Glenda Farrell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Glenda Farrell | |||||||
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 in the trailer for the film Havana Widows (1933) |
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| Born | June 3, 1904 Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. |
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| Died | May 1, 1971 (aged 66) New York, New York, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Thomas Richards (1921-1929) Dr. Henry Ross (1941-1971) |
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Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American film actress.
Born in Enid, Oklahoma, Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. She was 5'3" with naturally brown hair and brown eyes.
Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin. She paused at times to continue her education but appeared with a number of theatrical companies and in several Broadway productions.
She was in the cast of Cobra and The Best People with actress Charlotte Treadway, at the Morosco Theater in Los Angeles, California in 1925.
Farrell was first signed to a long-term contract by First National Pictures in July 1930. She was given the feminine lead in Little Caesar directed by Mervyn Leroy.
Warner Brothers signed her to re-create on film the role she played in Life Begins on Broadway. Farrell worked on parts in twenty movies in her first year with the studio. She came to personify the wise-cracking, hard-boiled, and somewhat dizzy blonde of the early talkies, along with fellow Warner Brothers brassy blonde, Joan Blondell, with whom she would be frequently paired.
Her brassy persona was used to great effect in Little Caesar (1931) opposite Edward G. Robinson, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) opposite Paul Muni, Havana Widows (1933) with Blondell, Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) opposite Pat O'Brien, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) opposite Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, and The Big Shakedown (1934) with Charles Farrell and Bette Davis.
She became one of Warner Brothers most prolific actresses of the 1930s, solidifying her success with her own film film series, as Torchy Blane, "Girl Reporter". In this role Farrell was promoted as being able to speak 400 words in 40 seconds. Farrell would portray the character Torchy Blane in approximately eight films, from 1937 to 1939 when the role was taken over by Jane Wyman.
In 1937 she starred opposite Dick Powell and Joan Blondell in the Academy Award nominated Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley directed musical comedy Gold Diggers of 1937.
When her Warner Brothers contact expired in 1939 she opted to focus on her stage career once again. She said that working in plays gave her more of a sense of individuality whereas in films you get frustrated because you feel you have no power over what you're doing.
In private life she dated Hollywood film writer Robert Riskin in the early 1930s. She married Jack Durant of the Mitchell and Durant vaudeville team in June 1931. In 1941 Farrell became the wife of Dr. Henry Ross. Her son is club entertainer Tommy Farrell.
Farrell went out of vogue in the 1940s but made a comeback later in life, winning an Emmy Award in 1963, for her work in the television series Ben Casey.
She was appearing on Broadway in a production of Forty Carats in 1969 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
She remained with the show until ill health forced her departure in November 1970. She died from lung cancer, aged 66. She died at her home in New York City and was interred in the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, New York.
Glenda Farrell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6524 Hollywood Boulevard.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Lucky Boy | Bit Part | |
| 1931 | Little Caesar | Olga Stassoff | |
| 1932 | Scandal for Sale | Stella | |
| Life Begins | Florette Darien | ||
| Three on a Match | Mrs. Black, Prisoner at Checkers Table | ||
| I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang | Marie | ||
| The Match King | Babe | ||
| 1933 | Mystery of the Wax Museum | Florence Dempsey | |
| Grand Slam | Blondie | ||
| Girl Missing | Kay Curtis | ||
| The Keyhole | Dot | ||
| How to Break 90 #2: Position and Back Swing | Golfer's Wife | ||
| Gambling Ship | Jeanne Sands | ||
| Mary Stevens, M.D. | Glenda Carroll | ||
| Lady for a Day | Missouri Martin | ||
| Bureau of Missing Persons | Belle Howard Saunders | ||
| Man's Castle | Fay La Rue | ||
| Havana Widows | Sadie Appleby | ||
| 1934 | The Big Shakedown | Lily 'Lil' Duran | |
| Hi, Nellie! | Gerry Krale | ||
| I've Got Your Number | Bonnie, aka Madame Francis | ||
| Dark Hazard | Valerie 'Val' Wilson | ||
| Heat Lightning | Mrs. 'Feathers' Tifton | ||
| Merry Wives of Reno | Bunny Fitch | ||
| The Personality Kid | Joan McCarty | ||
| Kansas City Princess | Marie Callahan | ||
| The Secret Bride | Hazel Normandie | ||
| 1935 | Gold Diggers of 1935 | Betty Hawes | |
| Traveling Saleslady | Claudette Ruggles | ||
| Go Into Your Dance | Molly Howard, aka Lucille Thompson | ||
| In Caliente | Mis Clara Thorne | ||
| We're in the Money | Dixie Tilton | ||
| Little Big Shot | Jean | ||
| Miss Pacific Fleet | Mae O'Brien | ||
| 1936 | Snowed Under | Daisy Lowell, Wife #2 | |
| The Law in Her Hands | Dorothy 'Dot' Davis | ||
| Nobody's Fool | Ruby Miller | ||
| High Tension | Edith McNeil | ||
| Here Comes Carter | Verna Kennedy | ||
| Gold Diggers of 1937 | Genevieve 'Gen' Larkin | ||
| 1937 | Smart Blonde | Torchy Blane | |
| Fly Away Baby | Torchy Blane | ||
| Dance Charlie Dance | Fanny Morgan | ||
| You Live and Learn | Mamie Wallis | ||
| Breakfast for Two | Carol Wallace | ||
| The Adventurous Blonde | Torchy Blane | ||
| Hollywood Hotel | Jonesie | ||
| 1938 | Blondes at Work | Torchy Blane | |
| Stolen Heaven | Rita | ||
| Prison Break | Jean Fenderson | ||
| The Road to Reno | Sylvia Shane | ||
| Exposed | 'Click' Stewart | ||
| Torchy Gets Her Man | Torchy Blane | ||
| 1939 | Torchy Blane in Chinatown | Torchy Blane | |
| Torchy Runs for Mayor | Torchy Blane | ||
| 1942 | Johnny Eager | Mae Blythe Agridowski | |
| Twin Beds | Sonya Cherupin | ||
| The Talk of the Town | Regina Bush | ||
| 1943 | City Without Men | Billy LaRue | |
| A Night for Crime | Susan | ||
| Klondike Kate | Molly | ||
| 1944 | Ever Since Venus | Babs Cartwright | |
| 1947 | Heading for Heaven | Nora Elkins | |
| 1948 | I Love Trouble | Hazel Bixby | |
| Mary Lou | Winnie Winford | ||
| Lulu Belle | Molly Benson | ||
| 1952 | Apache War Smoke | Fanny Webson | |
| 1953 | Girls in the Night | Alice Haynes | |
| 1954 | Secret of the Incas | Mrs. Winston | |
| Susan Slept Here | Maude Snodgrass | ||
| 1955 | The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing | Mrs. Nesbit | |
| 1959 | Middle of the Night | Mrs. Mueller | |
| 1964 | Kissin' Cousins | Ma Tatum | |
| The Disorderly Orderly | Dr. Jean Howard | ||
| 1968 | Tiger by the Tail | Sarah Harvey |
[edit] References
- Burlington, North Carolina Daily Times-News, Hollywood Gossip, March 29, 1934, Page 8.
- European Stars and Stripes, Actress Glenda Farrell Dies in N.Y. at Age 67, May 3, 1971, Page 6.
- Long Beach, California Press-Telegram, Film and Drama, June 22, 1952, Page 31.
- Los Angeles Times, Studio and Stage, May 29, 1925, Page A7.
- Los Angeles Times, Glenda Farrell Praised for Art in Best People, October 4, 1925, Page 23.
- Los Angeles Times, Stage Star To Play In Films, July 9, 1930, Page A12.
- Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Actress To Wed In June, March 11, 1931, Page 11.
- Valparaiso, Indiana Vidette-Messenger, Glenda To Wed, February 6, 1941, Page 5.
- Van Neste, Dan. Glenda Farrell, Diamond in the Rough Classic Images May, 1998. [1].
[edit] External links
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