Cast
Ann Dvorak
Acting
Cast
Ann Dvorak
Known for
Acting
Born
1911-08-02
From
New York City, New York, USA
Died
1979-12-10
Also known as Anna McKim, Ann McKim, Baby Anna Lehr
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.
Scarface
as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
'G' Men
as Jean Morgan
Racing Lady
as Ruth Martin
Heat Lightning
as Myra
Abilene Town
as Rita
Ramona
as Ramona Phail (age 4)
Midnight Court
as Carol O'Neill
Side Streets
as Marguerite Gilbert
Sky Devils
as Mary Way
Good News
as Student
The Long Night
as Charlene
Bogart: The Untold Story
as Self (archive footage)
Merrily We Live
as Minerva Harlan
Madam Satan
as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
Our Blushing Brides
as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
The Secret of Convict Lake
as Rachel Schaeffer
Girls of the Road
as Kay Warren
Blind Alley
as Mary
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Della Street
Dr. Socrates
as Josephine
Three on a Match
as Vivian Revere
Out of the Blue
as Olive Jensen
Flame of Barbary Coast
as Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
Crooner
as Judith 'Judy' Mason
Gangs of New York
as Connie Benson
Housewife
as Nan Reynolds
A Life of Her Own
as Mary Ashlon
Gentlemen Are Born
as Susan Merrill
We Who Are About to Die
as Connie Stewart
The Woman Racket
as Chorus Girl
Free and Easy
as Chorine (uncredited)
I Sell Anything
as Barbara
The Crowd Roars
as Lee Merrick
Son of India
as Dancer (uncredited)
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
as Miss Beulah Boyd
Sweet Music
as Bonnie Haydon
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
as Connie Kepplar
Midnight Alibi
as Joan
Murder in the Clouds
as Judy Wagner
I Was an American Spy
as Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
The Walls of Jericho
as Belle Connors
The Song Writers' Revue
as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
Massacre
as Lydia
Thanks a Million
as Sally Mason
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
as Madeleine Forestier
Manhattan Serenade
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Cafe Hostess
as Jo
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
as Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
So This Is College
as Student (uncredited)
Lord Byron of Broadway
as Chorus Girl
Devil-May-Care
as Chorine (uncredited)
Estrellados
as Chorine (uncredited)
College Coach
as Claire Gore
The Bachelor's Daughters
as Terry Wilson
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
The Return of Jesse James
as Sue Ellen Younger
The Devil's Cabaret
as Chorine in Black (uncredited)
The Way to Love
as Madeleine
This Modern Age
as Party Guest (Uncredited)
Politics
as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
Way Out West
as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
The Guardsman
as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
Love is a Racket
as Sally Condon
Escape to Danger
as Joan Grahame
Children of Pleasure
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Stranger in Town
as Marian Crickle
It's a Great Life
as Chorus Girl
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
as Herself (uncredited)
Our Very Own
as Gert Lynch
Stronger Than Desire
as Eva McLain
The March of Time
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Bright Lights
as Fay Wilson
Masquerade in Mexico
as Helen Grant
Roast-Beef and Movies
as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
Chasing Rainbows
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
A Lady to Love
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
as Ann Rogers
Hello Pop
as Dancer
A Tailor-Made Man
as Bit (uncredited)
Squadron Leader X
as Barbara Lucas
She's No Lady
as Jerry
The Man Hater
as Phemie's Sister
This Was Paris
as Ann Morgan
The Doll Shop
as Doll