On August 30, 1906, Rose Joan Blondell was born to a Vaudevillian comic, in New York City. By the time she was three, her mother already had her on the stage. For years, she toured the country with her parents and joined a theater stock company when she was 17.
She made her debut into the "big time" with the Ziegfeld Follies and also appeared in several Broadway productions. She was starring in a Broadway production with James Cagney when Warner Brothers decided to film the play SINNER'S HOLIDAY in 1930. The film being a success, Joan would again be teamed with Cagney in films such as PUBLIC ENEMY in 1931 and BLONDE CRAZY the same year. In THE OFFICE WIFE (1930), she would steal the scenes when she was dressing for work. Tame by today's standards, it was an erotic shot in the 30's.
While Warner Brothers made Cagney a star, Joan never rose to that level. She generally played gold-diggers and happy-go-lucky girlfriends. I first caught site of her in a late movie called GOLDDIGGERS OF 1933. I liked her spunk and sassiness. She would be paired in ten movies with the late Dick Powell and they were actually married to each other for ten years.
By 1939, Joan had left Warner Brothers to become an independent actress. Veronica Lake was on the movie scene by then and Joan's work greatly slowed. Joan received an Academy Award nomination for THE BLUE VEIL in 1951.
In 1957, she would again appear on screen as a drunk and mature companion to Jayne Mansfield in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? Movie appearances would be slim, but she made a big impact in the TV series THE REAL McCOYS where she played Winifred Jordan in 1957 and as Lottie Hatfield in HERE COME THE BRIDES from 1968-1970. Her last movie was THE WOMAN INSIDE which wasn't released until 1981.
By the time she died in Santa Monica, California of leukemia on Christmas Day in 1979, she had been in an astounding 102 productions. The good time gal with the wide smile and big blue eyes was 73.
Joan Blondell photos are below!
Joan Pic 1
Joan Pic 2
Joan Pic 3
Joan Pic 4
Joan Pic 5
Joan Pic 6
Click here to go to Lillian Gish
If anyone has photos of Joan Blondell on the series HERE COME THE BRIDES, please let me know.
© 1998 Denny C. Jackson dejackso@iglou.com
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