Ella Raines

Ella Wallace Raines (born Ella Wallace Raubes, August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress.

Ella Raines
Promotional photograph
Born	Ella Wallace Raines (1920-08-06)August 6, 1920 Fall City, Washington, U.S.
Died	May 30, 1988(1988-05-30) (aged 67) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Resting place	Glen Haven Memorial Park, Los Angeles County, California
Alma mater	University of Washington
Years active	1943–57, 1984
Spouse(s)	Kenneth Trout ​ ( m. 1942; div. 1945) Robin Olds ​ ( m. 1947; div. 1976)
Children	3

Life and career

Born Ella Wallace Raines on August 6, 1920, near Snoqualmie, Washington, Ella Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by director Howard Hawks. She became the first actress signed to the new production company he had formed with the actor Charles Boyer, B-H Productions, and made her film debut in Corvette K-225 (1943) which Hawks produced.

Immediately following her role in Corvette K-225, Raines was cast in the all-female war film Cry "Havoc" (also 1943). She starred in the film noir Phantom Lady,[1] the Preston Sturges comedy Hail the Conquering Hero, and the John Wayne western Tall in the Saddle (all 1944).

She appeared in films such as The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) with Geraldine Fitzgerald and George Sanders and the thriller The Web (1947). With the exception of Brute Force (1947), in which Raines appeared with Burt Lancaster, none of her later films were nearly as successful as her earlier movies and her career began to decline.

Raines on the cover of Life magazine (February 28, 1944)

In 1954 and 1955 she starred in the television series Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. She also appeared in such television series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, Lights Out, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Christophers. She retired from acting in 1957, but made one further screen appearance with a guest role in the series Matt Houston in 1984. Raines appeared on the cover of Life magazine twice, once for Brute Force in 1947 and, in 1944, for her work in Phantom Lady. Also in 1944, she appeared as a pin-up girl in the June 2 and June 16 issue of the G.I. magazine Yank.

Raines has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard,[2] and for television at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

On August 11, 1942,[3] a few days after her graduation from the University of Washington, Raines married her high school sweetheart, United States Army Air Forces Major Kenneth William Trout. The couple divorced December 18, 1945.[4]

On February 6, 1947,[5] Raines married fighter-pilot ace Robin Olds,[6] who was eventually promoted to United States Air Force Brigadier General; the couple had three children, one of whom was stillborn. She also had two miscarriages which she blamed on the unsanitary conditions of serving abroad in Africa.[7] They separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976.

Death

Pin-up photo of Ella Raines for the Aug. 17, 1945 issue of Yank, the Army Weekly, a weekly U.S. Army magazine fully staffed by enlisted men

She died from throat cancer in Sherman Oaks, California in 1988, aged 67.

Filmography

Raines and Alan Curtis in Phantom Lady (1944)

Raines and Charles Laughton in The Suspect (1944)

Raines and Brian Donlevy in Impact (1949)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1943	Corvette K-225	Joyce Cartwright
1943	Cry 'Havoc'	Connie
1944	Phantom Lady	Carol Richman
1944	Hail the Conquering Hero	Libby
1944	Tall in the Saddle	Arleta 'Arly' Harolday
1944	Enter Arsène Lupin	Stacie Kanares
1944	The Suspect	Mary
1945	The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry	Deborah Brown
1946	The Runaround	Penelope 'Annabelle' Hampton
1946	White Tie and Tails	Louise Bradford
1947	Time Out of Mind	Clarissa 'Rissa' Fortune
1947	The Web	Noel Faraday
1947	Brute Force	Cora Lister
1947	The Senator Was Indiscreet	Poppy McNaughton
1949	The Walking Hills	Chris Jackson
1949	Impact	Marsha Peters
1949	A Dangerous Profession	Lucy Brackett
1950	Singing Guns	Nan Morgan
1950	The Second Face	Phyllis Holmes
1951	Fighting Coast Guard	Louise Ryan
1952	Ride the Man Down	Celia Evarts
1956	The Man in the Road	Rhona Ellison

References

1. Hanson, Helen (2007). Hollywood Heroines: Women in Film Noir. 6 Salem Road, London: I.B. Tauris &Co. pp. 20–23.CS1 maint: location (link)
2. "Ella Raines". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
3. "Actress Ella Raines May Seek Divorce". Herald and News. Oregon, Klamath Falls. October 17, 1945. p. 10. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Divorce Awarded to Actress Ella Raines". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. Associated Press. December 19, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Actress Ella Raines, Major on Honeymoon". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. Associated Press. February 8, 1947. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Ella Raines Happy In Her Marriage". Statesville Daily Record. North Carolina, Statesville. July 19, 1947. p. 9. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Olds, Robin (2010). Fighter Pilot: the memoirs of legendary ace Robin Olds. St Martins Griffin. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-312-56951-8.

External links

• Ella Raines on IMDb
• Ella Raines at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ella Raines at Find a Grave
• Screen Sirens - Ella Raines photo gallery
• Movie Maidens - brief biography and more photographs of Ella Raines
• Ella Raines at aenigma