Ann Dvorak
female

Born on August 02, 1911 (114 years old)
Passed Away on December 10, 1979
From New York City, New York, USA
Known for Acting
Biography
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.
Cast Credits
- 2008
- 1997
- 1951
- 1950
- 1948
- 1947
- 1946
- 1945
- 1943
- 1942
- 1940
- 1939
- 1938
- 1937
- 1936
- 1935
- 1934
Heat Lightning
as
Myra
1934
Gentlemen Are Born
as
Susan Merrill
1934
Murder in the Clouds
as
Judy Wagner
1934
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
as
Miss Beulah Boyd
1934
Midnight Alibi
as
Joan
1934
Housewife
as
Nan Reynolds
1934
Side Streets
as
Marguerite Gilbert
1934
Massacre
as
Lydia
1934
I Sell Anything
as
Barbara
1934
Roast-Beef and Movies
as
Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
1934
- 1933
- 1932
- 1931
Politics
as
Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
1931
Stranger in Town
as
Marian Crickle
1931
This Modern Age
as
Party Guest (Uncredited)
1931
Son of India
as
Dancer (uncredited)
1931
The Guardsman
as
Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
1931
A Tailor-Made Man
as
Bit (uncredited)
1931
Dance, Fools, Dance
as
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1931
- 1930
Estrellados
as
Chorine (uncredited)
1930
Madam Satan
as
Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
1930
The March of Time
as
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
The Woman Racket
as
Chorus Girl
1930
Lord Byron of Broadway
as
Chorus Girl
1930
Good News
as
Student
1930
Free and Easy
as
Chorine (uncredited)
1930
Way Out West
as
Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
1930
Our Blushing Brides
as
One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
1930
Chasing Rainbows
as
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
The Devil's Cabaret
as
Chorine in Black (uncredited)
1930
Children of Pleasure
as
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
- 1929
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
as
Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
1929
It's a Great Life
as
Chorus Girl
1929
So This Is College
as
Student (uncredited)
1929
Devil-May-Care
as
Chorine (uncredited)
1929
Manhattan Serenade
as
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1929
The Song Writers' Revue
as
Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
1929
The Doll Shop
as
Doll
1929
- 1917
- 1916