Billie Burke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billie Burke about 1916
Grave of Billie Burke

Billie Burke (born August 7, 1884 in Washington, DC , † May 14, 1970 in Los Angeles , California ; as Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke ) was an American film and stage actress and wife of the theater producer Florenz Ziegfeld . For her role in How do we live happily! she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress . In 1939 she was seen as the good witch Glinda in the classic film The Wizard of Oz .

Life

Billie Burke was born in Washington as the daughter of a comedian. She later moved to England with her family. She started her stage career at the age of 18 in a London production of The School Girl , in which she appeared alongside Edna May . In 1907 she returned to the United States and made her Broadway debut alongside theater star John Drew in My Wife . Burke had the reputation of a stage beauty and acted as the leading actress in mostly comedic plays. Charles Frohman was one of her sponsors . In total, she appeared on Broadway in 27 pieces by 1944. In 1914 Billie Burke married the famous revue and theater impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. , from the marriage daughter Patricia (1916–2008) was born. The marriage with Ziegfeld is said to have been problematic, there were financial problems and he had numerous affairs. Nevertheless, the marriage lasted until Ziegfeld's death in 1932. The life of Ziegfeld was filmed in 1936 as The Great Ziegfeld , with Myrna Loy as Billie Burke.

The director Thomas Ince persuaded Billie Burke in 1916 to appear in the film. For the film Peggy she received 40,000 US dollars, the highest amount an actress ever received as a fee for a single film. By 1922 she made over a dozen silent films , but then retired to the theater. In 1932 Billie Burke made her comeback in Hollywood as the film mother of Katharine Hepburn in A Divorce . Burke was often seen as a high-society lady, for example in dinner at eight as the status-conscious wife of a shipowner who regularly gives expensive dinner parties. In 1937 she played a banker's wife in the comedy Topper - The blonde ghost , the film had two sequels, in which Burke also took part. At the Academy Awards in 1939 she was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance in How We Live Happily! nominated. In this film, she played a rich lady who adopts street tramps as her hobby . In 1939 she played Glinda, the good witch of the north, in the classic film The Magic Land, perhaps her best-known role today. Burke's trademark was her exceptionally high-pitched voice.

From the 1940s Burke had her own radio show, for which she worked with Eddie Cantor , among others . In 1950 she played Elizabeth Taylor's mother-in-law in Father of the Bride and the sequel a year later. In the 1950s, Burke had a few guest roles on television and continued to appear in plays. In 1960, she retired after a major supporting role in the Western The black sergeant from John Ford to private life. She died in 1970 at the age of 85 and is buried in Kensico Cemetery, New York .

Billie Burke at a young age

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

Commons : Billie Burke  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "The School Girl". A hit . In: The New York Times , May 10, 1903.
  2. ^ Billie Burke's obituary in the New York Times
  3. ↑ a b Description of Burke's theater career
personal data
SURNAME Burke, Billie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burke, Mary William Ethelbert Appleton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1970
Place of death Los Angeles , California