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Ann Sheridan

Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

Ann Sheridan
Sheridan in 1934
Born
Clara Lou Sheridan

(1915-02-21)February 21, 1915
DiedJanuary 21, 1967(1967-01-21) (aged 51)
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1934–1967
Spouses
(m. 1936; div. 1938)
(m. 1942; div. 1943)
(m. 1966)

Early life edit

Clara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton, Texas, on February 21, 1915, the youngest of five children (Kitty, Pauline, Mabel and George) of garage mechanic[1][2] George W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart (née Warren).[3][4] According to Sheridan, her father was a grandnephew of Civil War Union general Philip Sheridan.[5][6]

She was active in dramatics at Denton High School and at North Texas State Teachers College. She also sang with the college's stage band and played basketball on the North Texas women's basketball team.[7] Then, in 1933, Sheridan won the prize of a bit part in an upcoming Paramount film, Search for Beauty,[8] when her sister Kitty entered Sheridan's photograph into a beauty contest.[9]

Career edit

Paramount edit

After the release of Search for Beauty in 1934, Paramount put the 19-year-old under contract at a starting salary of $75 a week (equivalent to $1,640 in 2022[citation needed]), where she played mostly uncredited bit parts for the next two years.[10] She can be glimpsed in the following 1934 films, and if credited, as Clara Lou Sheridan: Bolero, Come On Marines!, Murder at the Vanities, Shoot the Works, Kiss and Make-Up with Cary Grant, The Notorious Sophie Lang, College Rhythm (directed by Norman Taurog whom Sheridan admired), Ladies Should Listen with Cary Grant, You Belong to Me, Wagon Wheels, The Lemon Drop Kid with Lee Tracy, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, Ready for Love, Limehouse Blues with George Raft and Anna May Wong, and One Hour Late.

Along with fellow contractees, Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Moise and performed on the studio lot in such plays as The Milky Way and The Pursuit of Happiness. While in The Milky Way, Paramount decided to change her first name from Clara Lou to the same as her character Ann.[11]

Sheridan was then cast in the film Behold My Wife! (1934) at the behest of director and friend Mitchell Leisen. The role provided two standout scenes for the actress, including one in which her character commits suicide, to which she attributed Paramount's keeping her under contract.[12]

She continued with bit parts in Enter Madame (1935) with Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, Home on the Range (1935) with Randolph Scott and Evelyn Brent, and Rumba (1935) with George Raft and Carole Lombard, until her first lead role in Car 99 (1935), with Fred MacMurray.[13] "No acting, it was just playing the lead, that's all", she later said.[12] She next had a support role as the romantic interest in Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935), a Randolph Scott Western.

She then appeared in Mississippi (1935) with Bing Crosby and W. C. Fields, The Glass Key (1935) with George Raft in a brief speaking role for which she was billed as "Nurse" in the cast list at the end of the film, and (having one line) The Crusades (1935) with Loretta Young. In her last picture under her deal with Paramount, the studio loaned her out to Poverty Row production company Talisman to make The Red Blood of Courage (1935) with Kermit Maynard. After this, Paramount declined to renew her contract.[14] Sheridan made Fighting Youth (1935) at Universal and then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936.

Warner Bros. edit

 
Sheridan and James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Sheridan's career prospects began to improve at her new studio. Her early films for Warner Bros. included Sing Me a Love Song (1936); Black Legion (1937) with Humphrey Bogart; The Great O'Malley (1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart, her first real break;[15] San Quentin (1937), with O'Brien and Bogart, singing for the first time in a film; and Wine, Women and Horses (1937) with Barton MacLane.[16]

Sheridan moved into B picture leads: The Footloose Heiress (1937); Alcatraz Island (1937) with John Litel; and She Loved a Fireman (1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow. She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (1937) and its sequel Mystery House (1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (1938) with Litel for Farrow and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938).[17]

Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl. For Farrow, she was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (1932).

Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros. executives and she began to get roles in better quality pictures at her own studio starting with Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), wherein she played James Cagney's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles. The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed.

Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (1938) starring John Garfield. She was third-billed in the Western Dodge City (1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was another success.

Oomph girl edit

 
Sheridan in 1940

In March 1939, Warner Bros. announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most "oomph" in America.[18] "Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest".[18]

She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week.[19] Sheridan reportedly loathed the sobriquet that made her a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s.[20][21][22] However, she expressed in a February 25, 1940, news story distributed by the Associated Press that she no longer "bemoaned the "oomph" tag."[23] She continued, "But I'm sorry now. I know if it hadn't been for 'oomph' I'd probably still be in the chorus."[23]

This was later referenced and spoofed on the 1941 animated short Hollywood Steps Out.[24]

Stardom edit

Sheridan co-starred with Dick Powell in Naughty but Nice (1939) and played a wacky heiress in Winter Carnival (1939).

She was top billed in Indianapolis Speedway (1939) with O'Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) with the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan. Castle on the Hudson (1940) put her opposite Garfield and O'Brien.

 
Magazine ad for The Doughgirls (1944)

Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (1940), a musical comedy costarring Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn. She introduced the song "Angel in Disguise".

Sheridan and Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (1940) with O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft, Bogart and Ida Lupino in They Drive by Night (1940), a smash-hit trucking melodrama. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (1941) and then made Honeymoon for Three (1941), a comedy with George Brent.

 
Sheridan in 1950

Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (1941), a musical comedy, and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence. She then made Kings Row (1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan, Robert Cummings, and Betty Field. It was a major success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films.

Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (1942) released about six weeks after Kings Row. She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny, George Washington Slept Here (1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (1943) with Errol Flynn and was one of the many Warner Bros. stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943).

She was the heroine of a novel, Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx, written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine.[25]

Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944), playing Nora Bayes, opposite Dennis Morgan.[26] She was in a comedy, The Doughgirls (1944).

Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China.[27] She returned in One More Tomorrow (1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the noir Nora Prentiss (1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (1948), a remake of The Letter, and Silver River (1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn.

Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (1948). She was meant to star in Flamingo Road.[28] She then left Warner Bros., saying: "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me."[29]

Freelance star edit

Her role in I Was a Male War Bride (1949), directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant, was another success. In 1950, she appeared on the ABC musical television series Stop the Music.

She made Stella (1950), a comedy with Victor Mature at Fox.

In April 1949, she announced she wanted to produce Second Lady, a film based on a story by Eleanore Griffin.[29][30] She was going to make My Forbidden Past (originally titled Carriage Entrance) at RKO.[29] They fired her and Sheridan sued for $250,000 (equivalent to $3.1 million today)[31] The New York Times reported the amount as $350,000 ($4.3 million today).[32] Sheridan ultimately won $55,162 ($680,000 today).[33]

Universal edit

Sheridan made Woman on the Run (1950), a noir also starring Dennis O'Keefe which she produced. She wanted to make a film called Her Secret Diary.[34]

Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal, and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there, she made Steel Town (1952), Just Across the Street (1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy with Sterling Hayden that was the first film directed by Douglas Sirk in the United States.

Later career edit

 
Wagon Train in 1962
 
Pistols 'n' Petticoats

Sheridan starred with Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (1953), directed by Jacques Tourneur. She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (1956), a remake of The Women starring June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Sheridan and Ann Miller. Her last film, Woman and the Hunter (1957), was shot in Africa.[35]

She performed in stage tours of Kind Sir (1958) and Odd Man In (1959), and The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. In all three shows, she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married.[36][37]

In 1962, she played the lead in the Western series Wagon Train episode titled "The Mavis Grant Story".

In the mid-1960s, Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World.[35]

Her final role was as Henrietta Hanks in the television comedy Western series Pistols 'n' Petticoats, which was filmed while she became increasingly ill in 1966, and was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights.[38] The 19th episode of the series, "Beware the Hangman", aired as scheduled on the same day that she died in 1967.[39]

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.[40]

Personal life edit

Sheridan married actor Edward Norris August 16, 1936, in Ensenada, Mexico.[41] They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. On January 5, 1942, she married fellow Warner Bros. star George Brent, who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (1941); they divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from Brent, she had a long-term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan bequeathed Sheridan $218,399 (equivalent to $2.4 million today).[42]

Sheridan engaged in a romantic affair with Mexican actor Rodolfo Acosta, with whom she appeared in 1953's Appointment in Honduras. She and the married Acosta shared an apartment in Mexico City for several years, and Sheridan was charged with criminal adultery in Mexican federal court in October, 1956, following an accusation by Acosta's wife, Jeanine Cohen Acosta. Mexican authorities issued a warrant for Sheridan's arrest.[43][44] Nothing came of the criminal charges, and the relationship ended c. 1958.[citation needed]

On June 5, 1966, Sheridan married actor Scott McKay, who was with her when she died, seven months later.[45][9]

Sheridan supported Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential elections.[46]

Death edit

In 1966, Sheridan began starring in a new television series, a Western-themed comedy called Pistols 'n' Petticoats. She became ill during the filming and died of esophageal cancer[47] with massive liver metastases at age 51 on January 21, 1967, in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were in the private vault at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005.[48]

Filmography edit

Year Film Role Notes
1934 Search for Beauty Dallas Beauty Winner uncredited
1934 Bolero Minor Role uncredited
1934 Come on Marines! Loretta
1934 Murder at the Vanities Earl Carroll Girl uncredited
1934 Many Happy Returns Chorine uncredited
1934 Shoot the Works Hanratty's Secretary uncredited
1934 Kiss and Make Up Beautician
1934 The Notorious Sophie Lang Mannequin uncredited
1934 Ladies Should Listen Adele
1934 You Belong to Me Wedding Party Guest uncredited
1934 Wagon Wheels Young Lady uncredited
1934 The Lemon Drop Kid Minor Role uncredited
1934 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Town Girl uncredited
1934 College Rhythm Chorine / Gloves Salesgirl uncredited
1934 Ready for Love Priscilla at Basket Social uncredited
1934 Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove Sands of the Desert Model Short; uncredited
1934 Behold My Wife Mary White
1934 Limehouse Blues Minor Role uncredited
1934 One Hour Late Girl uncredited
1935 Enter Madame Flora's Shipboard Friend
1935 Home on the Range Singer
1935 Rumba Chorus Girl uncredited
1935 Car 99 Mary Adams
1935 Rocky Mountain Mystery Rita Ballard
1935 Mississippi Schoolgirl uncredited
1935 Red Blood of Courage Elizabeth Henry
1935 The Glass Key Nurse
1935 The Crusades Christian Slave Girl uncredited
1935 Hollywood Extra Girl Genevieve Documentary short
1935 Fighting Youth Carol Arlington
1937 Sing Me a Love Song
1937 Black Legion Betty Grogan
1937 The Great O'Malley Judy Nolan
1937 San Quentin May Kennedy aka May De Villiers
1937 The Footloose Heiress Kay Allyn
1937 Wine, Women and Horses Valerie
1937 Alcatraz Island Flo Allen
1937 She Loved a Fireman Marjorie "Margie" Shannon
1938 The Patient in Room 18 Sarah Keate
1938 Mystery House Sarah Keate
1938 Out Where the Stars Begin Herself Short; uncredited
1938 Little Miss Thoroughbred Madge Perry Morgan
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Maxine Chadwick
1938 Letter of Introduction Lydia Hoyt
1938 Broadway Musketeers Fay Reynolds Dowling
1938 Angels with Dirty Faces Laury Martin
1939 They Made Me a Criminal Goldie
1939 Dodge City Ruby Gilman
1939 Naughty but Nice Zelda Manion
1939 Indianapolis Speedway "Frankie" Merrick
1939 Winter Carnival Jill Baxter
1939 The Angels Wash Their Faces Joy Ryan
1940 Castle on the Hudson Kay
1940 It All Came True Sarah Jane Ryan
1940 Torrid Zone Lee Donley
1940 They Drive by Night Cassie Hartley
1940 City for Conquest Peggy Nash
1941 Honeymoon for Three Anne Rogers
1941 Navy Blues Marge Jordan
1942 The Man Who Came to Dinner Lorraine Sheldon
1942 Kings Row Randy Monaghan
1942 Juke Girl Lola Mears
1942 Wings for the Eagle Roma Maple
1942 George Washington Slept Here Connie Fuller
1943 Edge of Darkness Karen Stensgard
1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars Ann Sheridan
1944 Shine On, Harvest Moon Nora Bayes
1944 The Doughgirls Edna Stokes Cadman
1946 Cinderella Jones Red Cross Nurse uncredited
1946 One More Tomorrow Christie Sage
1947 The Unfaithful Chris Hunter
1947 Nora Prentiss Nora Prentiss
1948 Silver River Georgia Moore
1948 Good Sam Lu Clayton
1949 I Was a Male War Bride 1st Lt. Catherine Gates
1950 Stella Stella Bevans
1950 Woman on the Run Eleanor Johnson also co-producer
1952 Steel Town "Red" McNamara
1952 Just Across the Street Henrietta Smith
1953 Take Me to Town Vermilion O'Toole aka Mae Madison
1953 Appointment in Honduras Sylvia Sheppard
1956 Come Next Spring Bess Ballot
1956 Calling Terry Conway Terry Conway TV movie
1956 The Opposite Sex Amanda Penrose
1957 Woman and the Hunter Laura Dodds
1962 Wagon Train Mavis Grant TV series
Episode: "The Mavis Grant Story"
1967 The Far Out West Henrietta "Hank" Hanks archive footage

Radio appearances edit

Year Program Episode Ref
1943 Screen Guild Players Love Is News [49]
1952 Stars in the Air Good Sam [50]

References edit

  1. ^ The Women of Warner Brothers, Daniel Bubbeo, McFarland, Inc. Publishers, 2010, p. 191
  2. ^ Life, vol. 7, issue 4, 24 July 1939, p. 66
  3. ^ Bubbeo, Daniel (2010). The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies for Each. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6236-0.
  4. ^ "Miss Pauline Sheridan Weds in Oklahoma". Denton Record-Chronicle. Denton, Texas. March 27, 1931. p. 5. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "Ann Sheridan Is Still a Favorite After Years as a Successful Star". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. March 30, 1952. p. 29. Retrieved June 18, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ Life. Time Inc. July 24, 1939.
  7. ^ "Miss Sheridan Is Winner in Screen Contest". Denton Record-Chronicle. Denton, Texas. July 19, 1933. p. 8. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ "Denton Girl Wins World Contest; to be Given Part in Paramount Movie". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. September 9, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  9. ^ a b Houston, Paul (January 22, 1967). "Ann Sheridan, Film 'Oomph Girl,' Dies at 51". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ "Ann Sheridan, film star, dies". Chicago Tribune. January 22, 1967. ProQuest 179108425.
  11. ^ Hagen, Ray (2004). Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames. McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 978-0786418831.
  12. ^ a b Hagen p. 172
  13. ^ "Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan". Denton Record-Chronicle. January 25, 1935. p. 5. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Ann Sheridan Reveals 'Love at Sight' Wedding". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 30, 1936. p. 18.
  15. ^ "Star of the Week: Ann Sheridan Martinee". Chicago Daily Tribune. July 18, 1948. p. c23.
  16. ^ "Ann Sheridan dead". The Guardian. January 23, 1967. p. 9.
  17. ^ "Ann Sheridan, Ex-Film Queen" The Washington Post and Times-Herald 23 Jan 1967: B3.
  18. ^ a b "Ann sheridan voted leading "oomph" girl by jury of 25 men". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 18, 1939. ProQuest 175248402.
  19. ^ "Everybody Wants to Marry Annie", AP, May 25, 1941. Accessed June 2, 2009.
  20. ^ "Ann Sheridan, Actress, Born Clara Lou Sheridan on Feb. 21, 1915 in Denton, Texas, Died Jan. 21, 1967 of cancer in Los Angeles, California", by Paul Houston, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1967
  21. ^ "When a Woman Could Be an Oomph Girl", by Art Rogoff, The New York Times, September 12, 1988.
  22. ^ "The Oomph Girl" June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Classic Cinema Gold, February 21, 2012
  23. ^ a b "'Oomph Girl' Is Happy Now". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah. Associated Press. February 25, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  24. ^ The 90 Best Classic "Looney Tunes " Cartoons - Vulture
  25. ^ Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls
  26. ^ Wilkinson, L. A. (February 6, 1944). "Nothing But Oomph?". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 165486550.
  27. ^ "Ann Sheridan Back From Tour". New York Times. September 7, 1944. p. 21.
  28. ^ "Ann Sheridan Has Crowded Schedule". Los Angeles Times. July 6, 1947. p. C2.
  29. ^ a b c Scheuer, Philip K. (May 22, 1949). "Ann Sheridan to Risk Oomph on Own Movie: Ann Sheridan Carries on to Finish That Jinx Film". Los Angeles Times. p. D1.
  30. ^ "Ann Sheridan's Indie". Variety. April 20, 1949. p. 2 – via Archive.org.
  31. ^ "Ann Sheridan Tells Dispute Over Male Star". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 31, 1951. p. a9.
  32. ^ Brady, Thomas F. (November 22, 1949). "Ann Sheridan Sues R.K.O. for $350,000; Alleges Breach of Contract and Bad Faith by Studio in Deal on "Carriage Entrance"". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  33. ^ Brady, Thomas F. (February 7, 1951). "$55,162 Won in Suit by Ann Sheridan; Federal Jury on Coast Gives Actress Damages for Claim Against R.K.O. Studios of Local Origin". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  34. ^ Hopper, Hedda. (May 9, 1949). "Ann Sheridan Gets 'Her Secret Diary'". Los Angeles Times. p. B6.
  35. ^ a b Crawford, Linda. (January 30, 1966). "Ann Sheridan Slips Into TV Soap Opera". Chicago Tribune. p. m4.
  36. ^ "Douglas, Ann Sheridan Join Roster at Edgeswater Beach". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 25, 1958. p. e9.
  37. ^ "Actor Denies Affair With Ann Sheridan". Los Angeles Times. February 25, 1960. p. 13.
  38. ^ Humphrey, H. (January 22, 1967). "Ann Sheridan hits the mark with pistols it's about time tries a new format". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 155643644.
  39. ^ "Pistols and Petticoats", in Single Season Sitcoms, 1948–1979: A Complete Guide, by Bob Leszczak (McFarland, 2012) p. 155
  40. ^ "Ann Sheridan". Hollywood Walk of Fame. from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  41. ^ "Ann Sheridan and Edward Norris Wed". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. August 31, 1936. p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  42. ^ May 7, 1956; Stephen J Hannagan Will; File No. P 440/1953; Surrogates Court in the County of New York; Hall of Records.
  43. ^ "Actress Named in Adultery Action," San Pedro News-Pilot, November 1, 1956, p. 1.
  44. ^ "Vet Actress Charged in Affair," Durham Sun, December 13, 1956, p. 23
  45. ^ "Ann Sheridan Biography". Remembering Ann Sheridan. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  46. ^ Thomas, Bob (October 24, 1948). "Hollywood Is Pitching Into Political Race". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  47. ^ "Why the Forgotten Ann Sheridan Deserves to Be Remembered". Best Movies by Farr. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  48. ^ . Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2006.
  49. ^ "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 39 (1): 32–41. Winter 2013.
  50. ^ Kirby, Walter (March 9, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved May 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  

External links edit

  • Ann Sheridan at IMDb
  • Ann Sheridan at Turner Classic Movies
  • Ann Sheridan at AllMovie
  • Ann Sheridan at Find a Grave
  • Digital scrapbook filled with news clippings related to the career of Ann Sheridan, housed at the University of North Texas.
  • Interview with Ann Sheridan biographer
  • Photographs and literature

sheridan, clara, sheridan, february, 1915, january, 1967, american, actress, singer, best, known, roles, films, quentin, 1937, with, humphrey, bogart, angels, with, dirty, faces, 1938, with, james, cagney, bogart, they, drive, night, 1940, with, george, raft, . Clara Lou Ann Sheridan February 21 1915 January 21 1967 was an American actress and singer She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin 1937 with Humphrey Bogart Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 with James Cagney and Bogart They Drive by Night 1940 with George Raft and Bogart City for Conquest 1940 with Cagney and Elia Kazan The Man Who Came to Dinner 1942 with Bette Davis Kings Row 1942 with Ronald Reagan Nora Prentiss 1947 and I Was a Male War Bride 1949 with Cary Grant Ann SheridanSheridan in 1934BornClara Lou Sheridan 1915 02 21 February 21 1915Denton Texas U S DiedJanuary 21 1967 1967 01 21 aged 51 Los Angeles California U S Resting placeHollywood Forever CemeteryOccupationsActresssingerYears active1934 1967SpousesEdward Norris m 1936 div 1938 wbr George Brent m 1942 div 1943 wbr Scott McKay m 1966 wbr Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Paramount 2 2 Warner Bros 2 3 Oomph girl 2 4 Stardom 2 5 Freelance star 2 6 Universal 2 7 Later career 3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Filmography 6 Radio appearances 7 References 8 External linksEarly life editClara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton Texas on February 21 1915 the youngest of five children Kitty Pauline Mabel and George of garage mechanic 1 2 George W Sheridan and Lula Stewart nee Warren 3 4 According to Sheridan her father was a grandnephew of Civil War Union general Philip Sheridan 5 6 She was active in dramatics at Denton High School and at North Texas State Teachers College She also sang with the college s stage band and played basketball on the North Texas women s basketball team 7 Then in 1933 Sheridan won the prize of a bit part in an upcoming Paramount film Search for Beauty 8 when her sister Kitty entered Sheridan s photograph into a beauty contest 9 Career editParamount edit After the release of Search for Beauty in 1934 Paramount put the 19 year old under contract at a starting salary of 75 a week equivalent to 1 640 in 2022 citation needed where she played mostly uncredited bit parts for the next two years 10 She can be glimpsed in the following 1934 films and if credited as Clara Lou Sheridan Bolero Come On Marines Murder at the Vanities Shoot the Works Kiss and Make Up with Cary Grant The Notorious Sophie Lang College Rhythm directed by Norman Taurog whom Sheridan admired Ladies Should Listen with Cary Grant You Belong to Me Wagon Wheels The Lemon Drop Kid with Lee Tracy Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Ready for Love Limehouse Blues with George Raft and Anna May Wong and One Hour Late Along with fellow contractees Sheridan worked with Paramount s drama coach Nina Moise and performed on the studio lot in such plays as The Milky Way and The Pursuit of Happiness While in The Milky Way Paramount decided to change her first name from Clara Lou to the same as her character Ann 11 Sheridan was then cast in the film Behold My Wife 1934 at the behest of director and friend Mitchell Leisen The role provided two standout scenes for the actress including one in which her character commits suicide to which she attributed Paramount s keeping her under contract 12 She continued with bit parts in Enter Madame 1935 with Elissa Landi and Cary Grant Home on the Range 1935 with Randolph Scott and Evelyn Brent and Rumba 1935 with George Raft and Carole Lombard until her first lead role in Car 99 1935 with Fred MacMurray 13 No acting it was just playing the lead that s all she later said 12 She next had a support role as the romantic interest in Rocky Mountain Mystery 1935 a Randolph Scott Western She then appeared in Mississippi 1935 with Bing Crosby and W C Fields The Glass Key 1935 with George Raft in a brief speaking role for which she was billed as Nurse in the cast list at the end of the film and having one line The Crusades 1935 with Loretta Young In her last picture under her deal with Paramount the studio loaned her out to Poverty Row production company Talisman to make The Red Blood of Courage 1935 with Kermit Maynard After this Paramount declined to renew her contract 14 Sheridan made Fighting Youth 1935 at Universal and then signed a contract with Warner Bros in 1936 Warner Bros edit nbsp Sheridan and James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 Sheridan s career prospects began to improve at her new studio Her early films for Warner Bros included Sing Me a Love Song 1936 Black Legion 1937 with Humphrey Bogart The Great O Malley 1937 with Pat O Brien and Bogart her first real break 15 San Quentin 1937 with O Brien and Bogart singing for the first time in a film and Wine Women and Horses 1937 with Barton MacLane 16 Sheridan moved into B picture leads The Footloose Heiress 1937 Alcatraz Island 1937 with John Litel and She Loved a Fireman 1937 with Dick Foran for director John Farrow She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 1937 and its sequel Mystery House 1938 Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred 1938 with Litel for Farrow and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn 1938 17 Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction 1938 at the behest of director John M Stahl For Farrow she was in Broadway Musketeers 1938 a remake of Three on a Match 1932 Sheridan s notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros executives and she began to get roles in better quality pictures at her own studio starting with Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 wherein she played James Cagney s love interest Bogart O Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal 1938 starring John Garfield She was third billed in the Western Dodge City 1939 playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland The film was another success Oomph girl edit nbsp Sheridan in 1940In March 1939 Warner Bros announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most oomph in America 18 Oomph was described as a certain indefinable something that commands male interest 18 She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week 19 Sheridan reportedly loathed the sobriquet that made her a popular pin up girl in the early 1940s 20 21 22 However she expressed in a February 25 1940 news story distributed by the Associated Press that she no longer bemoaned the oomph tag 23 She continued But I m sorry now I know if it hadn t been for oomph I d probably still be in the chorus 23 This was later referenced and spoofed on the 1941 animated short Hollywood Steps Out 24 Stardom edit Sheridan co starred with Dick Powell in Naughty but Nice 1939 and played a wacky heiress in Winter Carnival 1939 She was top billed in Indianapolis Speedway 1939 with O Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces 1939 with the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan Castle on the Hudson 1940 put her opposite Garfield and O Brien nbsp Magazine ad for The Doughgirls 1944 Sheridan s first real starring vehicle was It All Came True 1940 a musical comedy costarring Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn She introduced the song Angel in Disguise Sheridan and Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone 1940 with O Brien in support She was with George Raft Bogart and Ida Lupino in They Drive by Night 1940 a smash hit trucking melodrama Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest 1941 and then made Honeymoon for Three 1941 a comedy with George Brent nbsp Sheridan in 1950Sheridan did two lighter films Navy Blues 1941 a musical comedy and The Man Who Came to Dinner 1942 with Bette Davis wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence She then made Kings Row 1942 in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan Robert Cummings and Betty Field It was a major success and one of Sheridan s most memorable films Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl 1942 released about six weeks after Kings Row She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle 1942 and made a comedy with Jack Benny George Washington Slept Here 1943 She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness 1943 with Errol Flynn and was one of the many Warner Bros stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars 1943 She was the heroine of a novel Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943 While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress the stories were entirely fictitious The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew It is part of a series known as Whitman Authorized Editions 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine 25 Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On Harvest Moon 1944 playing Nora Bayes opposite Dennis Morgan 26 She was in a comedy The Doughgirls 1944 Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China 27 She returned in One More Tomorrow 1946 with Morgan She had an excellent role in the noir Nora Prentiss 1947 which was a hit It was followed by The Unfaithful 1948 a remake of The Letter and Silver River 1948 a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam 1948 She was meant to star in Flamingo Road 28 She then left Warner Bros saying I wasn t at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me 29 Freelance star edit Her role in I Was a Male War Bride 1949 directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant was another success In 1950 she appeared on the ABC musical television series Stop the Music She made Stella 1950 a comedy with Victor Mature at Fox In April 1949 she announced she wanted to produce Second Lady a film based on a story by Eleanore Griffin 29 30 She was going to make My Forbidden Past originally titled Carriage Entrance at RKO 29 They fired her and Sheridan sued for 250 000 equivalent to 3 1 million today 31 The New York Times reported the amount as 350 000 4 3 million today 32 Sheridan ultimately won 55 162 680 000 today 33 Universal edit Sheridan made Woman on the Run 1950 a noir also starring Dennis O Keefe which she produced She wanted to make a film called Her Secret Diary 34 Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio While there she made Steel Town 1952 Just Across the Street 1952 and Take Me to Town 1953 a comedy with Sterling Hayden that was the first film directed by Douglas Sirk in the United States Later career edit nbsp Wagon Train in 1962 nbsp Pistols n PetticoatsSheridan starred with Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras 1953 directed by Jacques Tourneur She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring 1956 and was one of several stars in MGM s The Opposite Sex 1956 a remake of The Women starring June Allyson Joan Collins Dolores Gray Sheridan and Ann Miller Her last film Woman and the Hunter 1957 was shot in Africa 35 She performed in stage tours of Kind Sir 1958 and Odd Man In 1959 and The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair in 1958 In all three shows she acted with Scott McKay whom she later married 36 37 In 1962 she played the lead in the Western series Wagon Train episode titled The Mavis Grant Story In the mid 1960s Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World 35 Her final role was as Henrietta Hanks in the television comedy Western series Pistols n Petticoats which was filmed while she became increasingly ill in 1966 and was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights 38 The 19th episode of the series Beware the Hangman aired as scheduled on the same day that she died in 1967 39 For her contributions to the motion picture industry Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard 40 Personal life editSheridan married actor Edward Norris August 16 1936 in Ensenada Mexico 41 They separated a year later and divorced in 1939 On January 5 1942 she married fellow Warner Bros star George Brent who co starred with her in Honeymoon for Three 1941 they divorced exactly one year later Following her divorce from Brent she had a long term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan that lasted until his death in 1953 Hannagan bequeathed Sheridan 218 399 equivalent to 2 4 million today 42 Sheridan engaged in a romantic affair with Mexican actor Rodolfo Acosta with whom she appeared in 1953 s Appointment in Honduras She and the married Acosta shared an apartment in Mexico City for several years and Sheridan was charged with criminal adultery in Mexican federal court in October 1956 following an accusation by Acosta s wife Jeanine Cohen Acosta Mexican authorities issued a warrant for Sheridan s arrest 43 44 Nothing came of the criminal charges and the relationship ended c 1958 citation needed On June 5 1966 Sheridan married actor Scott McKay who was with her when she died seven months later 45 9 Sheridan supported Thomas E Dewey in the 1948 presidential elections 46 Death editIn 1966 Sheridan began starring in a new television series a Western themed comedy called Pistols n Petticoats She became ill during the filming and died of esophageal cancer 47 with massive liver metastases at age 51 on January 21 1967 in Los Angeles She was cremated and her ashes were in the private vault at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005 48 Filmography editYear Film Role Notes1934 Search for Beauty Dallas Beauty Winner uncredited1934 Bolero Minor Role uncredited1934 Come on Marines Loretta1934 Murder at the Vanities Earl Carroll Girl uncredited1934 Many Happy Returns Chorine uncredited1934 Shoot the Works Hanratty s Secretary uncredited1934 Kiss and Make Up Beautician1934 The Notorious Sophie Lang Mannequin uncredited1934 Ladies Should Listen Adele1934 You Belong to Me Wedding Party Guest uncredited1934 Wagon Wheels Young Lady uncredited1934 The Lemon Drop Kid Minor Role uncredited1934 Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Town Girl uncredited1934 College Rhythm Chorine Gloves Salesgirl uncredited1934 Ready for Love Priscilla at Basket Social uncredited1934 Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove Sands of the Desert Model Short uncredited1934 Behold My Wife Mary White1934 Limehouse Blues Minor Role uncredited1934 One Hour Late Girl uncredited1935 Enter Madame Flora s Shipboard Friend1935 Home on the Range Singer1935 Rumba Chorus Girl uncredited1935 Car 99 Mary Adams1935 Rocky Mountain Mystery Rita Ballard1935 Mississippi Schoolgirl uncredited1935 Red Blood of Courage Elizabeth Henry1935 The Glass Key Nurse1935 The Crusades Christian Slave Girl uncredited1935 Hollywood Extra Girl Genevieve Documentary short1935 Fighting Youth Carol Arlington1937 Sing Me a Love Song1937 Black Legion Betty Grogan1937 The Great O Malley Judy Nolan1937 San Quentin May Kennedy aka May De Villiers1937 The Footloose Heiress Kay Allyn1937 Wine Women and Horses Valerie1937 Alcatraz Island Flo Allen1937 She Loved a Fireman Marjorie Margie Shannon1938 The Patient in Room 18 Sarah Keate1938 Mystery House Sarah Keate1938 Out Where the Stars Begin Herself Short uncredited1938 Little Miss Thoroughbred Madge Perry Morgan1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Maxine Chadwick1938 Letter of Introduction Lydia Hoyt1938 Broadway Musketeers Fay Reynolds Dowling1938 Angels with Dirty Faces Laury Martin1939 They Made Me a Criminal Goldie1939 Dodge City Ruby Gilman1939 Naughty but Nice Zelda Manion1939 Indianapolis Speedway Frankie Merrick1939 Winter Carnival Jill Baxter1939 The Angels Wash Their Faces Joy Ryan1940 Castle on the Hudson Kay1940 It All Came True Sarah Jane Ryan1940 Torrid Zone Lee Donley1940 They Drive by Night Cassie Hartley1940 City for Conquest Peggy Nash1941 Honeymoon for Three Anne Rogers1941 Navy Blues Marge Jordan1942 The Man Who Came to Dinner Lorraine Sheldon1942 Kings Row Randy Monaghan1942 Juke Girl Lola Mears1942 Wings for the Eagle Roma Maple1942 George Washington Slept Here Connie Fuller1943 Edge of Darkness Karen Stensgard1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars Ann Sheridan1944 Shine On Harvest Moon Nora Bayes1944 The Doughgirls Edna Stokes Cadman1946 Cinderella Jones Red Cross Nurse uncredited1946 One More Tomorrow Christie Sage1947 The Unfaithful Chris Hunter1947 Nora Prentiss Nora Prentiss1948 Silver River Georgia Moore1948 Good Sam Lu Clayton1949 I Was a Male War Bride 1st Lt Catherine Gates1950 Stella Stella Bevans1950 Woman on the Run Eleanor Johnson also co producer1952 Steel Town Red McNamara1952 Just Across the Street Henrietta Smith1953 Take Me to Town Vermilion O Toole aka Mae Madison1953 Appointment in Honduras Sylvia Sheppard1956 Come Next Spring Bess Ballot1956 Calling Terry Conway Terry Conway TV movie1956 The Opposite Sex Amanda Penrose1957 Woman and the Hunter Laura Dodds1962 Wagon Train Mavis Grant TV seriesEpisode The Mavis Grant Story 1967 The Far Out West Henrietta Hank Hanks archive footageRadio appearances editYear Program Episode Ref1943 Screen Guild Players Love Is News 49 1952 Stars in the Air Good Sam 50 References edit The Women of Warner Brothers Daniel Bubbeo McFarland Inc Publishers 2010 p 191 Life vol 7 issue 4 24 July 1939 p 66 Bubbeo Daniel 2010 The Women of Warner Brothers The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies with Filmographies for Each McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 6236 0 Miss Pauline Sheridan Weds in Oklahoma Denton Record Chronicle Denton Texas March 27 1931 p 5 Retrieved June 17 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp Ann Sheridan Is Still a Favorite After Years as a Successful Star Albuquerque Journal New Mexico Albuquerque March 30 1952 p 29 Retrieved June 18 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp Life Time Inc July 24 1939 Miss Sheridan Is Winner in Screen Contest Denton Record Chronicle Denton Texas July 19 1933 p 8 Retrieved June 17 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp Denton Girl Wins World Contest to be Given Part in Paramount Movie Denton Record Chronicle Texas Denton September 9 1933 p 1 Retrieved June 17 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp a b Houston Paul January 22 1967 Ann Sheridan Film Oomph Girl Dies at 51 Los Angeles Times Ann Sheridan film star dies Chicago Tribune January 22 1967 ProQuest 179108425 Hagen Ray 2004 Killer Tomatoes Fifteen Tough Film Dames McFarland p 171 ISBN 978 0786418831 a b Hagen p 172 Clara Lou Ann Sheridan Denton Record Chronicle January 25 1935 p 5 Retrieved August 24 2020 Ann Sheridan Reveals Love at Sight Wedding Chicago Daily Tribune August 30 1936 p 18 Star of the Week Ann Sheridan Martinee Chicago Daily Tribune July 18 1948 p c23 Ann Sheridan dead The Guardian January 23 1967 p 9 Ann Sheridan Ex Film Queen The Washington Post and Times Herald 23 Jan 1967 B3 a b Ann sheridan voted leading oomph girl by jury of 25 men Chicago Daily Tribune March 18 1939 ProQuest 175248402 Everybody Wants to Marry Annie AP May 25 1941 Accessed June 2 2009 Ann Sheridan Actress Born Clara Lou Sheridan on Feb 21 1915 in Denton Texas Died Jan 21 1967 of cancer in Los Angeles California by Paul Houston Los Angeles Times January 22 1967 When a Woman Could Be an Oomph Girl by Art Rogoff The New York Times September 12 1988 The Oomph Girl Archived June 3 2013 at the Wayback Machine Classic Cinema Gold February 21 2012 a b Oomph Girl Is Happy Now The Ogden Standard Examiner Utah Associated Press February 25 1940 p 11 Retrieved June 17 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp The 90 Best Classic Looney Tunes Cartoons Vulture Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls Wilkinson L A February 6 1944 Nothing But Oomph Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165486550 Ann Sheridan Back From Tour New York Times September 7 1944 p 21 Ann Sheridan Has Crowded Schedule Los Angeles Times July 6 1947 p C2 a b c Scheuer Philip K May 22 1949 Ann Sheridan to Risk Oomph on Own Movie Ann Sheridan Carries on to Finish That Jinx Film Los Angeles Times p D1 Ann Sheridan s Indie Variety April 20 1949 p 2 via Archive org Ann Sheridan Tells Dispute Over Male Star Chicago Daily Tribune January 31 1951 p a9 Brady Thomas F November 22 1949 Ann Sheridan Sues R K O for 350 000 Alleges Breach of Contract and Bad Faith by Studio in Deal on Carriage Entrance The New York Times Retrieved March 23 2022 Brady Thomas F February 7 1951 55 162 Won in Suit by Ann Sheridan Federal Jury on Coast Gives Actress Damages for Claim Against R K O Studios of Local Origin The New York Times Retrieved March 23 2022 Hopper Hedda May 9 1949 Ann Sheridan Gets Her Secret Diary Los Angeles Times p B6 a b Crawford Linda January 30 1966 Ann Sheridan Slips Into TV Soap Opera Chicago Tribune p m4 Douglas Ann Sheridan Join Roster at Edgeswater Beach Chicago Daily Tribune May 25 1958 p e9 Actor Denies Affair With Ann Sheridan Los Angeles Times February 25 1960 p 13 Humphrey H January 22 1967 Ann Sheridan hits the mark with pistols it s about time tries a new format Los Angeles Times ProQuest 155643644 Pistols and Petticoats in Single Season Sitcoms 1948 1979 A Complete Guide by Bob Leszczak McFarland 2012 p 155 Ann Sheridan Hollywood Walk of Fame Archived from the original on January 30 2023 Retrieved May 29 2023 Ann Sheridan and Edward Norris Wed Denton Record Chronicle Texas Denton August 31 1936 p 4 Retrieved June 17 2016 via Newspapers com nbsp May 7 1956 Stephen J Hannagan Will File No P 440 1953 Surrogates Court in the County of New York Hall of Records Actress Named in Adultery Action San Pedro News Pilot November 1 1956 p 1 Vet Actress Charged in Affair Durham Sun December 13 1956 p 23 Ann Sheridan Biography Remembering Ann Sheridan Retrieved December 23 2016 Thomas Bob October 24 1948 Hollywood Is Pitching Into Political Race Sarasota Herald Tribune Retrieved August 27 2015 Why the Forgotten Ann Sheridan Deserves to Be Remembered Best Movies by Farr Retrieved August 10 2020 Film Star Ann Sheridan s Cremains Interred 38 Years After Her Death Archived from the original on February 9 2006 Retrieved February 19 2006 Those Were the Days Nostalgia Digest 39 1 32 41 Winter 2013 Kirby Walter March 9 1952 Better Radio Programs for the Week The Decatur Daily Review p 42 Retrieved May 23 2015 via Newspapers com nbsp External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ann Sheridan Ann Sheridan at IMDb Ann Sheridan at Turner Classic Movies Ann Sheridan at AllMovie Ann Sheridan at Find a Grave Digital scrapbook filled with news clippings related to the career of Ann Sheridan housed at the University of North Texas Interview with Ann Sheridan biographer Photographs and literature Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ann Sheridan amp oldid 1184416417, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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