Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak

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.

Acting

2008

1950

1950

1950

1945

Flame of Barbary Coast
Movie

Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry

1938

Merrily We Live
Movie

Minerva Harlan

1937

Midnight Court
Movie

Carol O'Neill

1935

1935

1935

1935

'G' Men
Movie

Jean Morgan

1935

Sweet Music
Movie

Bonnie Haydon

1935

1934

1934

Housewife
Movie

Nan Reynolds

1934

1934

Roast-Beef and Movies
Movie

Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)

1934

1933

1932

1932

1932

Scarface
Movie

Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte

1932

1931

This Modern Age
Movie

Party Guest (Uncredited)

1931

Stranger in Town
Movie

Marian Crickle

1931

Dance, Fools, Dance
Movie

Chorus Girl (uncredited)

1930

Madam Satan
Movie

Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)

1930

Our Blushing Brides
Movie

One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)

1930

Chasing Rainbows
Movie

Chorus Girl (uncredited)

1929

Manhattan Serenade
Movie

Chorus Girl (uncredited)

1929

1929

The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Movie

Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)

1929

So This Is College
Movie

Student (uncredited)

Crew

1931

Infos

Full Name
Ann Dvorak
Gender
Female
Date of Birth
8/2/1911
Date of Death
12/10/1979
Also Known As

Anna McKim

Ann McKim

Baby Anna Lehr

Anna Lehr