Sidney Fox

Early life Sarah Liefer was born in 1907 in "Poland-Galicia". The census documents that in April that year, 22-year-old Sidney was living with her mother and stepfather on the 500 block of West 178th Street in Manhattan, along with Samuel and their two stepbrothers. Sidney identified herself then professionally as a stenographer, while during any spare time, she was busy pursuing roles in stage productions.

Stage and film career By the late 1920s, Fox had begun studying acting to establish a stage or film career. She temporarily joined a touring theatrical company around 1928, and within a year, she was performing on Broadway. In May 1930, the theatre critic for Variety gave Lost Sheep a lukewarm review but complimented Fox's energetic performance in the play, noting "That little cutie Sidney Fox, who first came out in It Never Rains, pleased again with her Rhoda." Someone else in the audience was impressed with Fox, Carl Laemmle Jr., then head of production at Universal Studios. Laemmle soon signed her to a multi-year contract with the Hollywood film company.

Lobby card for Bad Sister, 1931Fox made her film debut in the 1931 Hobart Henley drama Bad Sister, playing opposite Conrad Nagel, Humphrey Bogart, Zasu Pitts, and Bette Davis, who was making her movie debut as well. In 1931, Sidney was selected by motion picture advertisers as a WAMPAS Baby Star, recognizing her as one of the film industry's most promising new actresses. The next year, she starred as Madamoiselle Camille L'Espanaye in the Robert Florey film Murders in the Rue Morgue opposite Bela Lugosi. Then, in 1933, she played opposite operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin in the English-language version of Don Quixote. Many of her subsequent roles were bit parts in B-movies, although she did have a starring role in the 1935 release School for Girls. By 1940, according to that year's federal census, Charles and Sidney Beahan were residing together in a $125-a-month rented home at 9421 Charleville Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Fox is listed in that census as having no occupation and "not seeking employment" in 1940, and Beahan is documented as being employed as a "Literary Agent/Stage & Motion Pic[ture]s". Variety announced her death before this ruling in its issue of November 18. In the paper's brief obituary, Fox's given age, and the date of her death differ from those documented in official government records and on her gravestone in New York:blockquote Sidney Fox, 31, a former stage and film actress, was found dead in her bed in her Hollywood home Nov. 14. Cause of death undetermined. Carl Laemmle discovered Miss Fox in 1930 while appearing in the Broadway production of Lost Sheep at the Selwyn theatre. She achieved quick film success, being first named a Wampas Baby Star, then scoring heavily in Strictly Dishonorable. Roles in Bad Sister, Mouthpiece and Once in a Lifetime followed, with a part in the French version of Don Quixote, starring Feodor Chaliapin, sandwiched in-between. In 1937 she replaced Katherine Locke on the New York stage in Having a Wonderful Time at the Lyceum theatre. Husband Charles Beahan, an agent, survives. Another film in which she starred, School for Girls, was completed before Down to Their Last Yacht, but this dramatic film was not released in the United States until February 19, 1935. Therefore, Down to Their Last Yacht includes Fox's final performance on film, but School for Girls is her final film to be released.

Year Title Role Notes1931 Bad Sister Marianne Madison Six Cylinder Love Marilyn Sterling Nice Women Beth Girard Strictly Dishonorable Isabelle Perry 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue Mlle. Camille L'Espanaye The Mouthpiece Celia Farraday Once in a Lifetime Susan Walker 1933 Don Quixote Maria, the niece Roi Pausole Diana 1934 Call it Murder Stella Weldon School for Girls Annette Edlridge