Ann Sheridan
Ann Sheridan | |
---|---|
Sheridan in 1934 | |
Born | Clara Lou Sheridan (1915-02-21)February 21, 1915 Denton, Texas, U.S. |
Died | January 21, 1967(1967-01-21) (aged 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
Occupation | Actress, singer |
Years active | 1934–1967 |
Spouse(s) |
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Clara Lou Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967), known professionally as Ann Sheridan, was an American actress and singer. She worked regularly from 1934 to her death in 1967, first in film and later in television. Notable roles include San Quentin (1937) with Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947) and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.
Contents
1 Life and career
1.1 Paramount
1.2 Warner Brothers
1.3 B picture stardom
1.4 A pictures
1.5 Oomph girl
1.6 Stardom
1.7 Freelance star
1.8 Universal
1.9 Later career
2 Marriages and relationships
3 Death
4 Filmography
5 Radio appearances
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Life and career
Born in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, Clara Lou Sheridan was the daughter of G. W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart Warren Sheridan. According to Sheridan, her father was a great-great-nephew of Civil War Union general Philip Sheridan.[1] She had a sister, Pauline.[2]
She was active in dramatics at Denton High School and at North Texas State Teachers College. She also sang with the college's stage band.[3]
In 1932, she was a student at North Texas State Teachers College when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a Paramount film, The Search for Beauty.[4] She left college to pursue a career in Hollywood.
Paramount
After making her film debut in 1934, aged 19, in Search for Beauty, she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films for the next two years, starting at $75 a week ($1,432 in 2018).[5]
She can be glimpsed in Bolero (1934), Come On Marines! (1934) (billed as "Clara Lou Sheridan"), Murder at the Vanities (1934), Shoot the Works (1934), Kiss and Make-Up (1934), The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934), College Rhythm (1934) (directed by Norman Taurog who Sheridan admired), Ladies Should Listen (1934), You Belong to Me (1934), Wagon Wheels (1934), The Lemon Drop Kid (1934), Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934), Ready for Love (1934), Limehouse Blues (1934), One Hour Late (1934).
Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Mouise and would perform plays on the lot with fellow contractees, including The Milky Way and The Pursuit of Happiness. When she did The Milky Way she played a character called Ann and the Paramount front office decided to change her name to "Ann".[6]
Sheridan had a part in Behold My Wife! (1934) which she got at the behest of director Mitchell Leisen, who was a friend. She had two good scenes, one in which her character had to commit suicide. Sheridan attributed this role to Paramount keeping her for two years.[7]
She followed it with Enter Madame (1935), Home on the Range (1935), and Rumba (1935).
Sheridan's first lead came in Car 99 (1935) with Fred MacMurray. She was in Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935), a Randolph Scott Western. "No acting, it was just playing the lead, that's all," she later said.[7]
She then appeared in Mississippi (1935) with Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields, The Glass Key (1935) with George Raft, and The Crusades (1935) with Loretta Young, having one line. Paramount loaned her out to Talisman, a small production company, to makeThe Red Blood of Courage (1935) with Kermit Maynard. After this Paramount declined to take up her option.[8]
Warner Brothers
Sheridan did one film at Universal, Fighting Youth (1935), then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936.
B picture stardom
Sheridan's career prospects began to improve. Her early films for Warners included Sing Me a Love Song (1936); Black Legion (1937) with Humphrey Bogart; The Great O'Malley (1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart, her first real break[9]; San Quentin (1937), with O'Brien and Bogart, singing for the first time in a film; Wine, Women and Horses (1937) with Barton MacLane.[10]
Sheridan moved into B picture leads: The Footloose Heiress (1937); Alcatraz Island (1937) with John Litel; and She Loved a Fireman (1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow. She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (1937) and its sequel Mystery House (1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (1938) with Litel for Farrow and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938).[11]
Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl. For Farrow she was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (1932).
A pictures
Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warners executives. "Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest."[12] and she began to get roles in A pictures, starting with Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), where she played James Cagney's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had support roles. The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed.
Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (1938), starring John Garfield. She was third billed in the Western Dodge City (1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was another notable success.
Oomph girl
In March 1939 Warners announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most "oomph" in America.[13]
She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week.[14] Tagged "The Oomph Girl"—a sobriquet which she reportedly loathed[15][16][17]—Sheridan was a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s. (On the other hand, a February 25, 1940, news story distributed by the Associated Press reported that Sheridan no longer "bemoaned the 'oomph' tag."[18] She continued, "But I'm sorry now. I know if it hadn't been for 'oomph' I'd probably still be in the chorus.")[18]
Stardom
Sheridan co-starred with Dick Powell in Naughty but Nice (1939) and played a wacky heiress in Winter Carnival (1939).
She was top billed in Indianapolis Speedway (1939) with O'Brien, and The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) with O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan. Castle on the Hudson (1940) put her opposite Garfield and O'Brien.
Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (1940), a musical comedy co starring Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn. She introduced the song "Angel in Disguise".
Sheridan and Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (1940) with O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft, Bogart and Ida Lupino in They Drive by Night (1940), a trucking melodrama. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (1941) then made a comedy with George Brent Honeymoon for Three (1941).
Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (1941), a musical comedy; and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941), playing a character modelled on Gertrude Lawrence. She then made Kings Row (1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan, Robert Cummings, and Betty Field. It was a huge success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films.
Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (1942) . She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny, George Washington Slept Here (1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (1943) with Errol Flynn, and was one of the many Warners stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943).
She was the heroine of a novel, Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx, written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenage 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 always featured a film actress as heroine.[19]
Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944), playing Nora Bayes, opposite Dennis Morgan.[20] She was in a comedy The Doughgirls (1944).
Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China.[21] She returned in One More Tomorrow (1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the noir Nora Prentiss (1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (1948), a popular remake of The Letter, and Silver River (1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn.
Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (1948). She was meant to star in Flamingo Road.[22] She then left Warners saying "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me."[23]
Freelance star
Her role in I Was a Male War Bride (1949), directed by Howard Hawks and co-starring Cary Grant, was another success. In 1950, she appeared on the ABC musical television series Stop the Music.
She made Stella (1950), a comedy with Victor Mature at Fox.
In May 1949 she announced she wanted to produce a film, Second Lady based on a story by Eleanor Griffin.[23] She was going to make Carriage Entrance at RKO.[23] The fired her and Sheridan sued for $250,000.[24]
Universal
Sheridan made Woman on the Run (1950), a noir, which she did produce. She wanted to make a film called Her Secret Diary.[25]
Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there she made Steel Town (1952), Just Across the Street (1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy directed by Douglas Sirk.
Later career
Sheridan supported Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (1953). She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (1956). Her last film was shot in Africa, The Woman and the Hunter.[26]
She went to New York to appear in a Broadway show that did not make it to Broadway.[26]
She did stage tours of Kind Sir (1958) and Odd Man In (1959), and in The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. In all three shows she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married. [27][28]
In 1962 she played the lead in "The Mavis Grant Story" on the Western series Wagon Train.
In the mid 1960s, Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World.[26]
Her final work was a TV series of her own, a comedy Western entitled Pistols 'n' Petticoats, which was filmed during the year before her death and was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights.[29] The 19th episode of the series, "Beware the Hangman", aired, as scheduled, on the same day that she died.[30] For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.
Marriages and relationships
Sheridan married actor Edward Norris August 16, 1936, in Ensenada, Mexico.[31] They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. On January 5, 1942 she married fellow Warner Brothers star George Brent who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (1941). They divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from George Brent she had a long term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan, that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan’s estate bequeathed Miss Sheridan $218,399 ($2,000,000 in current dollars) .[32] On June 5, 1966 she married actor Scott McKay who was with her when she died, six months later.[33]
Death
In 1966 Sheridan began starring in a new television series, a Western themed comedy called Pistols 'n' Petticoats. She became ill during the filming and died of gastro-esophageal cancer with massive liver metastases at age 51 on January 21, 1967 in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were stored at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005.[34]
Filmography
Search for Beauty (1934) as Dallas Beauty Winner (uncredited)
Bolero (1934) as Minor Role (uncredited)
Come on Marines (1934) as Loretta
Murder at the Vanities (1934) as Lou - Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Many Happy Returns (1934) as Chorine (uncredited)
Shoot the Works (1934) as Hanratty's Secretary (uncredited)
Kiss and Make Up (1934) as Beautician
The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934) as Mannequin (uncredited)
Ladies Should Listen (1934) as Adele
You Belong to Me (1934) as Wedding Party Guest (uncredited)
Wagon Wheels (1934) as Young Lady (uncredited)
The Lemon Drop Kid (1934) as Minor Role (uncredited)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934) as Town Girl (uncredited)
College Rhythm (1934) as Chorine / Gloves Salesgirl (uncredited)
Ready for Love (1934) as Priscilla at Basket Social (uncredited)
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934, Short) as Sands of the Desert Model (uncredited)
Behold My Wife (1934) as Mary White
Limehouse Blues (1934) as Minor Role (uncredited)
One Hour Late (1934) as Girl (uncredited)
Enter Madame (1935) as Flora's Shipboard Friend
Home on the Range (1935) as Singer
Rumba (1935) as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Car 99 (1935) as Mary Adams
Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935) as Rita Ballard
Mississippi (1935) as Schoolgirl (uncredited)
The Red Blood of Courage (1935) as Elizabeth Henry
The Glass Key (1935) as Nurse
The Crusades (1935) as Christian Slave Girl (uncredited)
Hollywood Extra Girl (1935, Documentary short) as Genevieve
Fighting Youth (1935) as Carol Arlington
Sing Me a Love Song (1937) (scenes deleted)
Black Legion (1937) as Betty Grogan
The Great O'Malley (1937) as Judy Nolan
San Quentin (1937) as May Kennedy aka May De Villiers
The Footloose Heiress (1937) as Kay Allyn
Wine, Women and Horses (1937) as Valerie
Alcatraz Island (1937) as Flo Allen
She Loved a Fireman (1937) as Marjorie 'Margie' Shannon
The Patient in Room 18 (1938) as Sara Keate
Mystery House (1938) as Sarah Keate
Out Where the Stars Begin (1938, Short) as Herself (uncredited)
Little Miss Thoroughbred (1938) as Madge Perry Morgan
Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) as Maxine Chadwick
Letter of Introduction (1938) as Lydia Hoyt
Broadway Musketeers (1938) as Fay Reynolds Dowling
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) as Laury Martin
They Made Me a Criminal (1939) as Goldie
Dodge City (1939) as Ruby Gilman
Naughty but Nice (1939) as Zelda Manion
Indianapolis Speedway (1939) as 'Frankie' Merrick
Winter Carnival (1939) as Jill Baxter
The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) as Joy Ryan
Castle on the Hudson (1940) as Kay
It All Came True (1940) as Sarah Jane Ryan
Torrid Zone (1940) as Lee Donley
They Drive by Night (1940) as Cassie Hartley
City for Conquest (1940) as Peggy Nash
Honeymoon for Three (1941) as Anne Rogers
Navy Blues (1941) as Marge Jordan
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) as Lorraine Sheldon
Kings Row (1942) as Randy Monaghan
Juke Girl (1942) as Lola Mears
Wings for the Eagle (1942) as Roma Maple
George Washington Slept Here (1942) as Connie Fuller
Edge of Darkness (1943) as Karen Stensgard
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) as Ann Sheridan
Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944) as Nora Bayes
The Doughgirls (1944) as Edna Stokes Cadman
Cinderella Jones (1946) as Red Cross Nurse (uncredited)
One More Tomorrow (1946) as Christie Sage
The Unfaithful (1947) as Chris Hunter
Nora Prentiss (1947) as Nora Prentiss
Silver River (1948) as Georgia Moore
Good Sam (1948) as Lu Clayton
I Was a Male War Bride (1949) as 1st Lt. Catherine Gates
Stella (1950) as Stella Bevans
Woman on the Run (1950, also co-producer) as Eleanor Johnson
Steel Town (1952) as 'Red' McNamara
Just Across the Street (1952) as Henrietta Smith
Take Me to Town (1953) as Vermilion O'Toole aka Mae Madison
Appointment in Honduras (1953) as Sylvia Sheppard
Come Next Spring (1956) as Bess Ballot
Calling Terry Conway (1956, TV Movie) as Terry Conway
The Opposite Sex (1956) as Amanda Penrose
Woman and the Hunter (1957) as Laura Dodds
The Far Out West (1967) asHenrietta 'Hank' Hanks (archive footage)
Radio appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source |
---|---|---|
1943 | Screen Guild Players | Love Is News[35] |
1952 | Stars in the Air | Good Sam[36] |
See also
References
^ "Ann Sheridan Is Still a Favorite After Years as a Successful Star". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. March 30, 1952. p. 29. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ "Miss Pauline Sheridan Weds in Oklahoma". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. March 27, 1931. p. 5. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Miss Sheridan Is Winner in Screen Contest". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. July 19, 1933. p. 8. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Denton Girl Wins World Contest; to be Given Part in Paramount Movie". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. September 9, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Ann sheridan, film star, dies. (1967, Jan 22). Chicago Tribune (1963-Current File) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/179108425?accountid=13902
^ Hagen p 171
^ ab Hagen p 172
^ Ann Sheridan Reveals "Love at Sight" Wedding
Chicago Daily Tribune 30 Aug 1936: 18.
^ STAR OF THE WEEK: ANN SHERIDAN MARTINEE. Chicago Daily Tribune 18 July 1948: c23.
^ Ann Sheridan dead
The Guardian 23 Jan 1967: 9
^ Ann Sheridan, Ex-Film Queen
The Washington Post, Times Herald 23 Jan 1967: B3.
^ Sullivan, E. (1939, Aug 27). Looking at Hollywood with Ed Sullivan. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923–1963) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/175373270?accountid=13902
^ Ann sheridan voted leading 'oomph' girl by jury of 25 men. (1939, Mar 18). Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/175248402?accountid=13902
^ "Everybody Wants to Marry Annie", AP, May 25, 1941. Accessed June 2, 2009.
^ "Ann Sheridan, Actress, Born Clara Lou Sheridan on Feb. 21, 1915 in Denton, TX, Died Jan. 21, 1967 of cancer in Los Angeles, CA", by Paul Houston, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1967
^ "When a Woman Could Be an Oomph Girl", by Art Rogoff, The New York Times, September 12, 1988.
^ "The Oomph Girl", Classic Cinema Gold, February 21, 2012
^ ab "'Oomph Girl' Is Happy Now". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. Associated Press. February 25, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls
^ WILKINSON, L. A. (1944, Feb 06). NOTHING BUT OOMPH? Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/165486550?accountid=13902
^ Ann Sheridan Back From Tour
New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]07 Sep 1944: 21.
^ Ann Sheridan Has Crowded Schedule
Los Angeles Times 6 July 1947: C2.
^ abc Ann Sheridan to Risk Oomph on Own Movie: Ann Sheridan Carries on to Finish That Jinx Film
Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 22 May 1949: D1.
^ Ann Sheridan Tells Dispute Over Male Star
Chicago Daily Tribune 31 Jan 1951: a9.
^ Ann Sheridan Gets 'Her Secret Diary'
Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times 9 May 1949: B6.
^ abc Ann Sheridan Slips Into TV Soap Opera
Crawford, Linda. Chicago Tribune 30 Jan 1966: m4.
^ Douglas, Ann Sheridan Join Roster at Edgeswater Beach
Chicago Daily Tribune 25 May 1958: e9.
^ Actor Denies Affair With Ann Sheridan
Los Angeles Times 25 Feb 1960: 13.
^ Humphrey, H. (1967, Jan 22). Ann sheridan hits the mark with pistols it's about time tries a new format. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/docview/155643644?accountid=13902
^ "Pistols and Petticoats", in Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide, by Bob Leszczak (McFarland, 2012) p155
^ "Ann Sheridan and Edward Norris Wed". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. August 31, 1936. p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ May 7, 1956; Stephen J Hannagan Will; File No. P 440/1953; Surrogates Court in the County of New York; Hall of Records.
^ "Ann Sheridan Biography". Remembering Ann Sheridan. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-02-09. Retrieved 2006-02-19.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
^ "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 39 (1): 32–41. Winter 2013.
^ Kirby, Walter (March 9, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved May 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Digital scrapbook filled with news clippings related to the career of Ann Sheridan, housed at the University of North Texas.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ann Sheridan. |
Ann Sheridan on IMDb
Ann Sheridan at the TCM Movie Database
Ann Sheridan at AllMovie
Ann Sheridan at Find a Grave- Interview with Ann Sheridan biographer
- Photographs and literature