Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.
Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.
In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series.
After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities.
Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties.
Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0335748
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271696
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Filmography (Movies)
Hollywood’s Children
Character:Self
Release Date:24/02/1982
The Legend of the Lone Ranger
Character:Woman (uncredited)
Release Date:06/08/1981
The Velvet Alley
Character:Mrs. Kirkley
Release Date:22/01/1959
The Lone Ranger
Character:Welcome Kilgore
Release Date:25/02/1956
Guilty of Treason
Character:Stephanie Varna
Release Date:20/02/1950
Strike It Rich
Character:Julie Ann Brady
Release Date:01/12/1948
The Guilty
Character:Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell
Release Date:22/03/1947
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Character:Kay Wilson
Release Date:25/12/1946
Suspense
Character:Ronnie
Release Date:15/06/1946
The Truth About Murder
Character:Christine Allen
Release Date:01/04/1946
Breakfast in Hollywood
Character:Dorothy Larson
Release Date:26/02/1946
Senorita from the West
Character:Jeannie Blake
Release Date:12/10/1945
The Beautiful Cheat
Character:Alice
Release Date:20/07/1945
Youth Runs Wild
Character:Toddy Jones
Release Date:01/09/1944
Song of the Open Road
Character:Bonnie
Release Date:21/06/1944
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
Character:Kay Wilson
Release Date:04/05/1944
Hitler's Children
Character:Anna Miller
Release Date:06/01/1943
Seven Miles from Alcatraz
Character:Anne Porter
Release Date:18/11/1942
Now, Voyager
Character:June Vale
Release Date:22/10/1942
The Glass Key
Character:Opal 'Snip' Madvig
Release Date:08/09/1942
Syncopation
Character:Kit Latimer
Release Date:22/05/1942
Soaring Stars
Character:Passenger
Release Date:25/04/1942
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Character:Mary Pulham
Release Date:04/12/1941
Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1
Character:Self
Release Date:15/08/1941
Down in San Diego
Character:Betty Haines
Release Date:01/08/1941
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Character:Frances Marlowe
Release Date:02/05/1941
The Wild Man of Borneo
Character:Francine 'Frankie' Diamond
Release Date:24/01/1941
Gallant Sons
Character:Kate Pendleton
Release Date:15/11/1940
Escape
Character:Ursula
Release Date:01/11/1940
Third Finger, Left Hand
Character:Vicky Sherwood
Release Date:11/10/1940
Those Were the Days!
Character:Martha Scroggs
Release Date:14/07/1940
The Mortal Storm
Character:Elsa
Release Date:20/06/1940
Forty Little Mothers
Character:Doris
Release Date:26/04/1940
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Character:Nancy Drew
Release Date:09/09/1939
Angels Wash Their Faces
Character:Peggy Finnegan
Release Date:26/08/1939
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Character:Nancy Drew
Release Date:17/06/1939
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Character:Nancy Drew
Release Date:18/02/1939
Breakdowns of 1938
Character:Nancy Drew (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:31/12/1938
Nancy Drew… Detective
Character:Nancy Drew
Release Date:19/11/1938
Hard to Get
Character:Connie Richards
Release Date:05/11/1938
My Bill
Character:Gwen Colbrook
Release Date:08/07/1938
White Banners
Character:Sally Ward
Release Date:23/06/1938
The Beloved Brat
Character:Roberta Morgan
Release Date:30/04/1938
Merrily We Live
Character:Marian Kilbourne
Release Date:04/03/1938
It's Love I'm After
Character:Gracie Kane
Release Date:08/10/1937
Call It a Day
Character:Ann Hilton
Release Date:17/04/1937
Quality Street
Character:Isabella
Release Date:26/03/1937
Maid of Salem
Character:Ann
Release Date:12/02/1937
The Plough and the Stars
Character:Mollser Gogan
Release Date:26/12/1936
The Garden of Allah
Character:Convent Girl (uncredited)
Release Date:14/10/1936
These Three
Character:Mary Tilford
Release Date:18/03/1936
Song of the Saddle
Character:Jen as a Child
Release Date:28/02/1936
Ah, Wilderness!
Character:Mildred Miller
Release Date:25/12/1935
The Life of Vergie Winters
Character:Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited)
Release Date:14/06/1934
Cradle Song
Character:Carmen (uncredited)
Release Date:19/11/1933
Cavalcade
Character:Young Fanny
Release Date:08/02/1933
Silver Dollar
Character:Liddy (uncredited)
Release Date:22/12/1932
Westward Passage
Character:Little Olivia Allen (age 9)
Release Date:27/05/1932
Television Appearances
Images
