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