Celebrities in the 1940 U.S. Census

Now that the 1940 U.S. census images are up, we thought it would be fun to see where some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities were living at the time. Check out a few big name Hollywood players in the 1940 census! Click on the census images to get a better view.

Shirley Temple

Dimpled actress Shirley Temple was 11 when the census was taken. If you weren’t looking carefully, it would have been easy to miss – her father, George Temple, is listed on the previous page! Shirley lived in the same household as her parents and her two brothers. They also had a cook and a maid!

Her occupation is listed as a motion picture actress with an annual income of $5,000+ for the year.

Los Angeles, California En. Dist. 60-218

Judy Garland

Actress Judy Garland was 17 at the time and was just coming off of the release of The Wizard of Oz. She was living with her mother, her sister, a butler and a maid. Both her sister and herself are listed as actresses, with Judy bringing in a whopping $5,000+ for the year. Their Los Angeles home was valued at $50,000. Her mother, Ethel, furnished the information for the census, as indicated by the small circled x. Judy can also be found in the supplementary questions. Here it shows that her father was born in Minnesota and her mother was born in Michigan.

Los Angeles, California En. Dist. 60-219

Cary Grant and Randolph Scott

Actor Cary Grant shared his home in Santa Monica, California with fellow actor Randolph Scott. The pair were very good friends and roommates off-and-on for about ten years. Scott is listed as the head of the household, while Grant is named as the partner. The home they shared was often referred to as “Bachelor Hall.”

On the census, Scott’s age is listed as 52. However, he was born in 1898, which would actually make him 42 in 1940. It seems either Grant’s personal secretary, Frank Horn, made the mistake when providing the info or the enumerator jotted it down wrong.

Santa Monica, California En. Dist. 19-765

John Barrymore

Legendary theater actor John Barrymore was living in West Los Angeles, California with his wife, Elaine, and his mother-in-law, Edna. They had a guest, Helen, staying with them at the time and a butler named Hayward. Both John and his wife are listed as theater and radio actors and made over $5,000 that year.

Did you know John Barrymore is actress Drew Barrymore‘s grandfather?

Los Angeles, California En. Dist. 60-219

Have you made any fascinating discoveries in the 1940 census? Let us know in the comments below!