The lives and careers of Warner Brothers’ screen legends Joan Blondell, Nancy Coleman, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Glenda Farrell, Kay Francis, Ruby Keeler, Andrea King, Priscilla Lane, Joan Leslie, Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, and Jane Wyman are the topic of this book. Some achieved great success in film and other areas of show business, but others failed to get the breaks or became victims of the studio system’s sometimes unpleasant brand of politics. The personal and professional obstacles that each actress encountered are here set out in detail, often with comments from the actresses who granted interviews with the author and from those people who knew them best on and off the movie set. A filmography is included for each of the fifteen.

Freelance writer Daniel Bubbeo is a classic film scholar who currently works on the editorial staff of Newsday. He lives in East Meadow, New York.

Daniel Bubbeo
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 272
Bibliographic Info: photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2002
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1137-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6236-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     vii

Introduction     1

Joan Blondell: A Studio Dame     3

Nancy Coleman: The Fragile Heroine     19

Bette Davis: The Fourth Warner Brother     31

Olivia de Havilland: The Perfect Lady     54

Glenda Farrell: The Gimme Girl     74

Kay Francis: Trouble in Paradise      86

Ruby Keller: Those Dancing Feet     102

Andrea King: The Femme Fatale     116

Priscilla Lane: Warner’s Blonde Sweetheart     130

Joan Leslie: The Girl Next Door     141

Ida Lupino: Mum     155

Eleanor Parker: Woman of a Thousand Faces     175

Ann Sheridan: The Oomph Girl     191

Alexis Smith: “he Ice Princess     211

Jane Wyman: The Late Bloomer     228

Bibliography     247

Index     249

“the personal and professional obstacles that each actress encountered are set out in detail…deserves space on your bookshelf”—Classic Images; “useful as a one-stop source for longer profiles of its subjects and their films than can be found elsewhere”—Bright Lights Film Journal; “a fun read on tough cookies of filmdom. There’s inside dirt and delightful dust about the likes of filmdom’s famous females”—Newsday; “useful”—Feminist Collections.