GLORIA GRAHAME BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Gloria Grahame was born on November 28th, 1923 in Los Angeles, California with the birth name Gloria Hallward. Her mother, Jean Grahame was also an actress and an acting teacher. Her father, Bloxam Hallward as an architect and author. She had one sister, Joy Hallward who turned out to also be an actress and married John Mitchum who was the younger brother to Robert Mitchum.
Grahame began getting involved with acting when her mother began teaching her in classes with other students. She then became involved as a stage performer and worked on Broadway for several years before being discovered by Louis B. Mayer with MGM.
Her film debut was in, "Blonde Fever" (1944) starring Philip Dorn, Mary Astor, Felix Bressart, Marshall Thompson and Elisabeth Risdon, followed by her role as Violet in, "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, Ward Bond, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Jimmy Hawkins, Frank Albertson, Sheldon Leonard, H. B. Warner, Lillian Randolph and Thomas Mitchell, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer and Stanley Andrews. Before fulfilling her remaining contract with MGM they agreed to sell the rest of her contract to RKO Studios in 1947, hoping that RKO might be able to make her career more successful.
Her next role on, "Crossfire" starring with Robert Mitchum, Robert Young, Robert Ryan, Paul Kelly, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene, Lex Barker and Sam Levene, earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She was incredibly beautiful and had a sexual way about her that she was becoming highly desired in various films.
Her film alongside Humphrey Bogart, "In a Lonely Place" (1950) also with Frank Lovejoy, Morris Ankrum and Robert Warwick, is still considered one of her best performances, even though financially the film was not a big success. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in MGM's, "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) starring with Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Elaine Stewart, Leo G. Carroll, Paul Stewart and Gilbert Roland.
The early 50's continued to be a success for her with more film roles such as, "Sudden Fear" (1952) co-starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston and Mike Connors, "Human Desire" (1953) with Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford and Edgar Buchanan and "The Big Heat" (1953) also starring Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin, Jeanette Nolan, Willis Bouchey and Carolyn Jones. After her role in a musical film called, "Oklahoma!" (1955) starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gene Nelson, Barbara Lawrence, James Whitmore, Jay C. Flippen and Eddie Albert, her career began to slow down.
Film roles were becoming less available to her so she returned to the stage and also did occasional television appearances such as on ABC's sitcom, "Harrigan and Son" (1961) and "The Outer Limits" (1964).
For her contribution to the Motion Picture Industry, Grahame has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Grahame was known for her turbulent personal life. She had a numerous amount of marriages and also affairs.
Grahame married Stanley Clements on August 29th, 1945 and they were only together for three years before she then married Nicholas Ray on June 1st, 1948 and they remained together until 1952 having one child. They divorced when Ray found Grahame in bed with his thirteen year old son from a previous marriage. Gloria later on had an affair with Ray's son, Anthony Ray whom she ended up marrying for her fourth marriage on May 13th, 1960 till May 4th, 1964 and they had two children together, Anthony jr. and James. However, before marrying Anthony Ray she was briefly married to Cy Howard for 4 years from 1954 to 2957 and again they had one child, a daughter, Marianna Paulette born in 1956.
Gloria Grahame was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1980 but refused to treat it or face the facts that she truly did have cancer. After traveling to England to work on a stage play she collapsed and was nursed back to ok health to be flown back to the United States where she passed away at the age of fifty seven. Gloria Grahame passed away on October 5th, 1981 in New York City from stomach cancer and is interred in Oakwood Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.
Her career was highly successful and her personal life between marriages, affairs and custody battles over children kept her in the tabloids. She will always be remembered as one of the most beautiful woman to dress the big screen.
Filmography
1980-1984 Tales of the Unexpected
1981 The Nesting
1981 Mr. Griffin and Me
1980 Melvin and Howard
1979 Chilly Scenes of Winter
1979 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
1978 II The Dancing Princesses
1977 Kojak
1977 Seventh Avenue
1976 Mansion of the Doomed
1976 Rich Man, Poor Man
1974 Mama's Dirty Girls
1974 The Girl on the Late, Late Show
1973 Tarot
1972 The Loners
1971 Chandler
1971 Black Noon
1971 The Todd Killings
1971 Escape
1971 Blood and Lace
1970 Mannix
1970 The Name of the Game
1970 Daniel Boone
1970 The Merry Wives of Windsor
1969 Then Came Bronson
1967 The Iron Horse
1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance
1964-1965 Burke's Law
1964 The Fugitive
1964 The Outer Limits
1964 Grindl
1962 Sam Benedict
1961 The New Breed
1961 Harrigan and Son
1961 G.E. True Theater
1959 Odds Against Tomorrow
1957 Ride Out for Revenge
1956 The Man Who Never Was
1955 Oklahoma!
1955 Not as a Stranger
1955 The Cobweb
1954 Naked Alibi
1954 Human Desire
1954 The Good Die Young
1953 The Big Heat
1953 Man on a Tightrope
1953 The Glass Wall
1952 The Bad and the Beautiful
1952 Sudden Fear
1952 Macao
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth
1950 In a Lonely Place
1949 Roughshod
1949 A Woman's Secret
1947 Merton of the Movies
1947 Song of the Thin Man
1947 Crossfire
1947 It Happened in Brooklyn
1946 It's a Wonderful Life
1945 Without Love
1944 Blonde Fever
1944 My Heart Tells Me
1944 Polka Dot Polka
