Minna Gombell

Minna Marie Gombell (née Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress.

Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father was a medical doctor who came to the United States from Germany in 1880. Her mother was from Baltimore and of German descent.

Life and work Gombell was active in stock theater, starring with troupes in Albany, Atlanta, Cleveland, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Her Broadway credits include Indiscretion (1928), The Great Power (1928), Ballyhoo (1926), Alloy (1924), Mr. Pitt (1923), Listening in (1922), On the Hiring Line (1919), The Indestructible Wife (1917), Six Months' Option (1917), and My Lady's Garter (1915).

She had a successful stage career from 1912 as Winifred Lee before being signed by the Fox Film Corporation in the late 1920s. Her first film was Doctors' Wives (1931) in which she played under the name Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox. After this, she spent a time coaching several young actresses before returning to film under her real name.

She appeared in some fifty Hollywood films including: Block-Heads (as the dominant wife of Oliver Hardy), The Merry Widow, The First Year, Boom Town, High Sierra, Hoop-La, The Thin Man, Doomed Caravan, and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Personal life Gombell married Howard Chesham Rumsey on March 9, 1916, in New York City. They divorced in 1921. In 1922 she was married in secret to the aviator and press agent Ferdinand Eggena in Atlanta, Georgia. Their marriage was revealed when he was arrested for fraud in November. She filed for divorce the next month, which was granted in 1924. On May 19, 1933, she was married for a third time to millionaire banker Joseph W. Sefton Jr. They separated in 1947 and were divorced in 1954.

Some sources state she was married to writer/producer Myron C. Fagan, who put Gombell in several plays and films in the 1920s, but Fagan was married during this period to another woman, who died in 1966.

Gombell died in Santa Monica on April 14, 1973, and was buried in Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Partial filmography Year Film Role Director Notes 1929 The Great Power Joan Wray 1931 Doctors' Wives Julia Wyndram Frank Borzage 1931 Bad Girl Edna Driggs Frank Borzage 1931 Skyline Minor Role Sam Taylor uncredited 1931 Sob Sister Vonnie Alfred Santell 1931 Good Sport Virginia Casey Kenneth MacKenna 1932 The Rainbow Trail Ruth David Howard 1932 Stepping Sisters Rosie La Marr Seymour Felix 1932 Dance Team Cora Stuart Sidney Lanfield 1932 After Tomorrow Else Taylor Frank Borzage 1932 Careless Lady Yvette Logan Kenneth MacKenna 1932 Bachelor's Affairs Stella Peck Alfred L. Werker 1932 The First Year Mrs. Barstow William K. Howard 1932 Wild Girl Millie Raoul Walsh 1933 Pleasure Cruise Judy Mills Frank Tuttle 1933 Hello, Sister! Mona La Rue 1933 What Price Innocence? Amy Harper Willard Mack 1933 The Big Brain Margy George Archainbaud 1933 Wild Boys of the Road Aunt Carrie William Wellman 1933 The Way to Love Suzanne Norman Taurog 1933 Hoop-La Carrie Frank Lloyd 1934 Cross Country Cruise Nita Borden Edward Buzzell 1934 Keep 'Em Rolling Julie Argyle Nelson (assistant) 1934 Marrying Widows The Press Agent Sam Newfield 1934 No More Women Annie Fay Albert S. Rogell 1934 Registered Nurse Beulah Schloss Robert Florey 1934 Strictly Dynamite Miss LaSeur Elliott Nugent (unbilled) 1934 The Thin Man Mimi Wynant Jorgenson W. S. Van Dyke 1934 The Hell Cat Pauline McCoy Albert S. Rogell 1934 The Lemon Drop Kid Maizie Marshall Neilan 1934 The Merry Widow Marcelle Ernst Lubitsch 1934 Cheating Cheaters Nell Brockton Richard Thorpe 1934 Babbitt Zilla Reisling William Keighley 1935 The White Cockatoo Grete Lovscheim Alan Crosland 1935 Women Must Dress Linda Howard Reginald Barker 1935 Two Sinners Mrs. Pym Arthur Lubin 1935 Miss Pacific Fleet Sadie Freytag Ray Enright 1936 Champagne Charlie Lillian Wayne James Tinling 1936 Banjo on my Knee Ruby John Cromwell 1937 Make Way for Tomorrow Nellie Chase Leo McCarey 1937 Slave Ship Mabel Tay Garnett 1937 Wife, Doctor and Nurse Constance Walter Lang 1938 Block-Heads Mrs. Hardy John G. Blystone 1938 The Great Waltz Mrs. Hofbauer Josef von Sternberg (uncredited) 1938 Comet Over Broadway Tim Adams John Farrow (uncredited) 1938 Going Places Cora Withering Ray Enright 1939 Second Fiddle Jenny Sidney Lanfield 1939 Stop, Look and Love Emma Haller Otto Brower 1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Queen of Beggars William Dieterle 1940 Boom Town Spanish Eva Jack Conway 1941 Doomed Caravan Jane Travers Lesley Selander 1941 High Sierra Mrs. Baughmam Raoul Walsh 1941 Thieves Fall Out Ella Barnes Ray Enright 1942 Cadets on Parade Della Lew Landers 1942 Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost Edith Fitzbadden Leslie Goodwins 1943 Salute for Three Myrt Ralph Murphy 1944 Chip Off the Old Block Milly Charles Lamont 1944 Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More Mrs. Collins Joe May 1944 The Town Went Wild Marian Harrison Ralph Murphy 1944 Destiny Marie Julien Duvivier (uncredited) 1945 Night Club Girl Rita Edward F. Cline 1945 Penthouse Rhythm Taffy Edward F. Cline 1945 Swingin' on a Rainbow Minnie Regan William Beaudine 1945 Sunbonnet Sue Mrs. Fitzgerald Ralph Murphy 1945 Man Alive Aunt Sophie Ray Enright 1946 Perilous Holiday Mrs. Latham Edward H. Griffith 1946 The Best Years of Our Lives Mrs. Parrish William Wyler 1947 Wyoming Queenie Lassiter Joseph Kane 1948 Mr. Reckless Ma Hawkins Frank McDonald 1948 Return of the Bad Men Emily Ray Enright 1948 The Snake Pit Miss Hart Anatole Litvak 1949 The Last Bandit Winnie McPhail Joseph Kane 1950 Pagan Love Song Kate Bennett Robert Alton 1951 Here Comes the Groom Mrs. Godfrey Frank Capra 1951 I'll See You in My Dreams Mrs. LeBoy Michael Curtiz final film role