
Ann Dvorak
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1911-08-02
Day of Death
1979-12-10 (68 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Ann Dvorak
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
Acting
(2008)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
as Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
(1997)
Bogart: The Untold Story
as Self (archive footage)
(1951)
I Was an American Spy
as Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
(1951)
The Secret of Convict Lake
as Rachel Schaeffer
(1950)
Our Very Own
as Gert Lynch
(1950)
The Return of Jesse James
as Sue Ellen Younger
(1950)
A Life of Her Own
as Mary Ashlon
(1950)
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
as Connie Kepplar
(1948)
The Walls of Jericho
as Belle Connors
(1947)
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
as Madeleine Forestier
(1947)
Out of the Blue
as Olive Jensen
(1947)
The Long Night
as Charlene
(1946)
Abilene Town
as Rita
(1946)
The Bachelor's Daughters
as Terry Wilson
(1945)
Masquerade in Mexico
as Helen Grant
(1945)
Flame of Barbary Coast
as Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
(1943)
Escape to Danger
as Joan Grahame
(1943)
Squadron Leader X
as Barbara Lucas
(1942)
This Was Paris
as Ann Morgan
(1940)
Girls of the Road
as Kay Warren
(1940)
Cafe Hostess
as Jo
(1939)
Blind Alley
as Mary
(1939)
Stronger Than Desire
as Eva McLain
(1938)
Gangs of New York
as Connie Benson
(1938)
Merrily We Live
as Minerva Harlan
(1937)
We Who Are About to Die
as Connie Stewart
(1937)
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Della Street
(1937)
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
as Ann Rogers
(1937)
Racing Lady
as Ruth Martin
(1937)
Midnight Court
as Carol O'Neill
(1937)
She's No Lady
as Jerry
(1936)
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
(1935)
Thanks a Million
as Sally Mason
(1935)
Bright Lights
as Fay Wilson
(1935)
Dr. Socrates
as Josephine
(1935)
'G' Men
as Jean Morgan
(1935)
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
as Herself (uncredited)
(1935)
Sweet Music
as Bonnie Haydon
(1934)
Massacre
as Lydia
(1934)
Heat Lightning
as Myra
(1934)
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
as Miss Beulah Boyd
(1934)
Housewife
as Nan Reynolds
(1934)
Gentlemen Are Born
as Susan Merrill
(1934)
Murder in the Clouds
as Judy Wagner
(1934)
Side Streets
as Marguerite Gilbert
(1934)
Midnight Alibi
as Joan
(1934)
Roast-Beef and Movies
as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1934)
I Sell Anything
as Barbara
(1933)
Hello Pop
as Dancer
(1933)
The Way to Love
as Madeleine
(1933)
College Coach
as Claire Gore
(1932)
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
(1932)
The Crowd Roars
as Lee Merrick
(1932)
Scarface
as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
(1932)
Sky Devils
as Mary Way
(1932)
Three on a Match
as Vivian Revere
(1932)
Crooner
as Judith 'Judy' Mason
(1932)
Love Is a Racket
as Sally Condon
(1931)
Stranger in Town
as Marian Crickle
(1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1931)
The Guardsman
as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
(1931)
Son of India
as Dancer (uncredited)
(1931)
Politics
as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
(1931)
A Tailor-Made Man
as Bit (uncredited)
(1931)
This Modern Age
as Party Guest (Uncredited)
(1930)
The Woman Racket
as Chorus Girl
(1930)
The March of Time
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Good News
as Student
(1930)
Children of Pleasure
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Madam Satan
as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
(1930)
Chasing Rainbows
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Way Out West
as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Estrellados
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1930)
Lord Byron of Broadway
as Chorus Girl
(1930)
Free and Easy
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1930)
The Devil's Cabaret
as Chorine in Black (uncredited)
(1930)
Our Blushing Brides
as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
(1929)
So This Is College
as Student (uncredited)
(1929)
It's a Great Life
as Chorus Girl
(1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
(1929)
Devil-May-Care
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1929)
Manhattan Serenade
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1929)
The Song Writers' Revue
as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
(1929)
The Doll Shop
as Doll
(1917)
The Man Hater
as Phemie's Sister
(1916)
Ramona
as Ramona Phail (age 4)
Crew
(1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance
Choreographer