Ida Lupino was born in London, England on February 4, 1918. Her father was the renown British actor, Stanley Lupino. Both her father and mother made regular appearances on London's famed West End, the equivalent of Broadway in the US. With her show business lineage going back to the 17th century, it was no wonder that Ida would be groomed for acting. To fine tune her talent, Ida attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
In 1933, Ida accompanied her mother to a movie studio because Mrs. Lupino was going to try audition for a role in HER FIRST AFFAIR. Instead it went to 15 year old Ida. She received more roles, albeit small ones, thoughout that year in films such as MONEY FOR SPEED, I LIVED WITH YOU, and PRINCE OF ARCADIA.
The next year, Ida left Britain for the fertile fields of Hollywood. Her first American film was as Barbara Hilton in THE SEARCH FOR BEAUTY (1934) made at Paramount Studios. The pretty teenager later played in COME ON, MARINES, also in 1934, where she played Esther Smith-Hamilton, one of several ship wrecked women rescued by a contingent of US Marines.
Next up, in 1935, was PETER IBBETSON, where Ida co-starred with Ann Harding and Gary Cooper. The film didn't do well in the US, but was a success in Europe.
The following year Ida appeared in her first musical called, ANYTHING GOES with Ethel Merman, Bing Crosby, and Arthur Treacher. Here, Ida played Hope Harcourt, an English heiress who is wooed by Crosby's character. It turned out to be a hit. Ida was 18 years old and had already begun to carve a niche out for herself where other would be starlets struggled with bit roles, if they could find them.
Perhaps her finest role was in THE GAY DESPERADO. That film seemed to define her career.
After filming the comedy, ARTISTS AND MODELS (1937), Ida asked to be released from Paramount. Being a freelance actress, in 1938, turned out to be harder than she thought. She appeared in no productions at all.
The next year Ida appeared in Warner Bros. THE LIGHT THAT FAILED. Now the seasoned 21 year old was playing tough ladies on the screen.
All through the forties she continued to appear in well acted, well directed products especially OUT OF THE FOG and THE SEA WOLF, both in 1941.
In 1943, Ida won the New York Film Critics Award as best actress in THE HARD WAY. This was, probably, the pinnacle of her career as an actress.
As the forties was beginning to turn into the fifties, Ida found herself in roles that was not near the caliber she was capable of playing.
1949 saw her directing films, which was something women just didn't do, but she proved herself more than adept, owing to her tremendous family acting background. Although she did a wonderful job directing she continued to appear in front of the cameras as well. Ida made her directing debut in NOT WANTED, although she was uncredited as per her request. The five other films she directed from 1950-1953, proved to all a woman could do the job justice. Those films were OUTRAGE, NEVER FEAR (both in 1950), HARD FAST AND BEAUTIFUL in 1951, THE HITCH-HIKER, and THE BIGAMIST (both in 1953).
Afterwards she turned her directing talents to television. Some of the fine work she turned in on the small screen were episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "The Untouchables", "Gilligan's Island", and TV's smash series, "The Fugitive". Ida did some writing and producing as well, but her success didn't approach what she had done in the director's chair.
As an actress, Ida took a hiatus from the silver screen after 1956's WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS. When she did return it was in BACKTRACK! in 1969.
After a number of TV appearances, both in series and TV movies she made one last film for theaters, MY BOYS ARE GOOD BOYS in 1978. She was now 60 and felt it time to retire.
In 1995, Ida suffered a stroke which ultimately took her life on August 3, in
Los Angeles, California. She was 77 years old. Her life, in pictures, proved a woman could do it all
in motion pictures.
Here are some nice Ida Lupino photos
Ida Pic 1
Ida Pic 2
Ida Pic 3
Ida Pic 4
Ida Pic 5
Ida Pic 6
Click here to go to Loretta Young
My thanks to Doug Stickney and Vivian Perez for supplying this page with photos.
© 1999 Denny C. Jackson dejackso@iglou.com
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