Joan Blondell

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joan Blondell at the USO

Joan Blondell (born August 30, 1906 in New York City , † December 25, 1979 in Santa Monica ) was an American actress .

life and career

Joan Blondell was born as the daughter of well-known comedian Eddie Joan Blondell, a member of the Original Katzenjammer Kids . In 1926 she was elected Miss Dallas and took fourth place in the subsequent Miss America election . A short time later she began to make a career as an actress on Broadway and appeared in The Trial of Mary Dugan alongside Ann Harding . In 1929 she got a role alongside James Cagney in the revue Penny Arcade , which was filmed in the following year under the title Sinners' Holiday .

Joan Blondell then stayed in Hollywood , where she was under contract with Warner Brothers . In 1931 she was voted one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of the Year. The studio used Blondell in countless films in the following years; In 1932 alone, Joan Blondell appeared in ten films. Mostly she took on the role of the heroine's cynical best friend, who usually warned her in vain about wrong decisions. With Glenda Farrell , she formed a popular duo in a number of cheaply produced comedies; they mostly appeared as "Gold Digger" acting together. In 1939 she left the studio and increasingly switched to the dramatic role. In the film Cry "Havoc" (1943) she was a courageous nurse who had to experience many traumatic things after the fall of Bataan . In the film version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ( A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , 1945), she appeared in a supporting role.

In 1951 she received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in the film A Mother's Heart (The Blue Veil) . Due to her age, she mostly only played supporting roles in films from the 1950s, but she remained a busy actress until her death, who also made numerous appearances in television series and plays in later years. Shortly before her death, she had roles in Grease (1978) and The Champ (1979).

Joan Blondell died of leukemia at the age of 73. She was married three times: from 1933 to 1936 with the cameraman George Barnes , from 1936 to 1944 with the actor Dick Powell and from 1947 to 1950 with the film producer Michael Todd . She had two children from her first two marriages.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Joan Blondell  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Blondell, Joan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1979
Place of death Santa Monica , California