Gladys George

{{Short description|American actress (1904–1954)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Gladys George

| image = Gladys George 2.jpg

| caption = George in 1937

| birth_name = Gladys Clare Evans

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|09|13}}

| birth_place = Patten, Maine, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|12|08|1904|09|13}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1918–1954

| spouse = {{Plainlist|

  • {{Marriage|Ben Erway|1922|1930|end=divorced}}
  • {{Marriage|Edward Fowler|1933|1935|end=divorced}}
  • {{Marriage|Leonard Penn|1935|1944|end=divorced}}
  • {{Marriage|Kenneth Bradley|1946|1951|end=divorced}}

}}}}

Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936), she spent most of her career in supporting roles in films such as Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Flamingo Road (1949).

Early life

George was born on September 13, 1904{{cite web| title=Family Tree Legends| url=http://familytreelegends.com/records/39772?c=search&first=Gladys&last=Evans| access-date=December 1, 2014| url-access=subscription| archive-date=August 8, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808062707/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39772?c=search&first=Gladys&last=Evans| url-status=dead}} lists Gladys Clare Evans born September 13, 1904, Maine - died December 8, 1954, Los Angeles, California. in Patten, Maine to British parents, Sir Arthur Evans Clare, a "noted Shakespearean actor", and his wife, Lady Alice.{{cite web | title=SIR ARTHUR EVANS CLARE; Actor, Father of Gladys George, Is Dead in Hollywood| newspaper=The New York Times| date=October 26, 1939| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/10/26/archives/sir-arthur-evans-clare-actor-father-of-gladys-george-is-dead-in.html| access-date=2020-07-18| url-access=subscription| page=O29}}{{cite news| title=Gladys George Made Her Hit, Had to Run| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4526471/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle| newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle| date=May 12, 1940| page=E7| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}} Another source indicated "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time."

Career

George went on the stage at the age of 3 and toured the United States, appearing with her parents, who were British actors.{{cite news| last1=Tildesley| first1=Alice L.| title=Are You a "Yes-Woman"?| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4526691/the_charleston_daily_mail/| newspaper=The Charleston Daily Mail| date=November 8, 1936| page=76| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}} She starred onstage in the 1920s, and she had made several films during the early part of that decade. For her role in the film Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936), she received a Best Actress nomination at the 9th Academy Awards.{{cite web| title=The 9th Academy Awards (1937)| url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937 |website=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences| date=8 October 2014 | access-date=September 19, 2019| archive-url=https://archive.today/20141112173406/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937| archive-date=November 12, 2014| url-status=live}}

Other roles were in Madame X (1937), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Way of All Flesh (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Hard Way (1943), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), He Ran All the Way (1951), Detective Story (1951), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951).

George's Broadway credits include The Distant City, Lady in Waiting, and The Betrothal.{{cite journal| title=Gladys George| url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?q=Gladys+George&sort=Relevance&shows=on&qasset=00000150-ac83-d16d-a550-ecbf017b0001| journal=Playbill| access-date=5 March 2016}}

Personal life

Gladys George was married and divorced four times. All of the unions were childless.{{Citation needed |date=June 2024}}

  • On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California.{{cite news| title=Ben Erway, Oakland Actor, And Gladys George Are Wed| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4526946/oakland_tribune/| newspaper=Oakland Tribune| date=April 1, 1922| page=4| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}} "They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930."{{cite news| title=Utah Actress Asks Divorce| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4527006/the_ogden_standardexaminer/| newspaper=The Ogden Standard-Examiner| date=September 20, 1930| page=1| agency=Associated Press| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}} The couple divorced in October 1930.{{cite news| title=Star Divorced| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4526974/oakland_tribune/| newspaper=Oakland Tribune| date=October 8, 1930| page=1| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}}
  • 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.{{cite news| title=Must Wait 3 Years to Wed in N.Y.| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19350827&id=RnUfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5403,4152882| access-date=5 March 2016| newspaper=The Milwaukee Sentinel| date=August 27, 1935| page=18}}{{dead link|date=August 2020}}
  • George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935.{{cite news| title=Gladys George Marries Actor Named in Suit| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4527189/the_salt_lake_tribune/| newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune| date=September 19, 1935| page=8| via=Newspapers.com| agency=Associated Press| access-date=March 5, 2016}} {{Open access}}
  • Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 41, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/70073%7C62112/Gladys-George/ Gladys George] TCM. Retrieved 26 December 2019.{{cite news| title=Gladys George Is Married| newspaper=The New York Times| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/07/10/archives/gladys-george-is-married.html| date=July 10, 1946| page=19| url-access=subscription}}

Illnesses and death

George was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver. She died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, aged 50, and was interred in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, California.{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed.|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|pages=275}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable" border="1"

|+ Film

scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Role

! scope="col" | Notes

Red Hot Dollars1919Janet Muirfilm debut
The Woman in the Suitcase1920Ethel
Below the Surface1920Alice
Homespun Folks1920Beulah Rogers
The Easy Road1921Isabel Grace
Chickens1921Julia Stoneman
The House that Jazz Built1921Lila Drake
Straight Is the Way1934Shirley
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie1936Carrie SnyderNominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated.
They Gave Him a Gun1937Rose DuffyCo-starred with Spencer Tracy.
Madame X1937Madame X / Jacqueline Fleuriot / Miss PranOnly film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS.
Love Is a Headache1938Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee
Marie Antoinette1938Madame du BarryFirst time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination.
I'm from Missouri1939Julie Bliss
Here I Am a Stranger1939Clara Paulding
The Roaring Twenties1939Panama SmithJames Cagney film with one of many substantial early supporting roles for Humphrey Bogart.
A Child Is Born1939Florette Laverne
The House Across the Bay1940Mary Bogel
The Way of All Flesh1940Anna Kriza
The Lady from Cheyenne1941Elsie
Hit the Road1941Molly Ryan
The Maltese Falcon1941Iva Archer
The Hard Way1943Lily Emery
The Crystal Ball1943Madame Zenobia
Nobody's Darling1943Eve Hawthorne
Christmas Holiday1944Valerie De Merode
Minstrel Man1945Mae White
Steppin' in Society1945Penelope Webster
The Best Years of Our Lives1946Hortense Derry
Millie's Daughter1947Millie Maitland
Alias a Gentleman1948Madge Parkson
Flamingo Road1949Lute Mae Sanders
Bright Leaf1950Rose
Undercover Girl1950Liz Crow
Lullaby of Broadway1951Jessica Howard
He Ran All the Way1951Mrs. Robey
Detective Story1951Miss Hatch
Silver City1951Mrs. Barber
It Happens Every Thursday1953Mrs. Lucinda Holmes

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book |last=Alistair |first=Rupert |title=The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age |chapter=Gladys George |pages=101–103 |year=2018 |edition=First |type=softcover |publisher=Independently published |isbn=978-1-7200-3837-5}}
  • {{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |title=The Real Stars: Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players |chapter=Gladys George |pages=88–102 |date=2015 |edition=Sixth/ eBook |orig-year=First published 1969 |type=softcover |publisher=CreateSpace Independent |isbn=978-1-5116-4485-3}}