Ann Dvorak

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  • group Other Names:
    Anna McKim, Ann McKim, Baby Anna Lehr, Anna Lehr

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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.

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  • wc Gender: Female
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1911-08-02
  • event Death Date 1979-12-10
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 6.1
  • info Birth Place New York City, New York, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by Ann Dvorak

7.5

Scarface

1932-04-09

0

Estrellados

1930-07-07

5.2

Abilene Town

1946-01-11

5.7

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

1929-11-23

5.8

Madam Satan

1930-09-20

4.8

Gangs of New York

1938-05-23

6.5

'G' Men

1935-05-04

6.5

The Secret of Convict Lake

1951-07-29

5.6

Flame of Barbary Coast

1945-05-28

5.6

Blind Alley

1939-05-11

6.3

Three on a Match

1932-10-29

5.8

The Long Night

1947-05-28

6.2

I Was an American Spy

1951-04-14

5

Girls of the Road

1940-07-24

6

Love Is a Racket

1932-06-18

6.8

Heat Lightning

1934-03-01

5.5

This Was Paris

1942-03-21

5.7

Our Very Own

1950-07-27

6.5

Gentlemen Are Born

1934-11-17

4.7

Murder in the Clouds

1934-12-15

6

The Crowd Roars

1932-04-16

5.6

Thanks a Million

1935-11-13

6.3

Politics

1931-02-26

7.2

Merrily We Live

1938-03-04

6

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

1950-12-08

4.5

Bright Lights

1935-07-27

5.7

The Walls of Jericho

1948-11-22

0

The March of Time

1930-09-01

6.3

The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

1947-04-25

6.8

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

1937-06-08

6

Friends of Mr. Sweeney

1934-07-28

5.9

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

1932-05-28

4.3

College Coach

1933-11-04

5.7

Sweet Music

1935-02-23

5.5

Sky Devils

1932-03-12

5

Crooner

1932-08-20

6

Midnight Alibi

1934-07-12

7.6

Housewife

1934-08-11

5.8

Stronger Than Desire

1939-06-30

5.3

Side Streets

1934-08-14

3

Stranger in Town

1931-08-06

5.2

A Life of Her Own

1950-09-01

6

This Modern Age

1931-08-29

5.8

Massacre

1934-01-20

4.8

Midnight Court

1937-03-06

5.3

Racing Lady

1937-01-12

5.8

Manhattan Merry-Go-Round

1937-11-26

6.4

Dr. Socrates

1935-10-19

6.5

The Bachelor's Daughters

1946-08-06

4.5

I Sell Anything

1934-10-20

5.5

The Woman Racket

1930-01-24

0

Ramona

1916-04-05

0

The Man Hater

1917-11-02

5

Son of India

1931-08-01

0

She's No Lady

1937-08-20

4.7

Lord Byron of Broadway

1930-02-28

5

Good News

1930-08-22

5

The Return of Jesse James

1950-08-01

3

Roast-Beef and Movies

1934-02-09

6.8

We Who Are About to Die

1937-01-08

5.4

Masquerade in Mexico

1945-12-03

4

It's a Great Life

1929-12-06

6.1

Free and Easy

1930-03-22

6.4

Out of the Blue

1947-04-21

0

Squadron Leader X

1943-03-01

5.9

Way Out West

1930-08-02

5.9

Our Blushing Brides

1930-07-19

4.2

So This Is College

1929-11-08

5.3

Devil-May-Care

1929-12-27

0

Breakdowns of 1936

1936-12-30

5.5

Cafe Hostess

1940-01-11

6.5

Dance, Fools, Dance

1931-02-07

9

Hello Pop

1933-09-16

4

Chasing Rainbows

1930-01-10

0

Manhattan Serenade

1929-12-21

5.2

The Devil's Cabaret

1930-12-13

5

The Guardsman

1931-10-20

1

The Song Writers' Revue

1929-11-27

0

The Way to Love

1933-10-20

5.2

A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio

1935-02-02

0

Escape to Danger

1943-10-18

0

A Tailor-Made Man

1931-03-28

4.7

Children of Pleasure

1930-04-26

0

Bogart: The Untold Story

1997-01-05

6.4

Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood

2008-03-03

0

The Doll Shop

1929-09-28

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