Gladys George

Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in Valiant Is the Word for Carrie, she spent most of her career in supporting roles in films such as Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Flamingo Road (1949), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951) in which marked her first color film.

Early life George was born on September 13, 1904 in Patten, Maine, to British parents, Sir Arthur Evans Clare, a "noted Shakespearean actor", and his wife, Lady Alice. Another source indicates "Gladys was born in a little town in Missouri, where the troupe her parents belonged to happened to be stranded at the time." She starred onstage in the 1920s, and she had made several films during the early part of that decade. For her role in the film Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936), she received a Best Actress nomination at the 9th Academy Awards.

Other roles were in Madame X (1937), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), The Way of All Flesh (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Hard Way (1943), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), He Ran All the Way (1951), Detective Story (1951), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951).

George's Broadway credits include The Distant City, Lady in Waiting, and The Betrothal.

Personal life Gladys George was married and divorced four times. All of the unions were childless. On March 31, 1922, she and actor Ben Erway eloped and were married by a judge in Oakland, California. "They were remarried in San Luis Obispo August 3 of the same year. They separated September 14, 1930." The couple divorced in October 1930. Her second husband was millionaire paper manufacturer Edward Fowler, who walked out in 1933 after finding the actress in the arms of her leading man Leonard Penn. At the time, George was playing a nymphomaniacal star in the Broadway hit Personal Appearance. George and actor Leonard Penn were married in a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut, September 19, 1935. Her last husband Kenneth Bradley, whom she married when she was 41, was a hotel bellboy 20 years her junior.

Illnesses and death George was afflicted with numerous ailments, including throat cancer, heart disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Filmography + Film Title Year Role Notes Red Hot Dollars 1919 Janet Muir film debut The Woman in the Suitcase 1920 Ethel Below the Surface 1920 Alice Homespun Folks 1920 Beulah Rogers The Easy Road 1921 Isabel Grace Chickens 1921 Julia Stoneman The House that Jazz Built 1921 Lila Drake Straight Is the Way 1934 Shirley Valiant Is the Word for Carrie 1936 Carrie Snyder Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Only Academy Award for which Gladys George was ever nominated. They Gave Him a Gun 1937 Rose Duffy Co-starred with Spencer Tracy. Madame X 1937 Madame X / Jacqueline Fleuriot / Miss Pran Only film starring Gladys George to have been released on VHS. Love Is a Headache 1938 Carlotta 'Charlie' Lee Marie Antoinette 1938 Madame du Barry First time Gladys George portrayed a historical figure. First supporting role since Oscar nomination. I'm from Missouri 1939 Julie Bliss Here I Am a Stranger 1939 Clara Paulding The Roaring Twenties 1939 Panama Smith James Cagney film with one of many substantial early supporting roles for Humphrey Bogart. A Child Is Born 1939 Florette Laverne The House Across the Bay 1940 Mary Bogel The Way of All Flesh 1940 Anna Kriza The Lady from Cheyenne 1941 Elsie Hit the Road 1941 Molly Ryan The Maltese Falcon 1941 Iva Archer The Hard Way 1943 Lily Emery The Crystal Ball 1943 Madame Zenobia Nobody's Darling 1943 Eve Hawthorne Christmas Holiday 1944 Valerie De Merode Minstrel Man 1945 Mae White Steppin' in Society 1945 Penelope Webster The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 Hortense Derry Millie's Daughter 1947 Millie Maitland Alias a Gentleman 1948 Madge Parkson Flamingo Road 1949 Lute Mae Sanders Bright Leaf 1950 Rose Undercover Girl 1950 Liz Crow Lullaby of Broadway 1951 Jessica Howard He Ran All the Way 1951 Mrs. Robey Detective Story 1951 Miss Hatch Silver City 1951 Mrs. Barber It Happens Every Thursday 1953 Mrs. Lucinda Holmes