| Renee Gadd | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 June 1908 Bahía Blanca Argentina |
| Died | 20 July 2003 Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom |
| Other names | Renée Gadd |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1932 - 1956 |
Renee Gadd (1908–2003) was an Argentine-born British film actress.[1] She acted mostly in British films.
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Gadd was born on a ranch in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1908 to immigrants from Jersey.[2] Her father Talbot Gadd was a railway executive who abandoned the family, after which they moved to England in 1913. Gadd lived with her aunt, and began to study dancing, working as a chorus girl in Brighton by the age of fourteen. In 1924 was cast in a production of Hassan by the powerful theatrical agent Basil Dean, followed by several musical comedies and then straight plays after becoming a member of a Shakespearian company at Stratford-on-Avon. She enjoyed a series of successful West End roles.[3] During this era she had an affair of Fred Astaire when they were acting together.[4]
In 1931 Gadd signed a contract with British International Pictures and spent two years making films for them. Finding the various comedy films she was cast in uninspiring she behaved uncooperatively until she was released from her contract.[5] In 1932 while working on the crime film White Face she began a tempestuous affair with her co-star Hugh Williams.[6] When her contract with British International expired in 1934 she followed Williams who had gone to Hollywood, but found he had a new lover. She appeared opposite him in the 1935 film David Copperfield, but returned to Britain the following year. Her career began to tail off and she appeared mostly in quota quickies and small roles in minor productions for the remainder of her career. Her final appearance was in the 1950 Ealing Studios film The Blue Lamp.[7]