Ann Dvorak
Acting
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.
Movies(87)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
2008
Bogart: The Untold Story
Self (archive footage)
1997
The Secret of Convict Lake
Rachel Schaeffer
1951
I Was an American Spy
Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
1951
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Connie Kepplar
1950
A Life of Her Own
Mary Ashlon
1950
The Return of Jesse James
Sue Ellen Younger
1950
Our Very Own
Gert Lynch
1950
The Walls of Jericho
Belle Connors
1948
The Long Night
Charlene
1947
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
Madeleine Forestier
1947
Out of the Blue
Olive Jensen
1947
The Bachelor's Daughters
Terry Wilson
1946
Abilene Town
Rita
1946
Masquerade in Mexico
Helen Grant
1945
Flame of Barbary Coast
Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
1945
Escape to Danger
Joan Grahame
1943
Squadron Leader X
Barbara Lucas
1943
This Was Paris
Ann Morgan
1942
Girls of the Road
Kay Warren
1940
Cafe Hostess
Jo
1940
Stronger Than Desire
Eva McLain
1939
Blind Alley
Mary
1939
Gangs of New York
Connie Benson
1938
Merrily We Live
Minerva Harlan
1938
Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
Ann Rogers
1937
She's No Lady
Jerry
1937
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
Della Street
1937
Midnight Court
Carol O'Neill
1937
Racing Lady
Ruth Martin
1937
We Who Are About to Die
Connie Stewart
1937
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
1936
Thanks a Million
Sally Mason
1935
Dr. Socrates
Josephine
1935
Bright Lights
Fay Wilson
1935
'G' Men
Jean Morgan
1935
Sweet Music
Bonnie Haydon
1935
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
Herself (uncredited)
1935
Murder in the Clouds
Judy Wagner
1934
Gentlemen Are Born
Susan Merrill
1934
I Sell Anything
Barbara
1934
Side Streets
Marguerite Gilbert
1934
Housewife
Nan Reynolds
1934
Friends of Mr. Sweeney
Miss Beulah Boyd
1934
Midnight Alibi
Joan
1934
Heat Lightning
Myra
1934
Roast-Beef and Movies
Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
1934
Massacre
Lydia
1934
College Coach
Claire Gore
1933
The Way to Love
Madeleine
1933
Hello Pop
Dancer
1933
Three on a Match
Vivian Revere
1932
Crooner
Judith 'Judy' Mason
1932
Love is a Racket
Sally Condon
1932
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
1932
The Crowd Roars
Lee Merrick
1932
Scarface
Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
1932
Sky Devils
Mary Way
1932
The Guardsman
Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
1931
This Modern Age
Party Guest (Uncredited)
1931
Stranger in Town
Marian Crickle
1931
Son of India
Dancer (uncredited)
1931
A Tailor-Made Man
Bit (uncredited)
1931
Politics
Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
1931
Dance, Fools, Dance
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1931
The Devil's Cabaret
Chorine in Black (uncredited)
1930
Madam Satan
Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
1930
The March of Time
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
Good News
Student
1930
Way Out West
Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
1930
Our Blushing Brides
One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
1930
Estrellados
Chorine (uncredited)
1930
Children of Pleasure
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
Free and Easy
Chorine (uncredited)
1930
Lord Byron of Broadway
Chorus Girl
1930
A Lady to Love
1930
The Woman Racket
Chorus Girl
1930
Chasing Rainbows
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
Devil-May-Care
Chorine (uncredited)
1929
Manhattan Serenade
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1929
It's a Great Life
Chorus Girl
1929
The Song Writers' Revue
Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
1929
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
1929
So This Is College
Student (uncredited)
1929
The Doll Shop
Doll
1929
The Man Hater
Phemie's Sister
1917
Ramona
Ramona Phail (age 4)
1916