2, 1923, in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Rosina (née Timponi)[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KD-JNS Granville marriage record] accessed 8-3-2015 and Bernard Granville. Both of her parents were stage performers.{{cite news|title=Granville, Actor, Dies In Hollywood. Film Comedian Well Known on New York Stage for Many Years. Victim of Pneumonia. Discovered By Ziegfeld. Long Career Included Roles in Minstrel Shows, Circuses and Outstanding Plays |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/10/07/88007022.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 7, 1936|access-date=2015-01-27 }} She was raised Roman Catholic.{{cite book | first =Rosemary Filmore| last = Rhea | title = That's Just How My Spirit Travels: A Memoir | publisher = Unity | year= 2003| isbn=978-0871592866 }}

Career

= 1932–1941: Child actress =

She made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage (1932), and appeared in a credited but nearly wordless supporting role as the young dancer Fanny Bridges in Cavalcade (1933), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Over the next few years, she played uncredited supporting roles in such films as Little Women (1933) and Anne of Green Gables (1934). She next played the role of Mary Tilford in the 1936 film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's 1934 stage play The Children's Hour. Renamed These Three, the film told the story of three adults (played by Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea) who find their lives almost destroyed by the malicious lies of an evil, attention-seeking child. For her role as that child, Granville was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, then the youngest person to be nominated for an Oscar.

In 1938, Granville was cast by Warner Bros. to play the role of girl detective Nancy Drew in a series of B movies based on the novels. The films were meant to resemble the popular Torchy Blane film series starring Glenda Farrell. Granville co-starred in the films with John Litel as her father Carson Drew, and Frankie Thomas, Jr. as Ted Nickerson. All four films — Nancy Drew... Detective (1938), Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939), Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939), and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939) — would play continuously in theaters over the next several years. Also in 1938, Granville appeared as the saucy, mischievous daughter in the multiple Academy Award-nominated hit comedy film Merrily We Live, and starred as the title character in The Beloved Brat. She also had Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) alongside Ronald Reagan, who would become a lifelong friend of hers.

In late 1939, Granville left Warner Bros. and signed a contract with MGM. However, she continued to be relegated to supporting roles in The Mortal Storm (1940) and H. M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), and less substantial leading roles in Those Were the Days! (1940) and Down in San Diego (1941). She and MGM soon parted ways.

= 1942–1947: Stardom =

In 1941, Granville signed with RKO Pictures{{cite web|url=https://www.historyforsale.com/bonita-granville-contract-signed-09-15-1941-co-signed-by-rosina-granville/dc77429|title=BONITA GRANVILLE - CONTRACT SIGNED 09/15/1941 CO-SIGNED BY: ROSINA GRANVILLE|publisher=historyforsale.com|accessdate=2024-01-09|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110214544/https://www.historyforsale.com/bonita-granville-contract-signed-09-15-1941-co-signed-by-rosina-granville/dc77429|archivedate=2020-11-10}} and immediately found more substantial supporting roles in The Glass Key (1942) and Now, Voyager (1942), for which she was loaned out to Paramount and Warner Bros. Following her leading role in Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942), director Edward Dmytryk, soon cast her in RKO's World War II anti-Nazism film Hitler's Children (1943). The film was a commercial and critical success, becoming one of the studio's highest-grossing films of the year, and one of the highest-grossing for both RKO and 1943. However, the studio relegated her to B-films such as Youth Runs Wild (1944) and The Truth About Murder (1946). She continued to be loaned out to other studios. For example, she was loaned to MGM for two Andy Hardy films with Mickey Rooney, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944) and Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946),{{cite web |url=http://www.andyhardyfilms.com/andysgirls.htm |title=Andy's Girls |publisher=Andyhardyfilms.com |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801073916/http://www.andyhardyfilms.com/andysgirls.htm |archive-date=2017-08-01 |url-status=dead }} as well as a leading role in Song of the Open Road (1944); loaned to Universal for The Beautiful Cheat and Senorita from the West (both 1945); and loaned to United Artists for Breakfast in Hollywood. Following being loaned out to Monogram Pictures for Suspense (1946) and The Guilty (1947), Granville informally retired from films, only appearing in Strike It Rich (1948) and Guilty of Treason (1950).

= 1948–1988: Later career =

On February 5, 1947, Granville married Jack Wrather at the Bel-Air Hotel, having met him while he produced The Guilty.{{cite news |title=Bonita Granville Becomes Bride |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/02/06/archives/bonita-granville-becomes-bride.html |quote=Bonita Granville, motion-picture actress, was married here today to Jack D. Wrather, Jr. of Dallas, Texas, oilman and film producer. The wedding was at the Bel-Air Hotel. ... |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 5, 1947 |access-date=2015-01-30 }} He formed the Wrather Corporation, and bought the rights to the characters from both The Lone Ranger and Lassie. Granville worked as a producer for several film and television productions featuring these characters, including the 1954 TV series Lassie.{{cite web|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8f76dbp/entire_text/|title=Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers|publisher=Online Archive or California|accessdate=2023-01-09}}

She appeared in the film version of The Lone Ranger in 1956, and made her final screen appearance in a cameo role in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981).{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/28270/Bonita-Granville/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910053818/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/28270/Bonita-Granville/biography |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-09-10 |title=Bonita Granville – Biography – Movies & TV – NYTimes.com |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2009 |access-date=2012-07-12}} Their children are daughters Molly and Linda, and sons Jack and Christopher. Jack and Molly were from Wrather's previous marriage to Mollie O'Daniel, a daughter of Governor of Texas and U.S. Senator W. Lee O'Daniel. Granville's marriage to Wrather lasted until Wrather's death in 1984, shortly after release of the movie The Magic of Lassie, a movie co-produced by Granville and starring Wrather's friend James Stewart.

In 1949, she appeared with Rod Cameron in the comedy film Strike It Rich, filmed around Tyler, Kilgore, and Lindale in East Texas.

Death

File:Jack & Bonita Wrather's graves.jpg, at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California]]

Granville died on October 11, 1988, of lung cancer at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 65. She was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California[https://books.google.com/books?id=OPRKEpwjfLQC&dq=bonita+granville+holy+cross&pg=PA360 Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide] with a Catholic Mass.{{cite web |title=Series 7: Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Funeral Materials. 1960-1990 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8f76dbp/dsc/#c01-1.3.13.7 |website=oac.cdlib.org |publisher=California Digital Library#Online Archive of California / Loyola Marymount University, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library |access-date=3 November 2024}}

Legacy

Granville has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6607 Hollywood Boulevard, for her contributions to motion pictures.{{cite web |title=Bonita Granville |url=https://walkoffame.com/bonita-granville/ |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=October 25, 2019 |access-date=August 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019033436/https://walkoffame.com/bonita-granville/ |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |url-status=live}} She was honored at the Disneyland Hotel, which she and her husband owned until The Wrather Company was sold to the Walt Disney Company after Granville's death. The Bonita Tower and the Granville's Steak House were named in her honor. In 2011, Disney honored the Wrathers posthumously by inducting them into the Disney Legends.{{cite web|url=https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/|title=Bonita Granville Wrather|publisher=Walt Disney Archives|accessdate=2024-01-09}}

In 1942, Granville's image was used as the heroine of the novel Bonita Granville and the Mystery of Star Island. The story, written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, was published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1942. The story was written for a young teenaged audience, and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.[http://www.series-books.com/whitman/whitman.html Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls]

Filmography

=Features=

Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
rowspan=2\|1932	Westward Passage	Little Olivia Allen (age 10)
Silver Dollar	Liddy	Uncredited
rowspan=4\|1933	Cavalcade	Young Fanny
Beauty for Sale	Little Girl at Madame Sonia's	Uncredited
Little Women	Amy's Classmate	Uncredited
Cradle Song	Carmen
rowspan=2\|1934	The Life of Vergie Winters	Joan Winters as a Child	Uncredited
Anne of Green Gables	School Girl	Uncredited
1935	Ah, Wilderness!	Mildred Miller
rowspan=4\|1936	Song of the Saddle	Jen as a Child
These Three	Mary Tilford
The Garden of Allah	Convent Girl	Uncredited
The Plough and the Stars	Mollser
rowspan=4\|1937	Maid of Salem	Ann – Their Daughter
Quality Street	Isabella	Uncredited
Call It a Day	Ann Hilton
It's Love I'm After	Gracie Kane
rowspan=6\|1938	White Banners	Sally Ward
Merrily We Live	Marian Kilbourne
The Beloved Brat	Roberta Morgan
My Bill	Gwen Colbrook
Hard to Get	Connie
Nancy Drew... Detective	rowspan=4\| Nancy Drew
rowspan=4\|1939	Nancy Drew... Reporter
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
The Angels Wash Their Faces	Peggy Finnegan
rowspan=6\|1940	Forty Little Mothers	Doris
Those Were the Days!	Martha Scroggs
The Mortal Storm	Elsa
Third Finger, Left Hand	Vicky Sherwood
Escape	Ursula
Gallant Sons	Kate Pendleton
rowspan=4\|1941	The Wild Man of Borneo	Francine Diamond
The People vs. Dr. Kildare	Frances Marlowe
Down in San Diego	Betty Haines
H.M. Pulham, Esq.	Mary Pulham
rowspan=4\|1942	Syncopation	Kit Latimer
The Glass Key	Opal Madvig
Seven Miles from Alcatraz	Anne Porter
Now, Voyager	June Vale
1943	Hitler's Children	Anna Müller
rowspan=3\|1944	Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble	Kay Wilson
Song of the Open Road	Bonnie
Youth Runs Wild	Toddy Jones
rowspan=2\|1945	The Beautiful Cheat	Alice
Senorita from the West	Jeannie Blake
rowspan=4\|1946	Breakfast in Hollywood	Dorothy Larson
The Truth About Murder	Christine Allen
Suspense	Ronnie
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy	Kay Wilson
1947	The Guilty	Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell
1948	Strike It Rich	Julie Ann Brady
1950	Guilty of Treason	Stephanie Varna
1956	The Lone Ranger	Welcome Kilgore
1981	The Legend of the Lone Ranger	Woman	Uncredited - final film role

;As Producer

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Notes
1963	Lassie's Great Adventure
1978	The Magic of Lassie	(as Bonita Granville Wrather)

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Notes

1963

Lassie's Great Adventure

1978

The Magic of Lassie

(as Bonita Granville Wrather)

=Television=

Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
rowspan=5\|1951	Armstrong Circle Theatre		Episode: "That's Simon's Girl"
The Bigelow Theatre		Episode: "Make Your Bed"
Somerset Maugham TV Theatre		Episode: "Masquerade"
Lux Video Theatre	Kitty	Episode: "Not Guilty - of Much"
rowspan=2\|Gruen Guild Playhouse		2 episodes
rowspan=4\|1952		Episode: "I Saw It Happen"
The Schaefer Century Theatre		2 episodes
Chevron Theatre		2 episodes
The Unexpected	Woman	Episode: "The Woman Who Left Herself"
rowspan=2\|1953	Broadway Television Theatre	Evelyn Heath	Episode: "Guest in the House"
The Ford Television Theatre	Margo Foster	Episode: "The Son-in-Law"
1954	The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse		Episode: "Annual Honeymoon"
rowspan=4\|1955	Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson		Episode: "The Antique Shop"
The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theatre	Pearl	Episode: "The Suspicious Husband"
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Ellen Morison	Episode:"Sentence to Death"
rowspan=2\|Climax!	Laura Jordan	Episode: "The Healer"
rowspan=4\|1956	Molly	Episode: "The Fifth Wheel"
Ethel Barrymore Theater		Episode: "Lady Investigator"
Matinee Theater	Edna Johnson	Episode: "The 25th Hour"
The Fisher Family		Episode: "Burden Made Light"
rowspan=3\|1957	Lux Video Theatre	Joan / Anne	Episodes: "One Way Passenger" & "Stand-in for Murder"
Science Fiction Theatre	Barbara Cameron	Episode: "Killer Tree"
The United States Steel Hour		Episode: "Shadow in the Sky"
rowspan=2\|1958	Studio One	Ann	Episode: "The Fair-Haired Boy"
Target	Alice Ward	Episode: "Edge of Terror"
1959	Playhouse 90	Mrs. Kirkley	Episode: "The Velvet Alley"
1960	Lassie	Mrs. Brewster	Episode: "The Wrong Gift"
1961	The Best of the Post	Widow	Episode: "The Valley of the Blue Mountain"
1963-1972	rowspan=4\| Lassie	Narrator
1965	Nancy Hoyt	Episode: "Lassie's Teamwork"
1966	Williamsburg tour guide	Episode: "Lassie the Voyager: Part 3"
1968	Mrs. Wade	Episode: "Hanford's Point: Part 3" Uncredited

;As Producer

Year ! Title ! Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
1959-1973	Lassie	374 episodes
1963	Lassie: A Christmas Tail	rowspan=4\| TV Movie
1967	Flight of the Cougar
1968	Lassie: The Adventures of Neeka
1970	Lassie: Well of Love

Radio appearances

Year	Program	Episode/source
class="wikitable"
1945	Suspense	Bank Holiday
1952	Family Theater	The Promise{{cite news\|last1=Kirby\|first1=Walter\|title=Better Radio Programs for the Week\|newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2507023/the_decatur_daily_review/\|agency=The Decatur Daily Review\|date=March 2, 1952\|page=42\|via = Newspapers.com\|access-date = May 28, 2015}}{{Open access}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Award

! Category

! Nominated work

! class="wikitable unsortable" | Result

1936

| 9th Academy Awards

| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

| These Three

| {{nom}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name}}
[http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2007/06/15/nancy-drew-movie-star/ Nancy Drew – Movie Star at FilmBuffOnline]
{{TCMDb name|75329%7C23459}}
{{TV Guide person|3030217580}}

Category:1923 births

Category:1988 deaths

Category:Actresses from Chicago

Category:Actresses from Manhattan

Category:American child actresses

Category:American film actresses

Category:American Roman Catholics

Category:Television producers from New York City

Category:American women television producers

Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California

Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

Category:20th-century American actresses