Gloria Grahame

Gloria Grahame
1947
Born	Gloria Hallward (1923-11-28)November 28, 1923 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	October 5, 1981(1981-10-05) (aged 57) New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Peritonitis and breast cancer
Resting place	Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1944–1981
Spouse(s)	Stanley Clements (1945–1948) Nicholas Ray (1948–1952) Cy Howard (1954–1957) Anthony Ray (1960–1974)
Children	Timothy Ray (b. 1948) Marianna Paulette Howard (b. 1956) Anthony Ray Jr. (b. 1963) James Ray (b. 1965)

Gloria Grahame (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actress.^[1]

Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios. Often cast in film noir projects, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire (1947), and she won this award for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). She achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear (1952), Human Desire (1953), The Big Heat (1953), and Oklahoma! (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards.

She returned to work on the stage, but continued to appear in films and television productions, usually in supporting roles. In 1974, Grahame was diagnosed with breast cancer. It went into remission less than a year later and Grahame returned to work. It returned in 1980 but she refused to accept the diagnosis or seek treatment. She chose to continue working and travelled to England to appear in a play. Her health rapidly declined. She developed peritonitis after undergoing a procedure to remove fluid from her abdomen in September 1981. She returned to New York City, where she died in October 1981.

Early life

Grahame was born Gloria Hallward in Los Angeles, California. Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, her father, was an architect and author and her mother, Jeanne McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher. McDougall taught her younger daughter acting during her childhood and adolescence. The couple had another daughter, Joy Hallward (1911–2003), an actress who married John Mitchum (the younger brother of actor Robert Mitchum).

Grahame was signed to a contract with MGM Studios under her professional name after Louis B. Mayer saw her performing on Broadway for several years.

Career

She made her film debut in Blonde Fever (1944) and then scored one of her most widely praised roles as the promiscuous Violet, saved from disgrace by George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). MGM was not able to develop her potential as a star and her contract was sold to RKO Studios in 1947.

Grahame was often featured in film noir pictures as a tarnished beauty with an irresistible sexual allure. During this time, she made films for several Hollywood studios. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire (1947).

Grahame starred with Humphrey Bogart in the film In a Lonely Place (1950), a performance for which she gained praise. Though today it is considered among her finest performances, it wasn't a box-office hit and Howard Hughes, owner of RKO Studios, admitted that he never saw it. When she asked to be loaned out for roles in Born Yesterday and A Place in the Sun, Hughes refused and instead made her do a supporting role in Macao. However, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in MGM's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).

in her Academy Award–winning role in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Other memorable roles included the scheming Irene Nieves in Sudden Fear (also 1952), the femme fatale Vicki Buckley in Human Desire (1953), and mob moll Debby Marsh in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953) in which, in a horrifying off-screen scene, she is scarred by hot coffee thrown in her face by Lee Marvin's character.

Grahame's career began to wane after her performance in the musical film Oklahoma! (1955). Grahame, whom audiences were used to seeing as a film noir siren, was viewed by some critics to be miscast as an ignorant country lass in a wholesome musical, and the paralysis of her upper lip from plastic surgery altered her speech and appearance. Additionally, Grahame was rumored to have been difficult on the set of Oklahoma!, upstaging some of the cast and alienating her co-stars, which furthered her fall from grace in Hollywood.^[2] She began a slow return to the theater, and returned to films occasionally to play supporting roles, mostly in minor releases.

She also guest starred on television series including an episode of the gothic sci-fi series The Outer Limits. In the episode entitled "The Guests", Grahame spoofed her own career by playing a forgotten film star living in the past. She also appeared an episode of The Fugitive TV series ("The Homecoming", 1964) and an episode of Burke's Law ("Who Killed The Rabbit's Husband", 1965).

The play The Time of Your Life was revived in March 17, 1972 at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles with Grahame, Henry Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss, Lewis J. Stadlen, Ron Thompson, Jane Alexander, Richard X. Slattery and Pepper Martin among the cast with Edwin Sherin directing.^[3]

Grahame has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6522 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to Motion Pictures.

Personal life

Grahame's concern over the appearance of her upper lip led her to pursue plastic surgery and dental operations that caused visible scarring and ultimately rendered the lip largely immobile because of nerve damage, which affected her speech.^[4]

Relationships, marriages and children

Grahame had a string of stormy romances and failed marriages during her time in Hollywood, including marriages to director Nicholas Ray and later to Ray's son, Anthony, with whom she had an affair while still married to Ray. All of this took a toll on her career, as did a two-year hiatus after the birth of her daughter in 1956.^[5] Marital and child custody problems hampered her performance on the set of Oklahoma!

She married:

• Stanley Clements (1926–1981), actor, married August 1945, divorced June 1, 1948.^[6]
• Nicholas Ray, director, married June 1, 1948, separated 1951, divorced 1952. The couple had one child, Timothy (born November 1948, aka David Cyrus Howard during his mother's third marriage).^[5][7] Their marriage ended when Ray found Grahame in bed with his 13-year-old son by his first marriage, Anthony, whom she later married.
• Cy Howard, writer, married 1954, divorced 1957. They had one daughter, Marianna Paulette (born 1956).
• Anthony Ray, her former stepson, married May 1960, divorced 1974. The Rays had two sons, Anthony Jr (born 1963) and James (born 1965).

In the late 1970s, Grahame traveled to England to perform in plays. While there, she met Liverpool actor Peter Turner with whom she had a romantic relationship. They moved to the United States and lived in New York and California, where their affair ended. Turner subsequently returned to England.

Death

In March 1974, Grahame was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent radiation treatment, changed her diet, stopped smoking and drinking alcohol and also sought homeopathic remedies. In less than a year, the cancer went into remission.^[8] The cancer returned in 1980, but Grahame refused to acknowledge her diagnosis or seek radiation treatment. Despite her failing health, Grahame continued working in stage productions in the United States and Great Britain. While working in London in September 1981, she underwent treatment to remove excess fluid from her abdomen. During the procedure, the doctor accidentally punctured her bowel. She soon developed peritonitis and was hospitalized. After being notified of Grahame's illness, two of her children, Timothy and Paulette, traveled to London and decided to take her back to the United States.^[9]

On October 5, 1981, Grahame returned to United States where she was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. She died there a few hours later at the age of 57.^[9] She is interred in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California, as Gloria H. Grahame.

Filmography

Footnotes

Sources

• Curcio, Vincent (1989). Suicide Blonde: The Life of Gloria Grahame (1st ed.). William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-06718-2
• Lentz, Robert J. (2011). Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete Career. Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub. ISBN 0-786-43483-X

Further reading

• Peter Turner, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (New York: Grove Press, 1987)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gloria Grahame.

• Gloria Grahame at the Internet Movie Database
• Gloria Grahame at the TCM Movie Database
• Gloria Grahame at Find a Grave
• Gloria Grahame at Film Reference
• Gloria Grahame – Article by Donald Chase
• Gloria Grahame at Virtual History