Anne Nagel
Anne Nagel | |
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![]() Betty Ross Clarke and Anne Nagel in A Bride for Henry (1937) | |
Born | Anna Marie Dolan September 29, 1915 Malden, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | July 6, 1966 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 50)
Other names | Ann Nagel |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1932–1957 |
Spouse(s) | Ross Alexander (1936–1937) (his death) Lt. Col. James H. Keenan (1941–1951) (divorced) |
Anne Nagel (born Anna Marie Dolan; September 29, 1915 – July 6, 1966)[1] was an American actress. She played in adventures, mysteries, and comedies for 25 years. She also appeared in television series in the 1950s. One book described her as "one of Hollywood's true hard-luck gals."[2]
Biography[]
Early years[]
Born in Malden, Massachusetts,[note 1][3] Nagel was enrolled by her parents in Notre Dame Academy, with the expectation she would become a nun.[2] However, part-time work in her teens as a photographer's model[citation needed] and membership in the Shubert Theatre company turned her away from religious life.[2] Meantime Nagel's mother had divorced and remarried. When Nagel's new stepfather, Curtis Nagel, a Technicolor expert, was hired by Tiffany Pictures in Hollywood, he moved the family to California, where he employed his stepdaughter in several experimental Technicolor shorts he had been asked to direct.
Career[]
Placed under contract by Warner Brothers in 1932, Nagel secured a bit part as a ballet girl in Hypnotized, her "first documented feature credit".[2] She was one of 14 young women "launched on the trail of film stardom" August 6, 1935, when they each received a six-month contract with 20th Century Fox after spending 18 months in the company's training school. The contracts included a studio option for renewal for as long as seven years.[4] Nagel spent the next few years making uncredited appearances as a dancer or chorus girl. In 1936, she appeared in Here Comes Carter with Ross Alexander. A reviewer wrote "she was just one of those girls who has learned to croon for the microphone, and let the rest of the world go hang." Her early roles were in Footloose Heiress, Three Legionnaires, Guns of the Pecos, Torchy Blane, the Adventurous Blonde (all from 1937). She was in Romance Road (1938), Mystery House (1938), Unexpected Father (1939), and Legion of Lost Flyers (1939).
In 1940, she appeared with W.C. Fields and Mae West in My Little Chickadee. Other feature movies from 1940 in which she had parts are Black Friday, Hot Steel, and Diamond Frontiers. She was often a heroine in horror films. In the late 1940s, she made The Spirit of West Point (1947). The film starred Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Nagel later worked on television in episodes of The Range Rider (1951) and Circus Boy (1957).
On radio, Nagle was a vocalist on the game show Scramby Amby.[5] She had the role of Miss Case in The Green Hornet radio series, [6] a role she reprised for both of the filmed serials The Green Hornet and The Green Hornet Strikes Again!.
Personal life and death[]
On September 17, 1936, Nagel married actor Ross Alexander;[7] who committed suicide in 1937.[note 2][2] Nagel then wed Air Force Lt. Col. James H. Keenan on December 4, 1941.[8] That marriage ended in divorce on May 22, 1951.[9]
In December 1947, Nagel filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against Hollywood physician and surgeon Franklyn Thorpe (former husband of actress Mary Astor). In the suit, Nagel demanded $350,000 in damages and alleged that, while performing an appendectomy on her in 1936, Thorpe had removed other organs without her knowledge or consent, rendering her infertile. [10] [2]:21 Nagel claimed she was unaware of her infertility until January 1947, but Thorpe countered that she "well aware of the nature of the surgery."[2]:21
Nagel died at Sunray North Convalescent Hospital in Hollywood, California in 1966, aged 50, following surgery for liver cancer. She is buried, with no marker, in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[2]:22–23
Selected filmography[]
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
1933 | College Humor | Student | Uncredited |
1934 | Stand Up and Cheer! | Dancer | Uncredited |
1935 | George White's 1935 Scandals | Chorine | Uncredited |
1936 | Bullets or Ballots | Bank secretary | Uncredited |
1937 | Hoosier Schoolboy | Mary Evans | Top billing with Mickey Rooney |
1937 | A Bride for Henry | Sheila Curtis | Starring opposite Warren Hull |
1938 | Mystery House | Gwen Kingery | |
1938 | Under the Big Top | Penelope (AKA Penny) | |
1939 | Legion of Lost Flyers | Paula | |
1940 | The Green Hornet | Lenore "Casey" Case | 13-chapter serial |
1940 | Black Friday | Sunny Rogers | |
1940 | The Invisible Woman | Jean | |
1940 | Diamond Frontier | Jeanne Kruger | |
1941 | The Green Hornet Strikes Again! | Lenore "Casey" Case | |
1941 | Man Made Monster | June Lawrence | |
1941 | Road Agent | Lola | |
1941 | Never Give a Sucker an Even Break | Madame Gorgeous | |
1941 | Mutiny in the Arctic | Gloria Adams | |
1941 | Meet the Chump | Miss Burke | |
1942 | The Dawn Express | Nancy Fielding | |
1942 | The Mad Doctor of Market Street | Mrs. William Saunders | |
1942 | The Mad Monster | Lenora Cameron | |
1942 | The Secret Code | Jean Ashley | |
1942 | Stagecoach Buckaroo | Nina Kincaid | |
1942 | Don Winslow of the Navy | Misty Gaye | |
1942 | Sealed Lips | Mary Morton | |
1943 | Women in Bondage | Deputy District Director | Alternative title: Hitler's Women |
1946 | The Trap | Maria | |
1946 | Traffic in Crime | Ann Marlowe | |
1946 | Murder in the Music Hall | Attendant at Mission | |
1947 | Blondie's Holiday | Bea Mason (Class of '32) | Credited as Ann Nagel |
1947 | The Spirit of West Point | Mrs. Blaik | |
1948 | An Innocent Affair | Gladys - Receptionist | |
1948 | One Touch of Venus | Reporter | Uncredited |
1949 | The Stratton Story | Mrs. Piet | Uncredited |
1950 | Armored Car Robbery | Mrs. Marsha Phillips | Uncredited |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1951 | The Range Rider | Aunt Ginny | 2 episodes |
1957 | Circus Boy | Louisa Cody | 1 episode |
Notes[]
- ^ An Associated Press story about Nagel's filing papers to marry Keenan states "The actress...listed her maiden name as Anna Marie Donan, born in Malden, a Boston suburb..."
- ^ Alexander "... went into his Van Nuys barn and reportedly fired a rifle into his mouth as his bride of four months sat quietly knitting in the house."
References[]
- ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 170. ISBN 9780786409839. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Mank, Gregory William (2005). Women in Horror Films, 1940s. McFarland. pp. 7–24. ISBN 9781476609553. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- ^ "Film Notables in Weddings". The Indiana Gazette. Pennsylvania, Indiana. Associated Press. December 5, 1941. p. 11.
- ^ "The Hollywood Roundup". The Times. Indiana, Hammond. United Press. August 6, 1935. p. 35. Retrieved May 20, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 296–297. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
- ^ Cox, Jim (2010). Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age. McFarland. p. 123. ISBN 9781476612270. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ "Alexander Ended Life As Film Fame Neared". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. Associated Press. January 4, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved June 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Actress Anne Nagel, Army Flyer Married". Eau Claire Leader. Wisconsin, Eau Claire. United Press. December 5, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved June 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Divorces". Billboard. June 2, 1951. p. 39. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ "Actress Starts $350,000 Suit".The Milwaukee Sentinel, December 22, 1947. Page 2
- ' 'Appleton, Wisconsin Post Crescent, "Anne Nagel's Death Revives Old Mystery", Monday, August 29, 1966, Page A11.
- Los Angeles Times, "Final Rites Set for Actress Anne Nagel", Page B10.
- The New York Times, "Anne Nagel Dies; Movie Actress, 50", July 8, 1966, Page 26.
- Reno, Nevada State Journal, "Movie Actor Kills Self", January 3, 1937, Page 1.
- , "https://www.picsofcelebrities.com/celebrity/anne-nagel/pictures/images-of-anne-nagel.html"
External links[]
- 1915 births
- 1966 deaths
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Deaths from liver cancer
- Actresses from Boston
- Actresses from Los Angeles
- 20th-century American actresses