Ann Dvorak
Age: N/A | From: New York City, New York, USA
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Anna McKim , Ann McKim , Baby Anna Lehr , Anna Lehr
Gender: Female
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 52
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
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.
Most Famous Work
Scarface
(1932) Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
(2008) Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
'G' Men
(1935) Jean Morgan
Abilene Town
(1946) Rita
The Walls of Jericho
(1948) Belle Connors
Three on a Match
(1932) Vivian Revere
Massacre
(1934) Lydia
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
(1947) Madeleine ForestierActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage) | |
| 1997 | Self (archive footage) | |
| 1951 | Rachel Schaeffer | |
| Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips | ||
| 1950 | Connie Kepplar | |
| Mary Ashlon | ||
| Sue Ellen Younger | ||
| Gert Lynch | ||
| 1948 | Belle Connors | |
| 1947 | Charlene | |
| Madeleine Forestier | ||
| Olive Jensen | ||
| 1946 | Terry Wilson | |
| Rita | ||
| 1945 | Helen Grant | |
| Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry | ||
| 1943 | Joan Grahame | |
| Barbara Lucas | ||
| 1942 | Ann Morgan | |
| 1940 | Kay Warren | |
| Jo | ||
| 1939 | Eva McLain | |
| Mary | ||
| 1938 | Connie Benson | |
| Minerva Harlan | ||
| 1937 | Ann Rogers | |
| Jerry | ||
| Della Street | ||
| Carol O'Neill | ||
| Ruth Martin | ||
| Connie Stewart | ||
| 1936 | Self | |
| 1935 | Sally Mason | |
| Josephine | ||
| Fay Wilson | ||
| Jean Morgan | ||
| Bonnie Haydon | ||
| Herself (uncredited) | ||
| 1934 | Judy Wagner | |
| Susan Merrill | ||
| Barbara | ||
| Marguerite Gilbert | ||
| Nan Reynolds | ||
| Miss Beulah Boyd | ||
| Joan | ||
| Myra | ||
| Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited) | ||
| Lydia | ||
| 1933 | Claire Gore | |
| Madeleine | ||
| Dancer | ||
| 1932 | Vivian Revere | |
| Judith 'Judy' Mason | ||
| Sally Condon | ||
| Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain | ||
| Lee Merrick | ||
| Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte | ||
| Mary Way | ||
| 1931 | Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited) | |
| Party Guest (Uncredited) | ||
| Marian Crickle | ||
| Dancer (uncredited) | ||
| Bit (uncredited) | ||
| Rally Audience Extra (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| 1930 | Chorine in Black (uncredited) | |
| Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| Student | ||
| Carnival Show Girl (uncredited) | ||
| One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited) | ||
| Chorine (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| Chorine (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl | ||
| Chorus Girl | ||
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| 1929 | Chorine (uncredited) | |
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl | ||
| Member of the Chorus (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited) | ||
| Student (uncredited) | ||
| Doll | ||
| 1917 | Phemie's Sister | |
| 1916 | Ramona Phail (age 4) | |
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Crew
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Choreographer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |