Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent."
Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent."
Dvorak was the daughter and only child of silent film actress Anna Lehr and director Edwin McKim. While in New York, she attended St. Catherine's Convent. After moving to California, she attended Page School for Girls in Hollywood.
She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films. Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him.
In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl. Her friend, actress Karen Morley, introduced her to billionaire movie producer Howard Hughes, who groomed her as a dramatic actress. She was a success in such pre-Code films as Scarface (1932) as Paul Muni's sister; in Three on a Match (1932) with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell as the doomed, unstable Vivian; in The Crowd Roars (1932) with James Cagney; and in Sky Devils (1932) opposite Spencer Tracy. Known for her style and elegance, she was a popular leading lady for Warner Bros. during the 1930s, and appeared in numerous contemporary romances and melodramas. At age 19, Dvorak eloped with Leslie Fenton, her English co-star from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and they married on March 17, 1932. They left for a year-long honeymoon in spite of her contractual obligations to the studio, which led to a period of litigation and pay disputes during which she discovered she was making the same amount of money as the boy who played her son in Three on a Match. She completed her contract on permanent suspension, then worked as a freelancer. Although she worked regularly, the quality of her scripts declined sharply. She appeared as secretary Della Street to Donald Woods' Perry Mason in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). With her then-husband, Leslie Fenton, Dvorak traveled to England where she supported the war effort by working as an ambulance driver and acted in several British films. She appeared as a saloon singer in Abilene Town with Randolph Scott and Edgar Buchanan, released in 1946. The following year she adeptly handled comedy by giving an assured performance in Out of the Blue (1947). In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute.
Dvorak's marriage to Fenton ended in divorce in 1946. In 1947, she married Igor Dega, a Russian dancer who danced with her briefly in The Bachelor's Daughters. The marriage ended two years later.
Dvorak retired from the screen in 1951, when she married her third and last husband, Nicholas Wade, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. She had no children.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0245304
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q448208
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Filmography (Movies)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Character:Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
Release Date:03/03/2008
Bogart: The Untold Story
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:05/01/1997
The Secret of Convict Lake
Character:Rachel Schaeffer
Release Date:29/07/1951
I Was an American Spy
Character:Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
Release Date:14/04/1951
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Character:Connie Kepplar
Release Date:08/12/1950
A Life of Her Own
Character:Mary Ashlon
Release Date:01/09/1950
The Return of Jesse James
Character:Sue Ellen Younger
Release Date:01/08/1950
Our Very Own
Character:Gert Lynch
Release Date:27/07/1950
The Walls of Jericho
Character:Belle Connors
Release Date:22/11/1948
The Long Night
Character:Charlene
Release Date:28/05/1947
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
Character:Madeleine Forestier
Release Date:25/04/1947
Out of the Blue
Character:Olive Jensen
Release Date:21/04/1947
The Bachelor's Daughters
Character:Terry Wilson
Release Date:06/08/1946
Abilene Town
Character:Rita
Release Date:11/01/1946
Masquerade in Mexico
Character:Helen Grant
Release Date:03/12/1945
Flame of Barbary Coast
Character:Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
Release Date:28/05/1945
Escape to Danger
Character:Joan Grahame
Release Date:18/10/1943
Squadron Leader X
Character:Barbara Lucas
Release Date:01/03/1943
This Was Paris
Character:Ann Morgan
Release Date:21/03/1942
Girls of the Road
Character:Kay Warren
Release Date:24/07/1940
Cafe Hostess
Character:Jo
Release Date:11/01/1940
Stronger Than Desire
Character:Eva McLain
Release Date:30/06/1939
Blind Alley
Character:Mary
Release Date:11/05/1939
Gangs of New York
Character:Connie Benson
Release Date:23/05/1938
Merrily We Live
Character:Minerva Harlan
Release Date:04/03/1938
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
Character:Ann Rogers
Release Date:26/11/1937
She's No Lady
Character:Jerry
Release Date:20/08/1937
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
Character:Della Street
Release Date:08/06/1937
Midnight Court
Character:Carol O'Neill
Release Date:06/03/1937
Racing Lady
Character:Ruth Martin
Release Date:12/01/1937
We Who Are About to Die
Character:Connie Stewart
Release Date:08/01/1937
Breakdowns of 1936
Character:Self
Release Date:30/12/1936
Thanks a Million
Character:Sally Mason
Release Date:13/11/1935
Dr. Socrates
Character:Josephine
Release Date:19/10/1935
Bright Lights
Character:Fay Wilson
Release Date:27/07/1935
'G' Men
Character:Jean Morgan
Release Date:04/05/1935
Sweet Music
Character:Bonnie Haydon
Release Date:23/02/1935
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
Character:Herself (uncredited)
Release Date:02/02/1935
Murder in the Clouds
Character:Judy Wagner
Release Date:15/12/1934
Gentlemen Are Born
Character:Susan Merrill
Release Date:17/11/1934
I Sell Anything
Character:Barbara
Release Date:20/10/1934
Side Streets
Character:Marguerite Gilbert
Release Date:14/08/1934
Housewife
Character:Nan Reynolds
Release Date:11/08/1934
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
Character:Miss Beulah Boyd
Release Date:28/07/1934
Midnight Alibi
Character:Joan
Release Date:12/07/1934
Heat Lightning
Character:Myra
Release Date:01/03/1934
Roast-Beef and Movies
Character:Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:09/02/1934
Massacre
Character:Lydia
Release Date:20/01/1934
College Coach
Character:Claire Gore
Release Date:04/11/1933
The Way to Love
Character:Madeleine
Release Date:20/10/1933
Hello Pop
Character:Dancer
Release Date:16/09/1933
Three on a Match
Character:Vivian Revere
Release Date:29/10/1932
Crooner
Character:Judith 'Judy' Mason
Release Date:20/08/1932
Love Is a Racket
Character:Sally Condon
Release Date:18/06/1932
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
Character:Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
Release Date:28/05/1932
The Crowd Roars
Character:Lee Merrick
Release Date:16/04/1932
Scarface
Character:Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
Release Date:09/04/1932
Sky Devils
Character:Mary Way
Release Date:12/03/1932
The Guardsman
Character:Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
Release Date:20/10/1931
This Modern Age
Character:Party Guest (Uncredited)
Release Date:29/08/1931
Stranger in Town
Character:Marian Crickle
Release Date:06/08/1931
Son of India
Character:Dancer (uncredited)
Release Date:01/08/1931
A Tailor-Made Man
Character:Bit (uncredited)
Release Date:28/03/1931
Politics
Character:Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
Release Date:26/02/1931
Dance, Fools, Dance
Character:Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:07/02/1931
The Devil's Cabaret
Character:Chorine in Black (uncredited)
Release Date:13/12/1930
Madam Satan
Character:Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
Release Date:20/09/1930
The March of Time
Character:Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:01/09/1930
Good News
Character:Student
Release Date:22/08/1930
Way Out West
Character:Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:02/08/1930
Our Blushing Brides
Character:One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
Release Date:19/07/1930
Estrellados
Character:Chorine (uncredited)
Release Date:07/07/1930
Children of Pleasure
Character:Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:26/04/1930
Free and Easy
Character:Chorine (uncredited)
Release Date:22/03/1930
Lord Byron of Broadway
Character:Chorus Girl
Release Date:28/02/1930
The Woman Racket
Character:Chorus Girl
Release Date:24/01/1930
Chasing Rainbows
Character:Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:10/01/1930
Devil-May-Care
Character:Chorine (uncredited)
Release Date:27/12/1929
Manhattan Serenade
Character:Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:21/12/1929
It's a Great Life
Character:Chorus Girl
Release Date:06/12/1929
The Song Writers' Revue
Character:Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
Release Date:27/11/1929
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Character:Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
Release Date:23/11/1929
So This Is College
Character:Student (uncredited)
Release Date:08/11/1929
The Doll Shop
Character:Doll
Release Date:28/09/1929
The Man Hater
Character:Phemie's Sister
Release Date:02/09/1917
Ramona
Character:Ramona Phail (age 4)
Release Date:05/04/1916
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