
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)
A Life of Her Own
as Mary Ashlon
(1950)
Our Very Own
as Gert Lynch
(1950)
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
as Connie Kepplar
(1950)
The Return of Jesse James
as Sue Ellen Younger
(1948)
The Walls of Jericho
as Belle Connors
(1947)
Out of the Blue
as Olive Jensen
(1947)
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
as Madeleine Forestier
(1947)
The Long Night
as Charlene
(1946)
Abilene Town
as Rita
(1946)
The Bachelor's Daughters
as Terry Wilson
(1945)
Flame of Barbary Coast
as Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
(1945)
Masquerade in Mexico
as Helen Grant
(1943)
Squadron Leader X
as Barbara Lucas
(1943)
Escape to Danger
as Joan Grahame
(1942)
This Was Paris
as Ann Morgan
(1940)
Cafe Hostess
as Jo
(1940)
Girls of the Road
as Kay Warren
(1939)
Blind Alley
as Mary
(1939)
Stronger Than Desire
as Eva McLain
(1938)
Merrily We Live
as Minerva Harlan
(1938)
Gangs of New York
as Connie Benson
(1937)
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
as Ann Rogers
(1937)
We Who Are About to Die
as Connie Stewart
(1937)
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Della Street
(1937)
Racing Lady
as Ruth Martin
(1937)
She's No Lady
as Jerry
(1937)
Midnight Court
as Carol O'Neill
(1936)
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
(1935)
'G' Men
as Jean Morgan
(1935)
Thanks a Million
as Sally Mason
(1935)
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
as Herself (uncredited)
(1935)
Dr. Socrates
as Josephine
(1935)
Bright Lights
as Fay Wilson
(1935)
Sweet Music
as Bonnie Haydon
(1934)
Housewife
as Nan Reynolds
(1934)
Heat Lightning
as Myra
(1934)
Murder in the Clouds
as Judy Wagner
(1934)
Massacre
as Lydia
(1934)
I Sell Anything
as Barbara
(1934)
Side Streets
as Marguerite Gilbert
(1934)
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
as Miss Beulah Boyd
(1934)
Gentlemen Are Born
as Susan Merrill
(1934)
Roast-Beef and Movies
as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1934)
Midnight Alibi
as Joan
(1933)
College Coach
as Claire Gore
(1933)
The Way to Love
as Madeleine
(1933)
Hello Pop
as Dancer
(1932)
Scarface
as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
(1932)
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
(1932)
Crooner
as Judith 'Judy' Mason
(1932)
Three on a Match
as Vivian Revere
(1932)
The Crowd Roars
as Lee Merrick
(1932)
Love Is a Racket
as Sally Condon
(1932)
Sky Devils
as Mary Way
(1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1931)
The Guardsman
as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
(1931)
A Tailor-Made Man
as Bit (uncredited)
(1931)
Stranger in Town
as Marian Crickle
(1931)
Son of India
as Dancer (uncredited)
(1931)
Politics
as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
(1931)
This Modern Age
as Party Guest (Uncredited)
(1930)
Madam Satan
as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
(1930)
Way Out West
as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Free and Easy
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1930)
Our Blushing Brides
as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
(1930)
The Devil's Cabaret
as Chorine in Black (uncredited)
(1930)
Chasing Rainbows
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Estrellados
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1930)
Children of Pleasure
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
Lord Byron of Broadway
as Chorus Girl
(1930)
The March of Time
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1930)
The Woman Racket
as Chorus Girl
(1930)
Good News
as Student
(1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
(1929)
It's a Great Life
as Chorus Girl
(1929)
Devil-May-Care
as Chorine (uncredited)
(1929)
The Song Writers' Revue
as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
(1929)
The Doll Shop
as Doll
(1929)
So This Is College
as Student (uncredited)
(1929)
Manhattan Serenade
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
(1917)
The Man Hater
as Phemie's Sister
(1916)
Ramona
as Ramona Phail (age 4)
Crew
(1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance
Choreographer