Blondell in Nightmare Alley (1947)

Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 - December 25, 1979) was an Oscar-nominated American actress. Considered a sexy, wisecracking, blonde she was a pre-Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. Image File history File links Joan Blondell in Nightmare Alley (1947 movie) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Image File history File links Joan Blondell in Nightmare Alley (1947 movie) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Nightmare Alley is a 20th Century Fox film noir released in 1947. ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... One of the worlds most famous blondes Marilyn Monroe, who was in fact a natural brunette Blond (feminine, blonde) is a hair colour found in certain mammals characterised by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and higher levels of the pale pigment phæomelanin, in common with red or... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of guidelines governing the production of motion pictures. ... Warner Bros. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ...

Early life

Born to a vaudeville family in New York City, her father, known as Eddie Joan Blondell, Jr., (né Blustein), was a vaudeville comedian and one of the original Katzenjammer Kids. Her younger sister, Gloria, also an actress, was married to film producer Albert R. Broccoli and bears a strong resemblance to her older sister Joan. Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Katzenjammer Kids is probably the worlds second oldest comic strip (after The Yellow Kid, which ran from 1895-98) and the oldest one still in syndication. ... Albert Romolo Broccoli (April 5, 1909–June 27, 1996) known to millions of movie fans as Cubby Broccoli (a nickname used by a cousin), produced more than forty movies, but will be remembered by most for his contribution to one of the most successful film franchises in history, James Bond. ...

Joan had seen much of the world by the time the family settled in Dallas, Texas when she was a teenager. (She also had a brother, the namesake of her father and grandfather.) Under the name Rosebud Blondell she won the 1926 Miss Dallas pageant and came in 4th for the Miss America pageant in September of that year in Atlantic City, N.J. She was noticed by a Hollywood agent in 1930 while performing on Broadway after returning to New York City to become an actress. Nickname: Big D Motto: Official website: www. ... The cinema of the United States, although it is sometimes simply referred to as Hollywood does not refer only to the film industry of the United States of America. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R...

She was asked to change her name to Inez "Something", but later dropped the "Rosebud", by which she went during her childhood and into her college days at North Texas Normal Teacher's School in 1926-27, and cemented "Joan Blondell" for a 49-year professional career. She appeared with Jimmy Cagney on Broadway and was one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1931. Jimmy Cagney was part of the Legends of Hollywood USPS stamp series. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States, which honored thirteen young women each year who they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

Career

Placed under contract by Warner Brothers Studios, making her film debut in 1930, she soon moved to Hollywood. During the 1930s she would embody the Depression era gold-digger, and with her huge blue eyes, blonde hair and wise cracking personality, became a crowd favourite. She appeared in more Warner Brothers films than any other actress, and referred to herself as "Warner's workhorse". The popularity of her films made a great contribution to the studio's profitability. The WB Shield, used from 2001 to late 2003. ... Warner Bros. ...

Blondell was paired with James Cagney in such films as The Public Enemy (1931), and was one half of the gold-digging duo (with Glenda Farrell) in nine films. During the Great Depression, Blondell was one of the highest paid individuals in the United States. Her stirring rendition of "Remember My Forgotten Man" in the Busby Berkeley production of Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), in which she co-starred with Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers, became an anthem for the frustrations of the unemployed and President Herbert Hoover's failed economic policies. James Cagney was part of the Legends of Hollywood USPS stamp series. ... The Public Enemy is a 1931 film noir crime drama in which a good brother tries to turn his bad brother back onto the good path. ... Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American film actress. ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age thirty-two, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ... Kaleidoscopic Choreography from Footlight Parade, 1933 Busby Berkeley (November 29, 1895–March 14, 1976), born William Berkeley Enos in Los Angeles, California, was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. ... Gold Diggers of 1933 1933 USA was a musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy ( plot) and Busby Berkely (musical and dance sequences). ... Dick Powell (1904-1963) The singer, actor, producer, and director Dick Powell was born as Richard Ewing Powell in Mountain View, Arkansas on November 14, 1904. ... Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was a legendary American actress and dancer. ... The presidential seal was first used by president Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii The President of the United States of America (often abbreviated to POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933), was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. ...

By the end of the decade she had made nearly 50 films, despite having left Warners in 1939. Continuing to work regularly for the rest of her life, Blondell was well received in her later films, and received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in The Painted Veil (1951). She also appeared in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Desk Set (1957) and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). She was widely seen in two films released not long before her death, Grease (1978) and the remake of The Champ (1979) with Jon Voight and Rick Schroder. In addition, John Cassavetes cast her as a cynical, aging playwright in his 1978 film Opening Night. She also starred in ABC-TV's Here Come the Brides, about life in the 19th century Pacific Northwest. The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... This article is about the 1945 film. ... Desk Set (or His Other Woman in the U.K.) is a 1957 romantic comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Spencer Tracy (as Richard Sumner) and Katharine Hepburn (as Bunny Watson). Its screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron from the play by William Marchant. ... Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter is an original comedy play that opened on Broadway October 13, 1955 starring Orson Bean, Martin Gabel, Jayne Mansfield and Walter Matthau. ... Grease (1978) is the name of a film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Jim Jacobs and Warren Caseys musical, Grease. ... The Champ is a 1931 movie that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. ... Jon Voight (born Jonathan Voight on December 29, 1938 in Yonkers, New York) is an American actor born to a Czech father and an English American mother. ... Rick Schroder (born Richard Schroder on April 13, 1970 on Staten Island, New York) (also known as Ricky Schroder) is an American actor who began his career as a child actor. ... John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes (December 9, 1929 - February 3, 1989) was a Greek American actor, screenwriter, and director. ... Opening Night is the first performance of a stage show to the public. ... Here Come the Brides was a television program that aired on the ABC television network from 1968 to 1970. ...

Blondell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6309 Hollywood Boulevard. An example of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, for the film actress Carole Lombard. ...

Private life

Blondell was married first in 1932 to the cinematographer George S. Barnes (1892 - 1953); they divorced in 1936. Her second husband, whom she married on September 19, 1936, was the actor, director, and singer Dick Powell; they were divorced on July 14, 1944, and had two children, Ellen Powell and Norman S. Powell (who became an actor, producer, and director). She married her third husband in 1947, the producer Michael Todd, who divorced her in 1950, and whom she once accused of holding her outside of a hotel window by her ankles. A cinematographer (from cinema photographer) is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Dick Powell (1904-1963) The singer, actor, producer, and director Dick Powell was born as Richard Ewing Powell in Mountain View, Arkansas on November 14, 1904. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... A film producer oversees the making of movies. ... Michael Todd (real name Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen) (June 22, 1907 or 19091 - March 22, 1958) was an American film producer who is best known for his production of Around the World in Eighty Days 1956, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. ...

She died of leukemia in Santa Monica, California at the age of 73, with her children and her sister at her bedside. She was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Leukemia (leukaemia in Commonwealth English) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal proliferation of white blood cells (leukocytes). ... Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica is a coastal city in western Los Angeles County, California, USA, by the Pacific Ocean, south of Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, and north of Venice. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname: The Jewel City Motto: Official website: http://www. ...

External links

• Joan Blondell at Classic Actresses
• Joan Blondell at the Internet Movie Database
• Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Joan Blondell