Gladys George

Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904[1] – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1936 for her role in Valiant is the Name for Carrie. Most of her performances were in secondary parts, appearing in films such as The Maltese Falcon and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Gladys George
George in 1937
Born	Gladys Clare Evans (1904-09-13)September 13, 1904 Patten, Maine, U.S.
Died	December 8, 1954(1954-12-08) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1919–1954
Spouse(s)	Ben Erway ​ ( m. 1922; div. 1930) Edward Fowler ​ ( m. 1933; div. 1935) Leonard Penn ​ ( m. 1935; div. 1944) Kenneth Bradley ​ ( m. 1946; div. 1950)

Early life

George was born on September 13, 1904[1] in Patten, Maine to British parents, Sir Arthur Evans Clare, a "noted Shakespearean actor", and his wife, Lady Alice.[2][3] Another source indicated "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time."[4]

Career

George went on the stage at the age of 3 and toured the United States, appearing with her parents, who were British actors.[4] She starred onstage in the 1920s, although she had made several films during the early part of that decade. She starred in Personal Appearance, a comedy by Lawrence Riley. This role was reprised by Mae West in the classic film, Go West, Young Man, which West adapted from the play. In 1936, George was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Valiant Is the Word for Carrie.[5]

Other first billed roles were in Madame X (1937), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Way of All Flesh (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), He Ran All the Way (1951), Detective Story (1951), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951).

George's Broadway credits include The Distant City, Lady in Waiting, and The Betrothal.[6]

Personal life

Gladys George was married and divorced four times. All of the unions were childless.

• On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California.[7] "They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930."[8] The couple divorced in October 1930.[9]
• Her second husband was millionaire paper manufacturer Edward Fowler, who walked out in 1933 after finding the actress in the arms of her leading man, Leonard Penn. At the time George was playing a nymphomaniacal star in the Broadway hit Personal Appearance.[10]
• George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935.[11]
• Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 46, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.[12][13]

Health

George was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.[12] She died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, aged 50, and was interred in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank, California.

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Red Hot Dollars	1919	Janet Muir	film debut
The Woman in the Suitcase	1920	Ethel
Below the Surface	1920	Alice
Homespun Folks	1920	Beulah Rogers
The Easy Road	1921	Isabel Grace
Chickens	1921	Julia Stoneman
The House that Jazz Built	1921	Lila Drake
Straight Is the Way	1934	Shirley
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie	1936	Carrie Snyder	Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated.
They Gave Him a Gun	1937	Rose Duffy	Co-starred with Spencer Tracy.
Madame X	1937	Madame X / Jacqueline Fleuriot / Miss Pran	Only film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS.
Love Is a Headache	1938	Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee
Marie Antoinette	1938	Madame du Barry	First time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination.
I'm from Missouri	1939	Julie Bliss
Here I Am a Stranger	1939	Clara Paulding
The Roaring Twenties	1939	Panama Smith	James Cagney film with one of many substantial early supporting roles for Humphrey Bogart.
A Child Is Born	1939	Florette Laverne
The House Across the Bay	1940	Mary Bogel
The Way of All Flesh	1940	Anna Kriza
The Lady from Cheyenne	1941	Elsie
Hit the Road	1941	Molly Ryan
The Maltese Falcon	1941	Iva Archer
The Hard Way	1943	Lily Emery
The Crystal Ball	1943	Madame Zenobia
Nobody's Darling	1943	Eve Hawthorne
Christmas Holiday	1944	Valerie De Merode
Minstrel Man	1945	Mae White
Steppin' in Society	1945	Penelope Webster
The Best Years of Our Lives	1946	Hortense Derry
Millie's Daughter	1947	Millie Maitland
Alias a Gentleman	1948	Madge Parkson
Flamingo Road	1949	Lute Mae Sanders
Bright Leaf	1950	Rose
Undercover Girl	1950	Liz Crow
Lullaby of Broadway	1951	Jessica Howard
He Ran All the Way	1951	Mrs. Robey
Detective Story	1951	Miss Hatch
Silver City	1951	Mrs. Barber
It Happens Every Thursday	1953	Mrs. Lucinda Holmes

References

1. "Family Tree Legends". Retrieved December 1, 2014. lists Gladys Clare Evans born September 13, 1904, Maine - died December 8, 1954, Los Angeles, California.
2. "SIR ARTHUR EVANS CLARE; Actor, Father of Gladys George, Is Dead in Hollywood". The New York Times. October 26, 1939. p. O29. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
3. "Gladys George Made Her Hit, Had to Run". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 12, 1940. p. E7. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Tildesley, Alice L. (November 8, 1936). "Are You a "Yes-Woman"?". The Charleston Daily Mail. p. 76. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "The 9th Academy Awards (1937)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
6. "Gladys George". Playbill. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
7. "Ben Erway, Oakland Actor, And Gladys George Are Wed". Oakland Tribune. April 1, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Utah Actress Asks Divorce". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Associated Press. September 20, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Star Divorced". Oakland Tribune. October 8, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Must Wait 3 Years to Wed in N.Y." The Milwaukee Sentinel. August 27, 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
11. "Gladys George Marries Actor Named in Suit". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. September 19, 1935. p. 8. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Gladys George TCM. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
13. "Gladys George Is Married". July 10, 1946. p. 19.

Further reading

• Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Gladys George". The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Independently published. pp. 101–103. ISBN 978-1-7200-3837-5.
• Maltin, Leonard (2015) [First published 1969]. "Gladys George". The Real Stars: Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players (softcover) (Sixth/ eBook ed.). CreateSpace Independent. pp. 88–102. ISBN 978-1-5116-4485-3.

External links

• Gladys George on IMDb
• Gladys George at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gladys George at Find a Grave