Joan Bennett

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Joan Bennett in Temptation Street (1945)

Joan Bennett (born February 27, 1910 in Palisades , New Jersey , † December 7, 1990 in Scarsdale , New York ) was an American actress . She became known through films such as Manhunt (1941), Dangerous Encounters (1944), Street of Temptation (1945), Father of the Bride (1950) and Suspiria (1977).

life and career

Joan Bennett came from a family of actors that can be traced back to the 18th century. Her parents were on tour across the United States when she was a child, so Joan Bennett grew up with close family friends. Her father was the theater star Richard Bennett , her sisters the actresses Barbara Bennett and Constance Bennett . Joan was on stage for the first time at the age of four. The following year she made her debut in the silent film The Valley of Decision . She completed her schooling in Versailles, among other places, and married at the age of 16. After she divorced her husband, an alcoholic, in 1928, she had to raise her own income as a single mother. She then turned back to acting.

From 1928 Bennett worked exclusively as a film actress. She was initially under contract with First National , often played roles that were rejected by Loretta Young ( Moby Dick , Disraeli ) and was mainly seen in the role of the young lover. Later, under contract with Fox , she was often seen at the side of young Spencer Tracy . In 1933 Bennett played alongside Katharine Hepburn in the literary film Four Sisters based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott . Her career got a boost from 1934 when she was signed to Paramount . In addition to Bing Crosby and WC Fields , she played in Mississippi and alongside Claudette Colbert , Charles Boyer and Joel McCrea in Senior Physician Dr. Monet . She demonstrated her talent for light comedies alongside Cary Grant in Wedding Present and Big Brown Eyes (both 1936).

In 1938 Bennett got a lot of publicity when she had her blonde hair dyed a la Hedy Lamarr brunette for the film Trade Winds and kept this look (including parting) until the end of her career. In 1939 she was one of the closest contenders for the role of "Scarlett O'Hara" in Gone With the Wind . Only her and Paulette Goddard were tested in Technicolor . In the end, Vivien Leigh got the role. In the 1940s, Bennett also turned more often to shadier roles, for example as a femme fatale in several film noirs . She could be seen under the direction of Fritz Lang in the crime films Manhunt , Dangerous Encounters , Street of Temptation and Secret Behind the Door . Due to her age, she was seen more often in maternal roles towards the end of the decade. In 1950 she had great success as the mother of the family Ellie Banks in Vincente Minnelli's comedy Father of the Bride alongside Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor . She also played this role in the 1951 sequel A Gift from Heaven . Her husband at the time, the producer Walter Wanger , shot her lover and agent Jennings Lang on her doorstep in 1951. Wanger was imprisoned for four months and Bennett's career was badly damaged by the negative headlines. She played her last major cinema roles in Michael Curtiz's black comedy We Are Not Angels and in Douglas Sirk's melodrama There's Always Tomorrow .

From 1966, Bennett made a comeback in the television series Dark Shadows , which made her better known than ever to the general public in the United States. In the family saga, in which the living come into contact with all forms of the undead, she played a leading role until 1971; she also worked in the accompanying movie Castle of the Vampires in 1970 . The series was very popular and style-defining for an entire genre. She had one of her last roles in 1977 in Dario Argento's horror film Suspiria .

Joan Bennett was married four times and had four daughters from the first three marriages. When she died in 1990 at the age of 80, she was grandmother thirteen times.

Awards

Richard Bennett with his daughters (from left to right): Constance Bennett, Joan Bennett and Barbara Bennett (1918)
Joan Bennett's star on the Walk of Fame

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Joan Bennett  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joan Bennett on Allmovie
personal data
SURNAME Bennett, Joan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Palisades, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 1990
Place of death Scarsdale