Margaret Lindsay

Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successful films of the 1930s and 1940s such as Baby Face, Jezebel and Scarlet Street (1945) and her leading roles in lower-budgeted B movie films such as the Ellery Queen series at Columbia in the early 1940s. Critics regard her portrayal of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hepzibah Pyncheon in the 1940 film The House of the Seven Gables as Lindsay's standout career role.

Early life Margaret Kies (pronounced "keys") was born in Dubuque, Iowa, the eldest of six children of a pharmacist father who died in 1930. According to Tom Longden of the Des Moines Register, "Peg" was "a tomboy who liked to climb pear trees" and was a "roller-skating fiend". She graduated in 1930 from Visitation Academy in Dubuque. Her 1945 resumé lists her academic credentials as National Park Seminary in Washington, D. C. and the American Academy of Dramatic Art (where one of her classmates was Robert Cummings).

Career

1930s

She began her theatrical career on stage in two hit plays, Death Takes a Holiday and By Candlelight. Her friend Bob Cummings couldn't find work in pictures because casting directors were looking for English juveniles. Cummings then posed as the Englishman "Blade Stanhope Conway" and, as columnist S. R. Mook reported in 1936, "got more work than he could take care of. It was also Bob who, meeting Margaret Lindsay who had been in his class at the dramatic school, suggested to her (when she told him she couldn't find work) that she follow his example. She did." Margaret Kies became "British actress" Margaret Lindsay.

She impressed Universal Studios enough to sign her for their 1932 version of The Old Dark House. As James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard wrote in Hollywood Players: The Thirties (Arlington House, 1976), Lindsay returned to America and arrived in Hollywood, only to discover that Gloria Stuart had been cast in her role in the film. After some minor roles in pre-Code films such as Christopher Strong and the groundbreaking Baby Face, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Lindsay was cast in the Fox Film Corporation's award-winning Cavalcade. Lindsay was selected for a role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon takes place on the Titanic.

Lindsay signed a five-year contract with Warner Bros., playing leads in both major and minor features, including G Men (1935) opposite James Cagney and Garden of the Moon (1938) opposite Pat O'Brien. Lindsay co-starred with Bette Davis in four Warners films: as Davis's sister in Fog Over Frisco (1934); in Dangerous (1935), for which Davis won her first Best Actress Academy Award; in Bordertown with Paul Muni, and as Davis's rival for Henry Fonda's affections in Jezebel (1938).

After her tenure at Warners, she went to Universal where her old friend Bob Cummings had the juvenile lead in adolescent singing star Gloria Jean's first picture, The Under-Pup (1939). Cummings reunited with Lindsay, who played a supporting role.

1940s Michael Brunas, John Brunas, and Tom Weaver wrote in Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931–46 that Lindsay, "one of the more talented '30s leading ladies, contributes a mature performance that might be the best, certainly the most striking in [ The House of the Seven Gables]."

Her 1940s film work in Hollywood included Columbia Pictures's first entry in their Crime Doctor series, as well as her continuing role as Nikki Porter in Columbia's Ellery Queen series (1940–1942).

Lindsay appeared in a supporting role in the 1942 film The Spoilers. After Universal Pictures released her from her contract, she returned to the stage, appearing on Broadway in Another Love Story, which had a three-month run at the end of 1943. Disappointed, she went back to Hollywood, but her film career went into temporary decline, with roles mostly in films at low-budget studios like Monogram Pictures and PRC. She returned to bigger film work in 1947, featured in MGM films like Cass Timberlane with Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner. She again returned to the stage and co-starred with Franchot Tone in The Second Man.

1950s and 1960s

She made her television debut in 1950 in The Importance of Being Earnest, which allowed her to display her finely honed British accent. More television work followed. Lindsay appeared in only four films during the 1950s and two in the 1960s. Her final feature film was Tammy and the Doctor (1963).

Personal life Early in her career, Lindsay lived with her sister Helen in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Later in life, she lived with her youngest sister Mickie. She never married.

According to biographer and historian William J. Mann, Lindsay was the life partner of actor Mary McCarty. Her dating companions included other reportedly gay stars like Cesar Romero, Richard Deacon, and Liberace. She was also linked romantically to Janet Gaynor. Death Lindsay died at the age of 70 of emphysema in 1981 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

Family Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies, was also an actress under the stage name Jane Gilbert.

Complete filmography Year Title Role Notes 1932 Okay, America! Ruth Drake 1932 The Fourth Horseman Molly O'Rourke 1932 The All American Miss Bowen 1932 Once in a Lifetime Dr. Lewis' Secretary 1933 Cavalcade Edith Harris 1933 West of Singapore Shelby Worrell 1933 Christopher Strong Autograph Seeker at Party Uncredited 1933 Private Detective 62 Janet 1933 Baby Face Ann Carter 1933 Voltaire Nanette 1933 Captured! Monica A. Allison 1933 Paddy the Next Best Thing Eileen Adair 1933 From Headquarters Lou Winton 1933 The World Changes Jennifer Clinton Nordholm 1933 The House on 56th Street Eleanor Van Tyle Burgess 1933 Lady Killer Lois Underwood 1934 Merry Wives of Reno Madge 1934 Fog Over Frisco Valkyr Bradford 1934 The Dragon Murder Case Bernice 1934 Gentlemen Are Born Joan Harper 1935 Bordertown Dale Elwell 1935 Devil Dogs of the Air Betty Roberts 1935 The Florentine Dagger Florence 1935 The Case of the Curious Bride Rhoda Montaine 1935 G Men Kay McCord 1935 Personal Maid's Secret Joan 1935 Frisco Kid Jean Barrat 1935 Dangerous Gail Armitage 1936 The Lady Consents Gerry Mannerly 1936 The Law in Her Hands Mary Wentworth 1936 Public Enemy's Wife Judith Roberts Maroc 1936 Isle of Fury Lucille Gordon 1936 Sinner Take All Lorraine 1937 Green Light Frances Ogilvie 1937 Song of the City Angelina Romandi 1937 Slim Cally 1937 Back in Circulation Arline Wade 1938 Breakdowns of 1938 Short subject gag reel, unreleased 1938 Gold is Where You Find It Rosanne 1938 Jezebel Amy Bradford Dillard 1938 When Were You Born Doris Kane (Leo) 1938 Garden of the Moon Toni Blake 1938 Broadway Musketeers Isabel 'Isabelle' Dowling Peyton 1938 There's That Woman Again Mrs. Nacelle 1939 On Trial Mae Strickland 1939 Hell's Kitchen Beth 1939 The Under-Pup Mrs. Cooper 1939 20,000 Men a Year Ann Rogers 1940 British Intelligence Helene von Lorbeer 1940 Honeymoon Deferred Janet Payne Farradene 1940 The House of the Seven Gables Hepzibah Pyncheon 1940 Double Alibi Sue Casey 1940 Meet the Wildcat Ann Larkin 1940 Ellery Queen, Master Detective Nikki Porter 1941 Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery Nikki Porter 1941 The Hard-Boiled Canary Sylvia Worth 1941 Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime Nikki Porter 1941 Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring Nikki Porter 1942 A Close Call for Ellery Queen Nikki Porter 1942 A Tragedy at Midnight Beth Sherman 1942 A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen Nikki Porter 1942 The Spoilers Helen Chester 1942 Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen Nikki Porter 1943 No Place for a Lady June Terry 1943 Let's Have Fun Florence Blake 1943 Crime Doctor Grace Fielding 1944 Alaska Roxie Reagan 1945 Adventures of Rusty Ann Mitchell 1945 Club Havana Rosalind 1945 Scarlet Street Millie Ray 1946 Her Sister's Secret Renee DuBois Gordon 1947 The Vigilantes Return Kitty 1947 Seven Keys to Baldpate Connie Lane 1947 Louisiana Alvern Adams 1947 Cass Timberlane Chris Grau 1948 B.F.'s Daughter 'Apples' Sanler 1956 The Bottom of the Bottle Hannah Cady 1956 Emergency Hospital Dr. Janet Carey 1958 The Restless Years Dorothy Henderson 1959 Jet Over the Atlantic Mrs. Lanyard 1960 Please Don't Eat the Daisies Mona James 1963 Tammy and the Doctor Rachel Colman, Head Nurse 1974 The Chadwick Family Elly TV Movie