Biography
Born on 30 August 1906 in New York City, New York, USA, and dying on 25 December 1979 in Santa Monica, California, USA, Blondell entered a show-business household whose patriarch had helped create the original Katzenjammer Kids. Childhood years found her on the vaudeville circuit, traveling the world in her family’s act before she moved into legitimate theater. A beauty-contest victory ultimately carried her to Broadway, where she appeared in both straight plays and musicals, among them Penny Arcade opposite James Cagney. The two performers repeated their parts in the 1930 screen adaptation, released as Sinners’ Holiday.
Throughout the 1930s she worked in dozens of pictures, most often at Warner Bros., handling dramatic and musical assignments with comparable ease. Early-decade titles encompass Blonde Crazy (1931, again with Cagney), Big City Blues (1932), Footlight Parade (1933, featuring Cagney), Gold Diggers Of Broadway (1933, in which she sang “Remember My Forgotten Man”), and Dames (1934), the final three choreographed by Busby Berkeley.
From the middle of the decade onward she completed We’re In The Money (1935), Broadway Gondolier (1935), Stage Struck and Colleen (both 1936), the last three among several projects that paired her with Dick Powell, her second husband between 1936 and 1944; Sons O’Guns (also 1936, co-starring Joe E. Brown and Eric Blore), The King And The Chorus Girl (1937), Gold Diggers Of 1937 (1937, again with Powell), East Side Of Heaven (1938, with Bing Crosby), Two Girls On Broadway (1940), and, in what many regard as her strongest dramatic part, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945). Between 1947 and 1950 her third husband was Mike Todd.
In the 1950s and beyond, Blondell accepted mostly supporting or smaller dramatic roles. An Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress arrived in 1951 for The Blue Veil. Additional credits include The Opposite Sex (1956), This Could Be The Night (1957), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Stay Away, Joe (1968, with Elvis Presley). On the small screen she portrayed Lottie Hatfield in Here Come The Brides (1968–70), earning two Emmy nominations. Later feature appearances comprise Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Grease (1978), and The Champ (1979). Her final film, The Woman Inside, reached theaters only in 1981. In 1972 she issued the loosely autobiographical novel Center Door Fancy.
Throughout the 1930s she worked in dozens of pictures, most often at Warner Bros., handling dramatic and musical assignments with comparable ease. Early-decade titles encompass Blonde Crazy (1931, again with Cagney), Big City Blues (1932), Footlight Parade (1933, featuring Cagney), Gold Diggers Of Broadway (1933, in which she sang “Remember My Forgotten Man”), and Dames (1934), the final three choreographed by Busby Berkeley.
From the middle of the decade onward she completed We’re In The Money (1935), Broadway Gondolier (1935), Stage Struck and Colleen (both 1936), the last three among several projects that paired her with Dick Powell, her second husband between 1936 and 1944; Sons O’Guns (also 1936, co-starring Joe E. Brown and Eric Blore), The King And The Chorus Girl (1937), Gold Diggers Of 1937 (1937, again with Powell), East Side Of Heaven (1938, with Bing Crosby), Two Girls On Broadway (1940), and, in what many regard as her strongest dramatic part, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945). Between 1947 and 1950 her third husband was Mike Todd.
In the 1950s and beyond, Blondell accepted mostly supporting or smaller dramatic roles. An Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress arrived in 1951 for The Blue Veil. Additional credits include The Opposite Sex (1956), This Could Be The Night (1957), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Stay Away, Joe (1968, with Elvis Presley). On the small screen she portrayed Lottie Hatfield in Here Come The Brides (1968–70), earning two Emmy nominations. Later feature appearances comprise Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Grease (1978), and The Champ (1979). Her final film, The Woman Inside, reached theaters only in 1981. In 1972 she issued the loosely autobiographical novel Center Door Fancy.