Evelyn Ankers

Evelyn Felisa Ankers (August 17, 1918 – August 29, 1985) was a British-American actress who often played variations on the role of the cultured young leading lady in many American horror films during the 1940s, most notably The Wolf Man opposite Lon Chaney Jr., a frequent screen partner.

Early years Ankers was born to British parents in Valparaíso, Chile. She was educated at The Latymer School, the Godolphin School, the Tacchomo School of Music and Dramatic Art, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She told a reporter in 1945, "I was there for two years, and the worst actress in the whole academy."

Stage Ankers' stage debut came in Colombia at age 10 when she had the title role in The Daughter of Dolores. On Broadway, she had the role of Lucy Gilham in Ladies in Retirement (1940). In London, she acted in Bats in the Belfry.

Film

Known as "the Queen of the Bs", Ankers moved to Hawaii when her husband accepted the role of the governor in Hawaii 5-0. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 67 on August 29, 1985, in Maui.

Ankers became an American citizen in August 1946.

Selected filmography

Land Without Music (1936) as A Lady of the Court (segment "Who said Carlini?") (uncredited) Rembrandt (1936) as Party Girl (uncredited) Fire Over England (1937) as Lady-in-Waiting (uncredited) Wings of the Morning (1937) as Party Guest (uncredited) Knight Without Armour (1937) as Minor Role (uncredited) Murder in the Family (1938) as Dorothy Osborne The Claydon Treasure Mystery (1938) as Rosemary Shackleford Coming of Age (1938) as Christine Squire The Villiers Diamond (1938) as Joan Raymond Second Thoughts (1938) as Molly Frame Over the Moon (1939) as Sanitarium Patient (uncredited) Bachelor Daddy (1941) as Beth Chase Hit the Road (1941) as Patience Ryan Hold That Ghost (with Abbott and Costello) (1941) as Norma Lind Burma Convoy (1941) as Ann McBragel The Wolf Man (with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi) (1941) as Gwen Conliffe North to the Klondike (with Broderick Crawford and Lon Chaney Jr.) (1942) as Mary Sloan The Ghost of Frankenstein (with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi) (1942) as Elsa Frankenstein Eagle Squadron (with Robert Stack and Diana Barrymore) (1942) as Nancy Mitchell Pierre of the Plains (1942) as Celia Wellsby Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (with Basil Rathbone) (1942) as Kitty The Great Impersonation (1942) as Lady Muriel Dominey Keep 'Em Slugging (1943) as Sheila Captive Wild Woman (1943) as Beth Colman All by Myself (1943) as Jean Wells Hers to Hold (1943) as Flo Simpson Crazy House (1943) as Evelyn Ankers (uncredited) Son of Dracula (with Lon Chaney Jr.) (1943) as Claire Caldwell You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943) as Lynn Smith The Mad Ghoul (with Robert Armstrong) (1943) as Isabel Lewis His Butler's Sister (1943, directed by Frank Borzage) as Elizabeth Campbell Ladies Courageous (with Loretta Young and Diana Barrymore) (1944) as Wilhelmina Weird Woman (1944) as Ilona Carr Follow the Boys (1944) as Evelyn Ankers (uncredited) Pardon My Rhythm (1944) as Julia Munson Jungle Woman (1944) as Beth Mason The Invisible Man's Revenge (with John Carradine) (1944) as Julie Herrick The Pearl of Death (with Basil Rathbone and Rondo Hatton) (1944) as Naomi Drake Bowery to Broadway (1944) as Bonnie Latour The Frozen Ghost (with Lon Chaney Jr.) (1945) as Maura Daniel The Fatal Witness (1945) as Priscilla Ames The French Key (1946) as Janet Morgan Queen of Burlesque (1946) as Crystal McCoy Black Beauty (with Richard Denning) (1946) as Evelyn Carrington Flight to Nowhere (1946) as Catherine Forrest Spoilers of the North (1947) as Laura Reed Last of the Redmen (1947) as Alice Munro The Lone Wolf in London (with Gerald Mohr and Eric Blore) (1947) as Iris Chatham Parole, Inc. (with Michael O'Shea and Turhan Bey) (1948) as Jojo Dumont Tarzan's Magic Fountain (with Lex Barker) (1949) as Gloria James Jessup The Texan Meets Calamity Jane (1950) as Calamity Jane No Greater Love (with Richard Denning) (1960, Short) (final film role)