Joan Blondell

Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress. Born into a vaudeville family in New York City, Blondell was a sexy, wisecracking, blonde pre-Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers who appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. She was one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1931.

Her father, known as Eddie Joan Blondell, was a vaudeville comedian who was one of the original Katzenjammer Kids. Her younger sister, Gloria Blondell (1910-1986), was also an actress, and was married to film producer Albert R. Broccoli.

The daughter of travelling showpeople, Blondell had seen much of the world by the time the family settled in Dallas, Texas while she was a teenager. She won a local beauty contest and travelled to New York to become an actress. She soon moved to Hollywood where she was placed under contract by Warner Brothers Studios, making her film debut in 1930. During the 1930s she would embody the depression era gold-digger, and with her huge eyes, blonde hair and wise cracking personality, became a crowd favourite. She appeared in more Warner Brothers films than any other actress, and referred to herself as "Warner's workhorse". The popularity of her films made a great contribution to the studio's profitability.

Blondell was paired with James Cagney in such films as The Public Enemy (1931), and was one half of the gold-digging duo (with Glenda Farrell) in nine films. During the Great Depression, Blondell was one of the highest paid individuals in the United States. Her stirring rendition of Remember My Forgotten Man in the Busby Berkeley production of Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), in which she co-starred with Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers, became an anthem for the frustrations of the unemployed and President Herbert Hoover's failed economic policies.

By the end of the decade she had made nearly 50 films. Continuing to work regularly for the rest of her life, Blondell was well received in her later films, and received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in The Painted Veil (1951). She also appeared in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Desk Set (1957) and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). She was widely seen in two films released not long before her death, Grease (1978) and The Champ (1979).

She was married first in 1932 to the cinematographer George S. Barnes (1892-1953); they divorced in 1936. Her second husband, married on September 19, 1936, was the actor, director, and singer Dick Powell; they were divorced on July 14, 1944, and had two children, Ellen Powell and Norman S. Powell (who became an actor, producer, and director). She married as her third husband, in 1947, the producer Michael Todd, who divorced her in 1950.

She died of leukemia in Santa Monica, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Joan Blondell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6309 Hollywood Boulevard.

After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blonde, she was a pre-Code staple of Warner Bros. pictures and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. She was most active in films during the 1930s, and during this time she co-starred with Glenda Farrell in nine films, in which the duo portrayed gold-diggers. Blondell continued acting for the rest of her life, often in small character roles or supporting television roles. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Blue Veil (1951).

Blondell was seen in featured roles in two films — Grease (1978) and The Champ (1979) — released shortly before her death from leukemia.

Rose Joan Blondell was born in New York to a vaudeville family, and gave her birthdate as August 30, 1909.[2] Her father, known as Ed Blondell, was born in Indiana in 1866 to French parents, and was a vaudeville comedian and one of the original Katzenjammer Kids. Blondell's mother was Kathryn ("Katie") Cain, born April 13, 1884, in Brooklyn, of Irish American parents. Her younger sister, Gloria Blondell, also an actress,[3] was briefly married to film producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli. Blondell also had a brother, Ed Blondell, Jr. Her cradle was a property trunk as her parents moved from place to place and she made her first appearance on stage at the age of four months when she was carried on in a cradle as the daughter of Peggy Astaire in The Greatest Love. Her family comprised a vaudeville troupe, the "Bouncing Blondells."[4]

Joan had spent a year in Honolulu (1914–15) [5] and six years in Australia and seen much of the world by the time her family, who had been on tour, settled in Dallas, Texas, when she was a teenager. Under the name Rosebud Blondell, she won the 1926 Miss Dallas pageant, was a finalist in an early version of the Miss Universe pageant in May 1926, and placed fourth for Miss America in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September of that same year. She attended what is now the University of North Texas, then a teacher's college, in Denton, where her mother was a local stage actress, and she worked as a fashion model, a circus hand, and a clerk in a New York store. Around 1927, she returned to New York, joined a stock company to become an actress, and performed on Broadway. In 1930, she starred with James Cagney in Penny Arcade.[6]

Blondell in the trailer for the 1932 film Three on a Match

Penny Arcade only lasted three weeks, but Al Jolson saw it and bought the rights to the play for $20,000. He then sold the rights to Warner Brothers with the proviso that Blondell and Cagney be cast in the film version. Placed under contract by Warners, she moved to Hollywood where studio boss Jack L. Warner wanted her to change her name to "Inez Holmes",[7] but Blondell refused. She began to appear in short subjects, and was named as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1931.

Blondell was paired with James Cagney in such films as Sinners' Holiday (1930) – the film version of Penny Arcade – and The Public Enemy (1931), and was one half of a gold-digging duo with Glenda Farrell in nine films. During the Great Depression, Blondell was one of the highest-paid individuals in the United States. Her stirring rendition of "Remember My Forgotten Man" in the Busby Berkeley production of Gold Diggers of 1933, in which she co-starred with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler, became an anthem for the frustrations of the unemployed and the government's failed economic policies. In 1937, she starred opposite Errol Flynn in The Perfect Specimen. By the end of the decade, she had made nearly 50 films. She left Warner Bros in 1939. This 1932 promotional photo of Blondell was later banned under the Motion Picture Production Code.

In 1943, Blondell returned to Broadway as the star of Mike Todd's short-lived production of The Naked Genius, a comedy written by Gypsy Rose Lee.[2] She was well received in her later films, despite being relegated to character and supporting roles after 1945, when she was billed below the title for the first time in 14 years in Adventure, which starred Clark Gable and Greer Garson. She was also featured prominently in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) and Nightmare Alley (1947). In 1948, she left the screen for three years and concentrated on theatre, performing in summer stock and touring with Cole Porter's musical, Something for the Boys.[2]

Blondell returned to Hollywood in 1950. Her performance in her next film, The Blue Veil (1951), earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[2] She played supporting roles in The Opposite Sex (1956), Desk Set (1957), and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). She received considerable acclaim for her performance as Lady Fingers in Norman Jewison's The Cincinnati Kid (1965), garnering a Golden Globe nomination and National Board of Review win for Best Supporting Actress. John Cassavetes cast her as a cynical, aging playwright in his film Opening Night (1977). Blondell was widely seen in two films released not long before her death, Grease (1978) and the remake of The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight and Rick Schroder. She also appeared in two films released after her death, The Glove (1979) and The Woman Inside (1981).

Blondell also guest-starred in various television programs, including three 1963 episodes as the character Aunt Win in the CBS sitcom The Real McCoys, starring Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna. She appeared in a 1964 episode ("What's in the Box?") of The Twilight Zone. She guest-starred in the episode "You're All Right, Ivy" of Jack Palance's circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth, which aired on ABC in the 1963—1964 television season. Her co-stars in the segment were Joe E. Brown and Buster Keaton. In 1965, she was in the running to replace Vivian Vance as Lucille Ball's sidekick on the hit CBS television comedy series The Lucy Show. Unfortunately, after filming her second guest appearance as Joan Brenner (Lucy's new friend from California), Blondell walked off the set right after the episode had completed filming when Ball humiliated her by harshly criticizing her performance in front of the studio audience and technicians. With James Cagney in Footlight Parade (1933)

Blondell continued working on television. In 1968, she guest-starred on the CBS sitcom Family Affair, starring Brian Keith. She also replaced Bea Benaderet, who was ill, for one episode on the CBS series Petticoat Junction. In that installment, Blondell played FloraBelle Campbell, a lady visitor to Hooterville, who had once dated Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady). That same year, Blondell co-starred in the ABC western series Here Come the Brides, set in the Pacific Northwest of the 19th century. Her co-stars included singer Bobby Sherman and actor-singer David Soul. Blondell received two consecutive Emmy nominations for outstanding continued performance by an actress in a dramatic series for her role as Lottie Hatfield.

In 1972, she had an ongoing supporting role in the NBC series Banyon as Peggy Revere, who operated a secretarial school in the same building as Banyon's detective agency. This was a 1930s period action drama starring Robert Forster in the titular role. Her students worked in Banyon's office, providing fresh faces for the show weekly. The series was replaced midseason.

Blondell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6309 Hollywood Boulevard. In December 2007, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City mounted a retrospective of Blondell's films in connection with a new biography by film professor Matthew Kennedy and theatrical revival houses such as Film Forum in Manhattan have also projected many of her films recently.

She wrote a novel titled Center Door Fancy (New York: Delacorte Press, 1972), which was a thinly disguised autobiography with veiled references to June Allyson and Dick Powell.[8]

Blondell with daughter Ellen Powell and son Norman S. Powell (1944)

Blondell was married three times, first to cinematographer George Barnes in a private wedding ceremony on January 4, 1933, at the First Presbyterian Church in Phoenix, Arizona. They had one child — Norman S. Powell, who became an accomplished producer, director, and television executive — and divorced in 1936. On September 19, 1936, she married her second husband, actor, director, and singer Dick Powell. They had a daughter, Ellen Powell, who became a studio hair stylist, and Powell adopted her son by her previous marriage. Blondell and Powell were divorced on July 14, 1944.

On July 5, 1947, Blondell married her third husband, producer Mike Todd, whom she divorced in 1950. Her marriage to Todd was an emotional and financial disaster. She once accused him of holding her outside a hotel window by her ankles. He was also a heavy spender who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars gambling (high-stakes bridge was one of his weaknesses) and went through a controversial bankruptcy during their marriage. An often-repeated myth is that Mike Todd "dumped" Joan Blondell for Elizabeth Taylor, when in fact, Blondell left Todd of her own accord years before he met Taylor.

1930 The Office Wife Katherine Murdock [9]

1930 Sinners' Holiday Myrtle [9]

1931 Other Men's Women Marie [9]

1931 Millie Angie Wickerstaff [9]

1931 Illicit Helen Dukie Childers [9]

1931 God's Gift to Women Fifi [9]

1931 The Public Enemy Mamie [9]

1931 My Past Marian Moore [9]

1931 Big Business Girl Pearl [9]

1931 Night Nurse Maloney [9]

1931 The Reckless Hour Myrtle Nichols [9]

1931 Blonde Crazy Ann Roberts [9]

1932 Union Depot Ruth Collins [9]

1932 The Greeks Had a Word for Them Schatze Citroux [9]

1932 The Crowd Roars Anne Scott [9]

1932 The Famous Ferguson Case Maizie Dickson [9]

1932 Make Me a Star Flips Montague [9]

1932 Miss Pinkerton Miss Adams [9]

1932 Big City Blues Vida Fleet [9]

1932 Three on a Match Mary Keaton [9]

1932 Central Park Dot [9]

1933 Lawyer Man Olga Michaels [9]

1933 Broadway Bad Tony Landers [9]

1933 Blondie Johnson Blondie Johnson [9]

1933 Gold Diggers of 1933 Carol King [9]

1933 Goodbye Again Anne Rogers [9]

1933 Footlight Parade Nan Prescott [9]

1933 Havana Widows Mae Knight [9]

1933 Convention City Nancy Lorraine [9]

1934 I've Got Your Number Marie Lawson [9]

1934 He Was Her Man Rose Lawrence [9]

1934 Smarty Vickie Wallace [9]

1934 Dames Mabel Anderson [9]

1934 Kansas City Princess Rosie Sturges [9]

1935 Traveling Saleslady Angela Twitchell [9]

1935 Broadway Gondolier Alice Hughes [9]

1935 We're in the Money Ginger Stewart [9]

1935 Miss Pacific Fleet Gloria Fay [9]

1936 Colleen Minnie Hawkins [9]

1936 Sons o' Guns Yvonne [9]

1936 Bullets or Ballots Lee Morgan [9]

1936 Stage Struck Peggy Revere [9]

1936 Three Men on a Horse Mabel [9]

1936 Gold Diggers of 1937 Norma Perry [9]

1937 The King and the Chorus Girl Dorothy Ellis [9]

1937 Back in Circulation Timmy Blake [9]

1937 The Perfect Specimen Mona Carter [9]

1937 Stand-In Lester Plum [9]

1938 There's Always a Woman Sally Reardon [9]

1939 Off the Record Jane Morgan [9]

1939 East Side of Heaven Mary Wilson [9]

1939 The Kid from Kokomo Doris Harvey [9]

1939 Good Girls Go to Paris Jenny Swanson [9]

1939 The Amazing Mr. Williams Maxine Carroll [9]

1940 Two Girls on Broadway Molly Mahoney [9]

1940 I Want a Divorce Geraldine Brokaw [9]

1941 Topper Returns Gail Richards [9]

1941 Model Wife Joan Keathing Chambers [9]

1941 Three Girls About Town Hope Banner [9]

1942 Lady for a Night Jenny Blake [9]

1942 Cry 'Havoc' Grace Lambert [9]

1945 A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Aunt Sissy [9]

1945 Don Juan Quilligan Margie Mossrock [9]

1945 Adventure Helen Melohn [9]

1947 The Corpse Came C.O.D. Rosemary Durant [9]

1947 Nightmare Alley Zeena [9]

1947 Christmas Eve Ann Nelson [9]

1950 For Heaven's Sake Daphne [9]

1951 The Blue Veil Annie Rawlins Academy Award nominee, Best Actress in a Supporting Role[9][10]

1956 The Opposite Sex Edith Potter [9]

1957 Lizzie Aunt Morgan [9]

1957 Desk Set Peg Costello [9]

1957 This Could Be the Night Crystal [9]

1957 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Violet [9]

1961 Angel Baby Mollie Hays [9]

1964 Advance to the Rear Easy Jenny [9]

1965 The Cincinnati Kid Lady Fingers Best Supporting Actress, National Board of Review

1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance Mrs. Lavender [9]

1967 Waterhole #3 Lavinia [9]

1967 Winchester '73 Larouge TV movie[11]

1968 Stay Away, Joe Glenda Callahan [9]

1968 Kona Coast Kittibelle Lightfoot [9]

1969 Big Daddy [9]

1970 The Phynx Ruby [9]

1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter! Jenny [9]

1975 The Dead Don't Die Levinia TV movie[12]

1976 Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood Landlady [9]

1977 The Baron [13]

1977 Opening Night Sarah Goode Golden Globe Award nominee, Best Supporting Actress[9][10]

1978 Grease Vi [9]

1979 The Rebels Mrs. Brumple TV miniseries[14]

1979 The Champ Dolly Kenyon [9]

1981 The Woman Inside Aunt Coll [15]

Year Title Notes

1929 Broadway's Like That Vitaphone Varieties release 960 (December 1929)

Cast: Ruth Etting, Humphrey Bogart, Mary Philips[16]:50

1930 The Devil's Parade Vitaphone Varieties release 992 (February 1930)

Cast: Sidney Toler[16]:52

1930 The Heart Breaker Vitaphone Varieties release 1012–1013 (March 1930)

Cast: Eddie Foy, Jr.[16]:53

1930 An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee [17]

1931 How I Play Golf, number 10, "Trouble Shots" Vitaphone release 4801

Cast: Bobby Jones, Joe E. Brown, Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.[16]:226

1933 Just Around the Corner [18]

1934 Hollywood Newsreel [19]

1941 Meet the Stars #2: Baby Stars [20]

1965 The Cincinnati Kid Plays According to Hoyle [21]

Year Program Episode/source

1946 Hollywood Star Time The Lady Eve[22]