Ann Dvorak
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 2, 1911
- Died
- December 10, 1979 (aged 68)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent." Dvorak was the daughter and only child of silent film actress Anna Lehr and director Edwin McKim. While in New York, she attended St. Catherine's Convent. After moving to California, she attended Page School for Girls in Hollywood. She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films. Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him. In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl. Her friend, actress Karen Morley, introduced her to billionaire movie producer Howard Hughes, who groomed her as a dramatic actress. She was a success in such pre-Code films as Scarface (1932) as Paul Muni's sister; in Three on a Match (1932) with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell as the doomed, unstable Vivian; in The Crowd Roars (1932) with James Cagney; and in Sky Devils (1932) opposite Spencer Tracy. Known for her style and elegance, she was a popular leading lady for Warner Bros. during the 1930s, and appeared in numerous contemporary romances and melodramas. At age 19, Dvorak eloped with Leslie Fenton, her English co-star from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and they married on March 17, 1932. They left for a year-long honeymoon in spite of her contractual obligations to the studio, which led to a period of litigation and pay disputes during which she discovered she was making the same amount of money as the boy who played her son in Three on a Match. She completed her contract on permanent suspension, then worked as a freelancer. Although she worked regularly, the quality of her scripts declined sharply. She appeared as secretary Della Street to Donald Woods' Perry Mason in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). With her then-husband, Leslie Fenton, Dvorak traveled to England where she supported the war effort by working as an ambulance driver and acted in several British films. She appeared as a saloon singer in Abilene Town with Randolph Scott and Edgar Buchanan, released in 1946. The following year she adeptly handled comedy by giving an assured performance in Out of the Blue (1947). In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute. Dvorak's marriage to Fenton ended in divorce in 1946. In 1947, she married Igor Dega, a Russian dancer who danced with her briefly in The Bachelor's Daughters. The marriage ended two years later. Dvorak retired from the screen in 1951, when she married her third and last husband, Nicholas Wade, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. She had no children.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Movie · as Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
Bogart: The Untold Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Secret of Convict Lake
Movie · as Rachel Schaeffer
I Was an American Spy
Movie · as Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
Our Very Own
Movie · as Gert Lynch
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Movie · as Connie Kepplar
A Life of Her Own
Movie · as Mary Ashlon
The Return of Jesse James
Movie · as Sue Ellen Younger
The Walls of Jericho
Movie · as Belle Connors
The Long Night
Movie · as Charlene
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
Movie · as Madeleine Forestier
Out of the Blue
Movie · as Olive Jensen
Abilene Town
Movie · as Rita
The Bachelor's Daughters
Movie · as Terry Wilson
Flame of Barbary Coast
Movie · as Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
Masquerade in Mexico
Movie · as Helen Grant
Squadron Leader X
Movie · as Barbara Lucas
Escape to Danger
Movie · as Joan Grahame
This Was Paris
Movie · as Ann Morgan
Girls of the Road
Movie · as Kay Warren
Cafe Hostess
Movie · as Jo
Blind Alley
Movie · as Mary
Stronger Than Desire
Movie · as Eva McLain
Gangs of New York
Movie · as Connie Benson
Merrily We Live
Movie · as Minerva Harlan
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
Movie · as Della Street
Midnight Court
Movie · as Carol O'Neill
Racing Lady
Movie · as Ruth Martin
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
Movie · as Ann Rogers
She's No Lady
Movie · as Jerry
We Who Are About to Die
Movie · as Connie Stewart
Breakdowns of 1936
Movie · as Self
'G' Men
Movie · as Jean Morgan
Thanks a Million
Movie · as Sally Mason
Bright Lights
Movie · as Fay Wilson
Sweet Music
Movie · as Bonnie Haydon
Dr. Socrates
Movie · as Josephine
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
Movie · as Herself (uncredited)
Heat Lightning
Movie · as Myra
Gentlemen Are Born
Movie · as Susan Merrill
Murder in the Clouds
Movie · as Judy
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
Movie · as Miss Beulah Boyd
Midnight Alibi
Movie · as Joan
Housewife
Movie · as Nan Reynolds
Side Streets
Movie · as Marguerite Gilbert
Massacre
Movie · as Lydia
I Sell Anything
Movie · as Barbara
Roast-Beef and Movies
Movie · as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
College Coach
Movie · as Claire Gore
Hello Pop
Movie · as Dancer
The Way to Love
Movie · as Madeleine
Scarface
Movie · as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
Three on a Match
Movie · as Vivian Revere
Love is a Racket
Movie · as Sally Condon
The Crowd Roars
Movie · as Lee Merrick
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
Movie · as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
Sky Devils
Movie · as Mary Way
Crooner
Movie · as Judith 'Judy' Mason
Stranger in Town
Movie · as Marian Crickle
Politics
Movie · as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
This Modern Age
Movie · as Party Guest (Uncredited)
Son of India
Movie · as Dancer (uncredited)
The Guardsman
Movie · as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
A Tailor-Made Man
Movie · as Bit (uncredited)
Dance, Fools, Dance
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Estrellados
Movie · as Chorine (uncredited)
Madam Satan
Movie · as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
The March of Time
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Woman Racket
Movie · as Chorus Girl
Lord Byron of Broadway
Movie · as Chorus Girl
Good News
Movie · as Student
Free and Easy
Movie · as Chorine (uncredited)
Way Out West
Movie · as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
Our Blushing Brides
Movie · as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
Chasing Rainbows
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Devil's Cabaret
Movie · as Chorine in Black (uncredited)
Children of Pleasure
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
A Lady to Love
Movie
Love in the Rough
Movie
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Movie · as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
It's a Great Life
Movie · as Chorus Girl
So This Is College
Movie · as Student (uncredited)
Devil-May-Care
Movie · as Chorine (uncredited)
Manhattan Serenade
Movie · as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Song Writers' Revue
Movie · as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
The Doll Shop
Movie · as Doll
The Man Hater
Movie · as Phemie's Sister
Ramona
Movie · as Ramona Phail (age 4)