Ann Warner

Ann Warner (c. 1908 – March 8, 1990), also known as Ann Page and born Ann Boyar, was an American socialite and arts patron. A onetime aspiring actress in Los Angeles, she became widely known as the second wife of studio executive Jack L. Warner. Salvador Dalí painted her in the mid-1940s in the oil portrait Portrait of Mrs. Jack Warner (cat. no. P 665). Page was a prominent figure in Hollywood society and was named one of the ten best-dressed women in 1972. The couple later divorced.

As the wife of one of Hollywood's most powerful studio executives, Warner became a central figure in the entertainment industry's social circles during the 1940s and 1950s. Her social world included stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Lili Damita; a 1948 photograph published by The New Yorker shows Warner with Dietrich, Damita, and Jack Warner. Contemporary accounts describe Ann Warner as among Dietrich's close companions within Hollywood's discreet network of lesbian and bisexual actresses and friends, referred to by Dietrich as "the sewing circle."

Fashion and arts patronage Warner was noted for her refined taste and became a significant figure in fashion circles. According to Richard Gully, a former assistant to Jack Warner, she helped finance couturier Pierre Balmain's early fashion house and supported him by regularly wearing his designs.

After Warner was critically injured in a car accident in France in August 1958, tensions between Warner and her stepson Jack M. Warner escalated during the studio head's hospitalization. The already strained relationship between father and son ended soon afterward, with biographical accounts suggesting Warner's influence played a role in the family rift.

Later years and death Following Jack Warner's death in 1978, Warner inherited the bulk of his estate and continued to reside at the couple's Beverly Hills mansion. She remained active socially but became increasingly private in her final years.

Warner died on March 8, 1990, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following an illness. Reports of her exact age varied, as birth records were unclear. Services were private and she was cremated.

Legacy Warner's legacy rests primarily on her role as a fashionable Hollywood hostess and her position within the entertainment industry's social elite during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her image as the subject of Dalí's society portrait has been featured in accounts of the Warner family and Hollywood history. Coverage of her social circle and influence also appears in profiles of Warner and their confidant Richard Gully.