The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether.
| Name |
Birthname |
Birthdate |
Birthplace |
Died and Age |
Place of Death |
Active |
Spouses |
Leota
Lane |
Leota B.
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
|
1931 - 1931 |
Mischel D. Picard
(m.1928)
Edward Joseph Pitts
(m.1941)
Jerome Day |
Lola
Lane |
Dorothy
Mullican |
| Macy, Indiana Macy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
|
| Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
|
1929 - 1946 |
Henry Clay Dunham
(div.)
Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
(1931-1933)
Alexander Hall
(1934-1936)
Roland West
(1940-1952)
Robert Hanlon
(1955-1981) |
Rosemary
Lane |
Rosemary
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
|
1937 - 1945 |
Bud Westmore
(1941-1954) |
Priscilla
Lane |
Priscilla
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
|
1937 - 1948 |
Oren Haglund
(1939-1939)
Joseph A. Howard
(1942-1976) |
Early life
The four sisters were from a family of five.
Leotabel (Leota) (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963),
Dorothy (Lola) (May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981),
Rosemary (April 4, 1914 – November 25, 1974), and
Priscilla (June 12, 1915 – April 4, 1995), were born to Dr. Lorenzo A. Mullican and his wife, Cora Bell Hicks. Their sister, Martha (1905-19??) did not enter show business. The first three children had been born in
Macy, IndianaMacy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
, but the family moved in 1907 to
Indianola, IowaIndianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
, a small college town south of
Des MoinesDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. Here Dr. Mullican had a dental practice. The Mullicans owned a large house with 22 rooms, some of which they rented out to students attending nearby Simpson College.
Before marrying, Cora Mullican had been a reporter with a local newspaper in Macy, and she had originally harbored acting ambitions. In this, she was frustrated by the strict religious beliefs of her
MethodistMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to Reverend John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Church. His younger brother...
parents who frowned on any form of public entertainment.
Cora encouraged her daughters to sing and play musical instruments. All the girls were fond of music, and at one time or another studied music in night classes at Simpson College in Indianola. Dorothy was already playing piano at age twelve for a silent screen movie house.
Career beginnings
Leota was the first to leave home to pursue a musical career in
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
in the mid-1920s. In 1928 Dorothy followed Leota to New York. The girls shared an apartment and made the theatrical rounds. They eventually obtained parts in a
Gus EdwardsGus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...
show,
Greenwich Village Follies. It was Edwards who changed their names to Lane, and consequently Dorothy became Lola Lane. Martha, meanwhile, eloped with a college professor and moved to Des Moines. She had no interest in show business. She had a child, later divorced, and became a medical secretary.
Leota and Lola both made their
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
debuts in the late twenties, Lola in 1928, as Sally Moss in
The War Song, which opened on Broadway on the twenty-fourth of August, 1928, at the
Nederlander TheatreDavid T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
(then known as the National Theatre) and Leota in 1929 as Contrary Mary in
Babes in ToylandBabes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough , which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza...
, which opened on December 23, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre.
The War Song closed four months into its run but Lola soon went to Hollywood where she made her debut starring as Alice Woods alongside
Paul PagePaul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who was the lead announcer for ABC Sports' coverage of CART and the IRL from 1988 to 2004. He currently is the lead announcer for NHRA and, formerly, for NASCAR.-Early life and career:...
in the drama
Speakeasy (1929). She was soon teamed with Page again in the film
The Girl from Havana (1929) as Joan Anders. Meanwhile
Babes in Toyland closed after only thirty-two performances. Leota then followed her sister to Hollywood where she made her only screen appearance in a comedy short directed by Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle called
Three Hollywood Girls (1931). She soon returned to New York. Dr. Mullican strenuously objected to his younger daughters following theatrical careers, but Cora was determined.
Rosemary and Priscilla travelled to Des Moines every weekend to study dancing with Rose Lorenz. The girls made their first professional appearance September 30, 1930, at Des Moines' Paramount Theater. Rosemary, then 17, and Priscilla, 15, performed on stage as part of the entertainment accompanying the release of Lola's Hollywood movie,
Good News.
Rosemary, a member of the National Honor Society, graduated from Indianola High in 1931 and attended Simpson College for a while, playing on the freshman basketball team.
After graduating from high school, Priscilla was permitted to travel to New York to visit Leota who was then appearing in a musical revue in Manhattan. Priscilla decided to enroll at the nearby Fagen School of Dramatics and Leota paid the fee. At this time talent agent Al Altman saw Priscilla performing in one of Fagen's school plays and invited her to screentest for MGM. She was 16 years old.
Priscilla wrote to a friend in Indianola, "Leota accompanied me to a sort of theater in a New York skyscraper. Others were there being made up. One was a strange looking girl with her hair slicked back in a sort of a bun. Her name is said to be
Catherine [sic] HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
. Not very pretty, I thought, but Mr. Altman said she has something.
Margaret SullavanMargaret Brooke Sullavan . Margaret Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. She was especially known for her effortless acting and her distinctive throaty voice. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M...
, the Broadway actress, was there too!" A follow-up letter said that her test had proven unsuitable. Neither Hepburn nor Sullavan were approved, and neither received a contract from MGM at the time.
In the meantime, Cora had left her husband and in 1932, accompanied by Rosemary, arrived in New York. Cora immediately went to work pushing her two young daughters into attending auditions for various prospective Broadway productions, without success. It was while the girls were trying out numbers at a music publishing office that
Fred WaringFredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
, an orchestra leader, heard them harmonizing. He found them attractive and individually talented. In early 1933 with Cora's approval they were signed to a contract with Waring. Cora acted as chaperone to Rosemary and Priscilla who at this time adopted the name Lane.
Fred Waring not only toured with his band, known as "The Pennsylvanians", but had a weekly radio show. Priscilla quickly became known as the comedienne of the group. Rosemary sang the ballads while Priscilla performed the swing numbers and wisecracked with Waring and various guests. Dr. Mullican instituted divorce proceedings against his wife on the grounds of desertion, and the divorce was granted in 1933.
Rosemary and Priscilla remained with Fred Waring for almost five years. In 1937, Waring was engaged by
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
in Hollywood to appear with his entire band in Varsity Show, a musical starring Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. Both Rosemary and Priscilla were tested and awarded feature roles in the film. Rosemary shared the romantic passages with Powell, while Priscilla was a high-spirited college girl.
Although Lola had been in Hollywood since 1929, she had twice retired from the screen for marriage. Now she had made a comeback. She was second lead to Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
in the melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
, Marked WomanMarked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
, and won critical acclaim. Lola played the part of Gaby, a tough clip joint "hostess". Warners awarded her a contract in 1937 and her looks suited the hard-edged roles she found at Warners.
Warner's purchased Priscilla and Rosemary's contract from Fred Waring and signed them to seven-year pacts. Priscilla's first film after Varsity Show was Men are Such Fools, in which she was starred opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
. This was followed by Love Honor and Behave, another light romantic comedy again with Morris and Cowboy From Brooklyn again teaming with Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. The publicity department at the studio suggested that Priscilla and Morris be seen together around town; they liked each other and did date for a period; however, Priscilla later said it was never serious on either side. Rosemary's first film after Varsity Show was the musical Hollywood Hotel, in which she co-starred with sister Lola and former co-star Dick Powell, before starring in Gold Diggers in ParisGold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
, opposite Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in Brother RatBrother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
, which had been a very successful Broadway play. Again she played opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
, and among the cast were such newcomers as Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, Jane WymanJane Wyman was an American character actress of stage, film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, Jane BryanJane Bryan was an American actress who was being prepared by the Warner Bros. studio to become one of their leading ladies until she married a drugstore magnate in 1940 and retired....
, and Eddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , better known as Eddie Albert, was an American actor, gardener, humanitarian, activist and World War II veteran...
. The film, when released in October 1938, was a big success for all the young players.
At this time of professional success, the sisters were informed that Dr. Mullican had died in Iowa.
The Lane Sisters
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
had purchased a story by Fannie HurstFannie Hurst was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust , Lummox , A President is Born , Back Street , and Imitation of Life .-Biography:Hurst was born in Hamilton, Ohio, the only surviving child of a...
titled Sister Act and planned to star Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
in the film, along with four actresses. Flynn, however, was withdrawn from the project to star in The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
. The script for Sister Act was then rewritten to place the emphasis on the four girls. Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
was to be the star, but she refused the role. Lola, always enterprising, approached Jack WarnerJack Leonard "J.L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, Canada, was the president and driving force behind the successful development of Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
with the suggestion she and her sisters star in the film. Warner agreed, and Leota was summoned from New York to test for the part of Emma, but proved unsuitable. The studio substituted Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
, a young contractee as the fourth daughter. The actress would be tagged for the rest of her career as the fourth Lane. When the film, now titled Four DaughtersFour Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
, was released on September 24, 1938, it proved to be a big hit. It was followed by two sequels, Four Wives in 1939 and Four Mothers in 1941, again starring the Lanes and Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
. Leota played Emma in the Lux Radio version of the film heard on the evening of December 18, 1939.
Priscilla's next assignment was Yes, My Darling DaughterYes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
, adapted from a successful play. The story concerned a girl, the daughter of a feminist and one time suffragette, who decides to spend a weekend alone with her fiancee, played by Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
. The premise of the film in which an unmarried couple spent a weekend together unchaperoned was roundly criticized and was banned in some parts of the United States. The publicity, however, piqued public curiosity, and the film became a box office hit. Priscilla received praise for her vivacious performance, as did Lynn playing the boy friend. The supporting cast included Roland Young-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne College, Dorset, and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in 1908, and in 1912 he made his...
, Fay BainterFay Okell Bainter was an American actress. She is the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess and sister-in-law to actress Grace Burgess.-Early life:...
, May RobsonMay Robson was an actress and playwright. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th century, Robson is best known today for the dozens of 1930s motion pictures she appeared in when she was well into her seventies, usually playing cross old ladies with hearts of gold.-History:Born Mary...
, Genevieve TobinGenevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
, and Ian HunterIan Hunter is the name of:* Ian Hunter , English singer-songwriter, frontman of Mott the Hoople* Ian Hunter , South African/British actor* Ian Hunter , cricketer with Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
.
Upon completion of this film Warners sent Priscilla, Rosemary, Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
, and Ann Sheridan-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas, she was a college student when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a Paramount film...
among others on a personal appearance tour in conjunction with the release of Flynn's first western Dodge CityDodge City is a Technicolor western movie starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Directed by Hungarian-turned-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Curtiz and based on a story by Robert Buckner, it was filmed in early Technicolor...
. Priscilla enjoyed the experience and the chance to travel through the country.
Returning to Hollywood, another story was prepared to feature the four daughters, Daughters CourageousDaughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
, which co-starred John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
who had also co-starred in both Four Daughters and Four Wives. Although the story was different, it also covered the lives and loves of four sisters, and proved to be another hit with the public.
Priscilla was again cast with John Garfield in Dust Be My DestinyDust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
, a melodrama of prison life. She played the sympathetic stepdaughter of a brutal prison foreman, played by Stanley RidgesStanley Ridges was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts...
. She falls in love with convict Garfield. The original ending of the film had the young lovers dying as fugitives from justice. Audience reaction at previews was so negative that the studio withdrew the film and reshot a happy ending. Variety wrote, "She is completely sincere throughout with several dramatic scenes rising far above the material provided."
Rosemary Lane was also teamed with Garfield in Blackwell's Island (1939), however this was not a success.
Priscilla attained full co-starring status in her next film, The Roaring Twenties and was billed above the title along with James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. A major box office hit, Priscilla was shown to advantage as a night club singer, who marries lawyer Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
, but is lusted after by gangster Cagney. She sang "It Had to Be You", "Melancholy Baby", and "I’m Just Wild About Harry".
At this point, Priscilla was earning $750 a week, a fantastic salary for the Depression era, but puny compared to the salaries of other studio stars. She demanded an increase. She also felt the plot of her next movie, Money and the Woman was sordid and refused to report for work. Her agent explained, "The role is not one she should be asked to do." She was replaced by Brenda MarshallBrenda Marshall was an American film actress.Born Ardis Ankerson Gaines in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent....
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in My Love Came Back, a romantic story involving a female violinist. Again, Priscilla refused the part, so a furious Jack Warner suspended her. Olivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is an actress. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland is one of the last surviving female stars from 1930s Hollywood. She is also the last living lead from Gone with the Wind....
, equally reluctant to act in the film, eventually did.
Later careers and eventual retirement
Lola continued her career into the 1940s with her tough girl persona in dramas such as Convicted Woman (1940), Gangs Of Chicago (1940), Mystery Ship (1941), Miss V From Moscow (1942) and Lost Canyon (1942), although she desperately wanted to break away from her type-casting . She retired at the age of forty in 1946. Her last three films—Why Girls Leave Home (1945) as Irene Mitchell, Deadline at Dawn (1946) as Edna Bartelli and They Made Me A Killer (1946) as Betty Ford—had her in supporting roles.
Rosemary had good reviews for 1940's The Boys from Syracuse, based on Rogers and Hart's Broadway hit of 1938. The next year she made an unusual move for a film actress of her era by becoming a Broadway star in the musical Best Foot ForwardBest Foot Forward is a 1943 American film adapted from the 1941 Broadway musical comedy of the same title. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler, Chill Wills, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, and Nancy Walker.-Plot:The...
, as Gale Joy, which opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore TheatreThe Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and constructed by the Shuberts, it opened on December 20 1928 with The Kingdom of God, a play selected by leading lady Ethel Barrymore...
on October 1, 1941. It closed after 326 performances on the fourth of July 1942. However she lost the subsequent movie role to Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
. Good movie roles dwindled and Rosemary closed out her film career in 1945 with Sing Me a Song of Texas, as nightclub singer Laurie Lang, the niece of a wealthy Texas rancher. She began a career selling real estate from an office in Pacific PalisadesPacific Palisades is a district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located between Brentwood to the east, Malibu to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The area currently has about 27,000 residents...
.
After winning her raise, Priscilla returned to work, but the films assigned to her were no better than those she had turned down. Brother Rat and a Baby was an inferior sequel and Three Cheers For the Irish gave her little to do.
The British Picturegoer, always a supporter of the Lane Sisters, stated that all was not right with Priscilla Lane. In its June 15, 1940 issue, they wondered why "Priscilla was still knocking at the door of major stardom". They felt Warner Bros. was casting her as stooge to such actors as John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
and James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. They went on to say Priscilla had great charm and while not a really great dramatic actress, deserved much larger and more important roles than she was getting. The same magazine, two years later on August 22, 1942, referred to their 1940 article and once again expressed disappointment at Warners' treatment of the star. They were unaware that she had already left the studio.
On April 28, 1941, she was heard on Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series [NBC Blue Network ; CBS ; NBC ] which first adapted Broadway stage works, and then films to hour-long radio programs performed live before studio audiences...
with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
and Gail PatrickGail Patrick was an American film actress.Born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, she appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's extremely formidable rival; some of these roles include the second wife in My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's...
in Wife, Husband and Friend. At Warner Bros. she appeared opposite Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
in a light hearted comedy, Million Dollar Baby and as a night club singer in Blues in the Night.
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
requested her for the lead opposite Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was a British-American actor...
in Arsenic and Old LaceArsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
. The hit comedy film was completed in early 1942, but was not released until 1944, held up by contractual agreement not to distribute the film until the play's long Broadway run was over. It was Priscilla's last Warner film. Her contract was terminated by mutual agreement after five years with the studio.
She freelanced next, signing a one-picture deal with Universal StudiosUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
where she starred with Robert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor....
in Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's SaboteurSaboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942). The director did not want either Cummings or Priscilla in the film. In Priscilla's case, Hitchcock felt she was too much the girl next door. Universal insisted that they play the leads, and when the film was released, Priscilla's acting was praised while some criticism was focused on Hitchcock for reworking so much from his earlier films into this wartime spy drama.
Priscilla had commitments for two more films. The first was Silver Queens for producer Harry Sherman in which she was co-starred with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
. She played the owner of a gambling house in 1870s San Francisco. The other film was a Jack BennyJack Benny , born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
comedy, The Meanest Man in the World, released in January 1943. Priscilla then retired from films. For the duration of the war, she followed her husband across the country as he moved from one military base to another. She was generous with her talents and often performed at camp shows.
While living in Van NuysVan Nuys is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.-Geography:Van Nuys is located at .-Description:Lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on February 22, 1911...
, Priscilla was offered and accepted the leading role in Fun on a Weekend for producer–director Andrew StoneAndrew L. Stone was an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known for his b-movies, Stone frequently collaborated with his wife, editor and producer Virginia Lively Stone...
, co-starring Eddie BrackenEdward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Career:Born in Astoria, New York, Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation...
. When the film was released in 1947, Variety opined, "Miss Lane, who's been absent from films for some time, gives a good enough performance which should ensure her work in more pictures." However, Priscilla returned to domestic life. Once again she and her husband moved, this time to Studio CityStudio City is a seven-square-mile district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is bounded roughly by Ethel Avenue to the west, Highway 101 to the north and east, and Mulholland Drive and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south.-Origin of...
.
In 1948 Priscilla accepted the offer of the lead role opposite Lawrence TierneyLawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
in a film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, Bodyguard, starring as Doris Brewster. During an interview with a Hollywood correspondent, she stated, "I didn't realize how much I miss filming until I came back. I love this work, and I hope to make many, many more pictures."
Unfortunately Bodyguard would be her last picture. An expected contract with RKO Studios did not come to pass. With the advent of television, and the Supreme Court's anti-trust rulingUnited States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 was a landmark United States Supreme Court anti-trust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusivity rights on which theatres would...
against the studios, the whole studio system was collapsing, and there was a drastic cutback in the number of players under contract.
In January 1951, Cora Mullican died at the San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in Southern California, United States. More than half of the city of Los Angeles' land area lies within the San Fernando Valley...
home her daughters had bought for her years earlier.
Priscilla returned to show business briefly in 1958 with her own show on a local television station broadcasting from Boston. Titled The Priscilla Lane Show, she chatted and interviewed celebrities visiting the area. She enjoyed the television experience, but family demands proved too much, and she gave up after a year.
Personal lives
Leota was married once; to Jerome Day. The pair had no children.
Lola was married five times, but bore no children. She was first married to Henry Clay Dunham. After this brief marriage she wed actor Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
on the fifteenth of September 1931. They subsequently divorced on the third of January 1933. She then married director Alexander Hall in 1934. They divorced on the fourteenth of December 1936.
She then married Roland WestRoland West was a Hollywood director known for his innovative film noir movies of the 1920s and early 1930s.-Biography:...
in 1940. He was a producer, director and screenwriter, but was mostly famous for being a suspect in the 1935 death of his girlfriend, actress Thelma ToddThelma Todd was an American actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s film. Appearing in over 40 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring...
. Neighbors heard them quarreling the night before she was found in her garage, overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning. Though a suspect, he was never arrested. The pair remained married until his death on the thirty-first of March 1952 from heart disease. On his deathbed he allegedly confessed murdering Thelma Todd, to good friend and actor Chester MorrisJohn Chester Brooks Morris was an American actor, perhaps most famous for his role in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s...
. She married Robert Hanlon three years later in 1955, the pair were married till her death twenty-six years later. Hanlon later passed on in 1988.
Rosemary was married just once. On December 28, 1941, at the home of a Flushing, New York, minister, Lane married handsome George H. "Bud" Westmore, wizard Hollywood makeup artist who previously had had a stormy three-month marriage to comic actress Martha RayeMartha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television.-Early life:...
. The Lane-Westmore marriage lasted 13 years and produced a daughter, Bridget. But Lane sued Westmore for separate maintenance in November 1952, saying he walked out on her four months earlier, on July 11. Frank Westmore, in his book "The Westmores of Hollywood" (1976), said Lane and Westmore "had been very happy, or so everyone thought, including Rosemary". The couple went through a messy divorce in 1954.
Priscilla dated assistant director and screenwriter Oren Haglund. Impulsively she eloped with Haglund to Yuma, ArizonaYuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423....
on January 14, 1939, but left him the following day. The marriage was soon annulled. In November 1941, Priscilla became engaged to publisher John Barry, whom she had first met in 1939. She wrote in the November issue of PhotoplayPhotoplay was one of the first film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story....
how she looked forward to their marriage. She also stated she would continue her career.
In early 1942, the engagement to Barry ended after she met Joseph Howard, a young Air ForceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
lieutenant, at a dude ranch in the Mojave DesertThe Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. A native of Lawrence, MassachusettsLawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 72,043. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are the county...
, he had joined the Army Air CorpsThe United States Army Air Corps was the predecessor of the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1926-41, which in turn was the forerunner of today's U.S. Air Force , established in 1947...
straight from college in 1939. He was scouting the area for likely sites for air bases and had taken a short vacation. The couple were married on May 22, 1942, by a justice of the peace in Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
at the home of the executive officer of an Army Air Force gunnery school.
At the war's end in 1945, Priscilla and Joe were living in New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
and she was pregnant with their first child. Their son, Joseph Lawrence, was born on December 31, 1945. In 1946 after Joe's discharge from the service, the couple moved back to California, where they resided in Victorville. Joe, who had a degree in engineering, became a building contractor. The family moved to Van Nuys in December 1945. Afterwards Joe and Priscilla moved to Studio City. Priscilla became pregnant again in 1949. On April 17, 1950, daughter Hannah was born. By June 1951 the boom in the construction industry in New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
had Priscilla and Joe moving back to his native Massachusetts. Joe left the final decision up to Priscilla, who later declared she never regretted her choice. She fell in love with New England, and the couple settled with their children in Andover, MassachusettsAndover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
. Priscilla was busy with her family. She gave birth to a second daughter, Judith, on August 22, 1953. The Howard's fourth and youngest child, James, was born December 4, 1955.
Outside her family, Priscilla was a busy woman. She was devoutly religious, having converted to Roman Catholicism, as had her elder sister Lola. The family attended church regularly, and she was involved with Catholic charities. She enjoyed tending her garden, growing flowers and vegetables. She ran a girl scout troop and volunteered at local hospitals. She had, however, become less outgoing as far as public life was concerned. She refused all offers of work, most interviews and did not answer fan mail.
In July 1972 Joe Howard retired from business, and he and Priscilla moved to their summer home at 7 Howards Grove in Derry, New HampshireDerry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,021 at the 2000 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the fourth most-populous community in New Hampshire....
. Joe Howard died suddenly on May 18, 1976, aged 60. He was still in the Air Force Reserve, which he had joined after his discharge from active duty in 1946. Heart broken, Priscilla remained in Derry. She said, more than a year later in 1977, "I'm still trying to pull myself together after Joe's death." She busied herself with volunteer work and her garden.
Deaths
- Leota died following open-heart surgery on July 25, 1963 in Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, aged 59.
- Lola died of arterial disease on June 22, 1981 in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
, aged 75.
- Rosemary had just turned sixty and was living quietly in retirement in Pacific Palisades when she died on November 25, 1974, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. The cause was a cerebral blood clot, stemming from diabetes and chronic pulmonary obstruction. Services were held at Santa Monica, and for unknown reasons, Rosemary was buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.
- Priscilla was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which is the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells...
in 1994. She moved to a nursing home, Wingate, in Andover, near her son Joe and his family. She died there at 7:30 a.m. on April 4, 1995 from lung cancer and chronic heart failure, aged 79. A funeral mass was celebrated at St. Matthew's church in Windham, New HampshireWindham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 10,709 at the 2000 census.- History :Named after Sir Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, who was a member of Parliament from 1734 to 1750 and Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1761 to...
and burial followed at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery, in Arlington County, Virginia is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington. The...
. Her husband had served his country for nearly forty years and was buried there with full military honors. Priscilla was laid to rest beside him.
Cultural references
In episode 9 of the "Topsy Turvy World" sequence of The Bullwinkle ShowThe Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate American television animated series: Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show . Rocky & Bullwinkle enjoyed great popularity during the 1960s. Much of this success was a result of it being targeted towards both children and...
, Boris BadenovBoris Badenov is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
gives Natasha FataleNatasha Fatale is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
three guesses as to who lives at the North Pole. She uses all three guesses in one reply, "Santa Claus, Judge Crater, and the Lane Sisters."
Lois LaneLois Joanne Lane-Kent is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, Superman's girlfriend, was named after Lola Lane, who played "Torchy Blane" a fictional reporter who inspired Lois' character, in one of the 1930s films.
The address of host Lionel Twain (played by Truman CapoteTruman Garcia Capote , born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel"...
) in Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
's Murder By DeathMurder by Death is a comedy movie with a star-studded cast, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of the traditional country-house whodunit, familiar to mystery fiction fans from classics such as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, a form also parodied for...
is shown on the invitations in the beginning of the movie as "22 Lola Lane".
Lola Lane
- They Made Me a Killer
They Made Me a Killer is a 1946 B-movie. The film was made by Pine-Thomas, the B-movie unit of Paramount Pictures.- Plot :Tom Durling quits his job and drives across country after his brother is killed in an accident. He gives an attractive girl a ride and he's forced at gun point to be the...
(1946) .... Betty Ford
- Deadline at Dawn
Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novella by Cornell Woolrich . The RKO Radio Picture was the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate,...
(1946) .... Edna Bartelli
- Why Girls Leave Home (1945) .... Irene Mitchell
- Steppin' in Society (1945) .... The Duchess
- Identity Unknown (1945) .... Wanda
- Buckskin Frontier (1943) .... Rita Molyneaux
- Lost Canyon (1942) .... Laura Clark
- Miss V from Moscow (1942) .... Vera Marova, posing as Greta Hiller
- Mystery Ship (1941) .... Patricia Marshall
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
- Girls of the Road (1940) .... Elly
- Gangs of Chicago (1940) .... June Whitaker
- Zanzibar (1940) .... Jan Browning
- Convicted Woman (1940) .... Hazel Wren
- Four Wives (1939) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Linda Masters
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Thea Lemp
- Mr. Chump (1938) .... Jane Mason
- When Were You Born (1938) .... Nita Kenton (Cancer)
- Torchy Blane in Panama (1938) .... Torchy Blane
- Hollywood Hotel
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American film, directed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Ted Healy. Ronald Reagan and Benny Goodman also appear.- Production :...
(1937) .... Mona Marshall
- The Sheik Steps Out (1937) .... Phyllis 'Flip' Murdock
- Marked Woman
Marked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
(1937) .... Dorothy 'Gabby' Marvin
- In Paris, A.W.O.L. (1936) .... Lola
- His Night Out (1935) .... Lola
- Death from a Distance
- Cast :*Russell Hopton*Lola Lane*George F. Marion*Lee Kohlmar*John St. Polis*Lew Kelly*E.H. Calvert*Wheeler Oakman*Robert Frazer*Cornelius Keefe*John Davidson*John Dilson...
(1935) .... Kay Palmer
- Alias Mary Dow (1935) .... Minna
- Murder on a Honeymoon
Murder on a Honeymoon is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver and James Gleason. This was the third and last time Oliver portrayed astute schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers, who in this film witnesses the death of an airplane passenger...
(1935) .... Phyllis La Font
- Burn 'Em Up Barnes
Burn 'Em Up Barnes is a Mascot movie serial. It was a loose remake of the 1921 film of the same name.-Cast:*Jack Mulhall as Burn-'em-Up Barnes, racing driver nicknamed the "King of the Dirt Track" and shortly the co-owner of the Temple Barnes Transportation school bus company*Frankie Darro as...
(1934) .... Marjorie Temple
- Ticket to a Crime (1934) .... Peggy Cummings
- Port of Lost Dreams (1934) .... Molly Deshon/Molly Clark Christensen
- The Woman Condemned (1934) .... Jane Merrick
- Public Stenographer (1934) .... Ann McNair
- The Woman Who Dared (1933) .... Kay Wilson
- Ex-Bad Boy (1931) .... Letta Lardo
- Hell Bound (1931) .... Platinum Reed
- The Costello Case (1930) .... Mollie
- Good News
Good News is the title of two American MGM musical films based on the 1927 stage production of the same name.The first, released in 1930, was directed by Nick Grinde. The cast included Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards and Penny Singleton. The film was shot in black-and-white, although the finale was in...
(1930) .... Patricia Bingham
- The Big Fight (1930) .... Shirly
- Let's Go Places (1930) .... Marjorie Lorraine
- The Girl from Havana (1929) .... Joan Anders
- Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, aka Apollo! Apollo! , Follie del giorno Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 is a 1929 black and white American musical film.-Cast:...
(1929) .... Lila Beaumont
- Speakeasy
Speakeasy was a 1929 sports film drama directed by Benjamin Stoloff adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Edwin J. Burke. Lola Lane and Paul Page played the lead roles and the film also starred John Wayne who had a minor role in the film at age 22....
(1929) .... Alice Woods
Rosemary Lane
- Sing Me a Song of Texas (1945) .... Laurie Lang
- Trocadero (1944) .... Judy
- Harvest Melody (1943) .... Gilda Parker
- All by Myself
"All by Myself" is a power ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975.The verse borrows very heavily from the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18, which Carmen believed was in the public domain...
(1943) .... Val Stevenson
- Chatterbox
- In music :* "Chatterbox", a song by composer Jerome Brainin for the musical film That’s Right You’re Wrong * Chatterbox , a 1990 album by Toadies frontman Todd Lewis and guitarist Darrel Herbert...
(1943) .... Carol Forrest
- Time Out for Rhythm
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallee, Ann Miller and The Three Stooges.-Plot:Harvard educated Danny Collins and street-wise Mike Armstrong team up after a chance meeting to form the most successful talent agency in New York City...
(1941) .... Frances Lewis
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Kay Lemp Forrest
- Always a Bride (1940) .... Alice Bond
- The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a 1940 musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, based on the play The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction by Jack Otterson...
(1940) .... Phyllis
- Ladies Must Live (1940) .... Pat Halliday
- An Angel from Texas (1940) .... Lydia Weston
- Four Wives (1939) .... Kay Lemp
- The Return of Doctor X
The Return of Doctor X is a horror film starring Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, and Humphrey Bogart as the title character. It was based on the short story "The Doctor's Secret" by William J. Makin. Despite supposedly being a sequel to Doctor X, the films are unrelated.-Plot:Dr...
(1939) .... Joan Vance
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Tinka Masters
- The Oklahoma Kid
The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The movie was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his black-clad and viciously villainous nemesis...
(1939) .... Jane Hardwick
- Blackwell's Island (1939) .... Mary 'Sunny' Walsh
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Kay Lemp
- Gold Diggers in Paris
Gold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
(1938) .... Kay Morrow
- Hollywood Hotel
The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hostelry and landmark located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orchid Avenues in Hollywood, California, USA.-History:...
(1937) .... Virginia Stanton
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Barbara 'Babs' Steward
Priscilla Lane
- Bodyguard (1948) .... Doris Brewster
- Fun on a Weekend (1947) .... Nancy Crane
- Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
(1944) .... Elaine Harper
- The Meanest Man in the World (1943) .... Janie Brown
- Silver Queen
Silver Queen is a 1942 Western film directed by Lloyd Bacon. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Art Direction . -Cast:* George Brent - James Kincaid* Priscilla Lane - Coralie Adams...
(1942) .... Coralie Adams
- Saboteur
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942) .... Patricia Pat Martin
- Blues in the Night
Blues in the Night is musical film released by Warner Brothers, directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Priscilla Lane, Richard Whorf, Betty Field, Lloyd Nolan, Elia Kazan, and Jack Carson. The project began filming with the working title Hot Nocturne but was eventually named after its principal...
(1941) .... Ginger 'Character' Powell
- Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 1941 romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn.-Plot:...
(1941) .... Pamela 'Pam' McAllister
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Ann Lemp Deitz
- Three Cheers for the Irish (1940) .... Maureen Casey
- Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Wives (1939) .... Ann Lemp Dietz
- The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
(1939) .... Jean Sherman, later Jean Hart
- Dust Be My Destiny
Dust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
(1939) .... Mabel Alden
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Buff Masters
- Yes, My Darling Daughter
Yes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
(1939) .... Ellen Murray
- Brother Rat
Brother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
(1938) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Ann Lemp
- Cowboy from Brooklyn
Cowboy from Brooklyn is a 1938 American film.Ronald Reagan starred in the film.- Plot :Singer Elly Jordan, a Brooklyn man who is terrified of animals, ends up broke along with his two musical partners at Hardy's Dude Ranch in Two Bits, Wyoming. The Hardys, Ma and Pop, daughter Jane and son Jeff,...
(1938) .... Jane Hardy
- Men Are Such Fools (1938) .... Linda Lawrence Hall
- Love, Honor and Behave (1938) .... Barbara Blake
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Betty Bradley
External links
The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether.
| Name |
Birthname |
Birthdate |
Birthplace |
Died and Age |
Place of Death |
Active |
Spouses |
Leota
Lane |
Leota B.
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
|
1931 - 1931 |
Mischel D. Picard
(m.1928)
Edward Joseph Pitts
(m.1941)
Jerome Day |
Lola
Lane |
Dorothy
Mullican |
| Macy, Indiana Macy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
|
| Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
|
1929 - 1946 |
Henry Clay Dunham
(div.)
Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
(1931-1933)
Alexander Hall
(1934-1936)
Roland West
(1940-1952)
Robert Hanlon
(1955-1981) |
Rosemary
Lane |
Rosemary
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
|
1937 - 1945 |
Bud Westmore
(1941-1954) |
Priscilla
Lane |
Priscilla
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
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| Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
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1937 - 1948 |
Oren Haglund
(1939-1939)
Joseph A. Howard
(1942-1976) |
Early life
The four sisters were from a family of five. Leotabel (Leota) (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963), Dorothy (Lola) (May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981), Rosemary (April 4, 1914 – November 25, 1974), and Priscilla (June 12, 1915 – April 4, 1995), were born to Dr. Lorenzo A. Mullican and his wife, Cora Bell Hicks. Their sister, Martha (1905-19??) did not enter show business. The first three children had been born in Macy, IndianaMacy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
, but the family moved in 1907 to Indianola, IowaIndianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
, a small college town south of Des MoinesDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. Here Dr. Mullican had a dental practice. The Mullicans owned a large house with 22 rooms, some of which they rented out to students attending nearby Simpson College.
Before marrying, Cora Mullican had been a reporter with a local newspaper in Macy, and she had originally harbored acting ambitions. In this, she was frustrated by the strict religious beliefs of her MethodistMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to Reverend John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Church. His younger brother...
parents who frowned on any form of public entertainment.
Cora encouraged her daughters to sing and play musical instruments. All the girls were fond of music, and at one time or another studied music in night classes at Simpson College in Indianola. Dorothy was already playing piano at age twelve for a silent screen movie house.
Career beginnings
Leota was the first to leave home to pursue a musical career in New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
in the mid-1920s. In 1928 Dorothy followed Leota to New York. The girls shared an apartment and made the theatrical rounds. They eventually obtained parts in a Gus EdwardsGus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...
show, Greenwich Village Follies. It was Edwards who changed their names to Lane, and consequently Dorothy became Lola Lane. Martha, meanwhile, eloped with a college professor and moved to Des Moines. She had no interest in show business. She had a child, later divorced, and became a medical secretary.
Leota and Lola both made their BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
debuts in the late twenties, Lola in 1928, as Sally Moss in The War Song, which opened on Broadway on the twenty-fourth of August, 1928, at the Nederlander TheatreDavid T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
(then known as the National Theatre) and Leota in 1929 as Contrary Mary in Babes in ToylandBabes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough , which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza...
, which opened on December 23, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre. The War Song closed four months into its run but Lola soon went to Hollywood where she made her debut starring as Alice Woods alongside Paul PagePaul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who was the lead announcer for ABC Sports' coverage of CART and the IRL from 1988 to 2004. He currently is the lead announcer for NHRA and, formerly, for NASCAR.-Early life and career:...
in the drama Speakeasy (1929). She was soon teamed with Page again in the film The Girl from Havana (1929) as Joan Anders. Meanwhile Babes in Toyland closed after only thirty-two performances. Leota then followed her sister to Hollywood where she made her only screen appearance in a comedy short directed by Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle called Three Hollywood Girls (1931). She soon returned to New York. Dr. Mullican strenuously objected to his younger daughters following theatrical careers, but Cora was determined.
Rosemary and Priscilla travelled to Des Moines every weekend to study dancing with Rose Lorenz. The girls made their first professional appearance September 30, 1930, at Des Moines' Paramount Theater. Rosemary, then 17, and Priscilla, 15, performed on stage as part of the entertainment accompanying the release of Lola's Hollywood movie, Good News.
Rosemary, a member of the National Honor Society, graduated from Indianola High in 1931 and attended Simpson College for a while, playing on the freshman basketball team.
After graduating from high school, Priscilla was permitted to travel to New York to visit Leota who was then appearing in a musical revue in Manhattan. Priscilla decided to enroll at the nearby Fagen School of Dramatics and Leota paid the fee. At this time talent agent Al Altman saw Priscilla performing in one of Fagen's school plays and invited her to screentest for MGM. She was 16 years old.
Priscilla wrote to a friend in Indianola, "Leota accompanied me to a sort of theater in a New York skyscraper. Others were there being made up. One was a strange looking girl with her hair slicked back in a sort of a bun. Her name is said to be Catherine [sic] HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
. Not very pretty, I thought, but Mr. Altman said she has something. Margaret SullavanMargaret Brooke Sullavan . Margaret Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. She was especially known for her effortless acting and her distinctive throaty voice. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M...
, the Broadway actress, was there too!" A follow-up letter said that her test had proven unsuitable. Neither Hepburn nor Sullavan were approved, and neither received a contract from MGM at the time.
In the meantime, Cora had left her husband and in 1932, accompanied by Rosemary, arrived in New York. Cora immediately went to work pushing her two young daughters into attending auditions for various prospective Broadway productions, without success. It was while the girls were trying out numbers at a music publishing office that Fred WaringFredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
, an orchestra leader, heard them harmonizing. He found them attractive and individually talented. In early 1933 with Cora's approval they were signed to a contract with Waring. Cora acted as chaperone to Rosemary and Priscilla who at this time adopted the name Lane.
Fred Waring not only toured with his band, known as "The Pennsylvanians", but had a weekly radio show. Priscilla quickly became known as the comedienne of the group. Rosemary sang the ballads while Priscilla performed the swing numbers and wisecracked with Waring and various guests. Dr. Mullican instituted divorce proceedings against his wife on the grounds of desertion, and the divorce was granted in 1933.
Rosemary and Priscilla remained with Fred Waring for almost five years. In 1937, Waring was engaged by Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
in Hollywood to appear with his entire band in Varsity Show, a musical starring Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. Both Rosemary and Priscilla were tested and awarded feature roles in the film. Rosemary shared the romantic passages with Powell, while Priscilla was a high-spirited college girl.
Although Lola had been in Hollywood since 1929, she had twice retired from the screen for marriage. Now she had made a comeback. She was second lead to Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
in the melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
, Marked WomanMarked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
, and won critical acclaim. Lola played the part of Gaby, a tough clip joint "hostess". Warners awarded her a contract in 1937 and her looks suited the hard-edged roles she found at Warners.
Warner's purchased Priscilla and Rosemary's contract from Fred Waring and signed them to seven-year pacts. Priscilla's first film after Varsity Show was Men are Such Fools, in which she was starred opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
. This was followed by Love Honor and Behave, another light romantic comedy again with Morris and Cowboy From Brooklyn again teaming with Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. The publicity department at the studio suggested that Priscilla and Morris be seen together around town; they liked each other and did date for a period; however, Priscilla later said it was never serious on either side. Rosemary's first film after Varsity Show was the musical Hollywood Hotel, in which she co-starred with sister Lola and former co-star Dick Powell, before starring in Gold Diggers in ParisGold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
, opposite Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in Brother RatBrother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
, which had been a very successful Broadway play. Again she played opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
, and among the cast were such newcomers as Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, Jane WymanJane Wyman was an American character actress of stage, film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, Jane BryanJane Bryan was an American actress who was being prepared by the Warner Bros. studio to become one of their leading ladies until she married a drugstore magnate in 1940 and retired....
, and Eddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , better known as Eddie Albert, was an American actor, gardener, humanitarian, activist and World War II veteran...
. The film, when released in October 1938, was a big success for all the young players.
At this time of professional success, the sisters were informed that Dr. Mullican had died in Iowa.
The Lane Sisters
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
had purchased a story by Fannie HurstFannie Hurst was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust , Lummox , A President is Born , Back Street , and Imitation of Life .-Biography:Hurst was born in Hamilton, Ohio, the only surviving child of a...
titled Sister Act and planned to star Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
in the film, along with four actresses. Flynn, however, was withdrawn from the project to star in The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
. The script for Sister Act was then rewritten to place the emphasis on the four girls. Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
was to be the star, but she refused the role. Lola, always enterprising, approached Jack WarnerJack Leonard "J.L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, Canada, was the president and driving force behind the successful development of Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
with the suggestion she and her sisters star in the film. Warner agreed, and Leota was summoned from New York to test for the part of Emma, but proved unsuitable. The studio substituted Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
, a young contractee as the fourth daughter. The actress would be tagged for the rest of her career as the fourth Lane. When the film, now titled Four DaughtersFour Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
, was released on September 24, 1938, it proved to be a big hit. It was followed by two sequels, Four Wives in 1939 and Four Mothers in 1941, again starring the Lanes and Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
. Leota played Emma in the Lux Radio version of the film heard on the evening of December 18, 1939.
Priscilla's next assignment was Yes, My Darling DaughterYes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
, adapted from a successful play. The story concerned a girl, the daughter of a feminist and one time suffragette, who decides to spend a weekend alone with her fiancee, played by Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
. The premise of the film in which an unmarried couple spent a weekend together unchaperoned was roundly criticized and was banned in some parts of the United States. The publicity, however, piqued public curiosity, and the film became a box office hit. Priscilla received praise for her vivacious performance, as did Lynn playing the boy friend. The supporting cast included Roland Young-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne College, Dorset, and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in 1908, and in 1912 he made his...
, Fay BainterFay Okell Bainter was an American actress. She is the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess and sister-in-law to actress Grace Burgess.-Early life:...
, May RobsonMay Robson was an actress and playwright. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th century, Robson is best known today for the dozens of 1930s motion pictures she appeared in when she was well into her seventies, usually playing cross old ladies with hearts of gold.-History:Born Mary...
, Genevieve TobinGenevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
, and Ian HunterIan Hunter is the name of:* Ian Hunter , English singer-songwriter, frontman of Mott the Hoople* Ian Hunter , South African/British actor* Ian Hunter , cricketer with Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
.
Upon completion of this film Warners sent Priscilla, Rosemary, Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
, and Ann Sheridan-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas, she was a college student when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a Paramount film...
among others on a personal appearance tour in conjunction with the release of Flynn's first western Dodge CityDodge City is a Technicolor western movie starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Directed by Hungarian-turned-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Curtiz and based on a story by Robert Buckner, it was filmed in early Technicolor...
. Priscilla enjoyed the experience and the chance to travel through the country.
Returning to Hollywood, another story was prepared to feature the four daughters, Daughters CourageousDaughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
, which co-starred John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
who had also co-starred in both Four Daughters and Four Wives. Although the story was different, it also covered the lives and loves of four sisters, and proved to be another hit with the public.
Priscilla was again cast with John Garfield in Dust Be My DestinyDust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
, a melodrama of prison life. She played the sympathetic stepdaughter of a brutal prison foreman, played by Stanley RidgesStanley Ridges was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts...
. She falls in love with convict Garfield. The original ending of the film had the young lovers dying as fugitives from justice. Audience reaction at previews was so negative that the studio withdrew the film and reshot a happy ending. Variety wrote, "She is completely sincere throughout with several dramatic scenes rising far above the material provided."
Rosemary Lane was also teamed with Garfield in Blackwell's Island (1939), however this was not a success.
Priscilla attained full co-starring status in her next film, The Roaring Twenties and was billed above the title along with James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. A major box office hit, Priscilla was shown to advantage as a night club singer, who marries lawyer Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
, but is lusted after by gangster Cagney. She sang "It Had to Be You", "Melancholy Baby", and "I’m Just Wild About Harry".
At this point, Priscilla was earning $750 a week, a fantastic salary for the Depression era, but puny compared to the salaries of other studio stars. She demanded an increase. She also felt the plot of her next movie, Money and the Woman was sordid and refused to report for work. Her agent explained, "The role is not one she should be asked to do." She was replaced by Brenda MarshallBrenda Marshall was an American film actress.Born Ardis Ankerson Gaines in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent....
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in My Love Came Back, a romantic story involving a female violinist. Again, Priscilla refused the part, so a furious Jack Warner suspended her. Olivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is an actress. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland is one of the last surviving female stars from 1930s Hollywood. She is also the last living lead from Gone with the Wind....
, equally reluctant to act in the film, eventually did.
Later careers and eventual retirement
Lola continued her career into the 1940s with her tough girl persona in dramas such as Convicted Woman (1940), Gangs Of Chicago (1940), Mystery Ship (1941), Miss V From Moscow (1942) and Lost Canyon (1942), although she desperately wanted to break away from her type-casting . She retired at the age of forty in 1946. Her last three films—Why Girls Leave Home (1945) as Irene Mitchell, Deadline at Dawn (1946) as Edna Bartelli and They Made Me A Killer (1946) as Betty Ford—had her in supporting roles.
Rosemary had good reviews for 1940's The Boys from Syracuse, based on Rogers and Hart's Broadway hit of 1938. The next year she made an unusual move for a film actress of her era by becoming a Broadway star in the musical Best Foot ForwardBest Foot Forward is a 1943 American film adapted from the 1941 Broadway musical comedy of the same title. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler, Chill Wills, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, and Nancy Walker.-Plot:The...
, as Gale Joy, which opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore TheatreThe Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and constructed by the Shuberts, it opened on December 20 1928 with The Kingdom of God, a play selected by leading lady Ethel Barrymore...
on October 1, 1941. It closed after 326 performances on the fourth of July 1942. However she lost the subsequent movie role to Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
. Good movie roles dwindled and Rosemary closed out her film career in 1945 with Sing Me a Song of Texas, as nightclub singer Laurie Lang, the niece of a wealthy Texas rancher. She began a career selling real estate from an office in Pacific PalisadesPacific Palisades is a district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located between Brentwood to the east, Malibu to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The area currently has about 27,000 residents...
.
After winning her raise, Priscilla returned to work, but the films assigned to her were no better than those she had turned down. Brother Rat and a Baby was an inferior sequel and Three Cheers For the Irish gave her little to do.
The British Picturegoer, always a supporter of the Lane Sisters, stated that all was not right with Priscilla Lane. In its June 15, 1940 issue, they wondered why "Priscilla was still knocking at the door of major stardom". They felt Warner Bros. was casting her as stooge to such actors as John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
and James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. They went on to say Priscilla had great charm and while not a really great dramatic actress, deserved much larger and more important roles than she was getting. The same magazine, two years later on August 22, 1942, referred to their 1940 article and once again expressed disappointment at Warners' treatment of the star. They were unaware that she had already left the studio.
On April 28, 1941, she was heard on Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series [NBC Blue Network ; CBS ; NBC ] which first adapted Broadway stage works, and then films to hour-long radio programs performed live before studio audiences...
with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
and Gail PatrickGail Patrick was an American film actress.Born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, she appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's extremely formidable rival; some of these roles include the second wife in My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's...
in Wife, Husband and Friend. At Warner Bros. she appeared opposite Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
in a light hearted comedy, Million Dollar Baby and as a night club singer in Blues in the Night.
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
requested her for the lead opposite Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was a British-American actor...
in Arsenic and Old LaceArsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
. The hit comedy film was completed in early 1942, but was not released until 1944, held up by contractual agreement not to distribute the film until the play's long Broadway run was over. It was Priscilla's last Warner film. Her contract was terminated by mutual agreement after five years with the studio.
She freelanced next, signing a one-picture deal with Universal StudiosUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
where she starred with Robert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor....
in Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's SaboteurSaboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942). The director did not want either Cummings or Priscilla in the film. In Priscilla's case, Hitchcock felt she was too much the girl next door. Universal insisted that they play the leads, and when the film was released, Priscilla's acting was praised while some criticism was focused on Hitchcock for reworking so much from his earlier films into this wartime spy drama.
Priscilla had commitments for two more films. The first was Silver Queens for producer Harry Sherman in which she was co-starred with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
. She played the owner of a gambling house in 1870s San Francisco. The other film was a Jack BennyJack Benny , born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
comedy, The Meanest Man in the World, released in January 1943. Priscilla then retired from films. For the duration of the war, she followed her husband across the country as he moved from one military base to another. She was generous with her talents and often performed at camp shows.
While living in Van NuysVan Nuys is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.-Geography:Van Nuys is located at .-Description:Lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on February 22, 1911...
, Priscilla was offered and accepted the leading role in Fun on a Weekend for producer–director Andrew StoneAndrew L. Stone was an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known for his b-movies, Stone frequently collaborated with his wife, editor and producer Virginia Lively Stone...
, co-starring Eddie BrackenEdward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Career:Born in Astoria, New York, Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation...
. When the film was released in 1947, Variety opined, "Miss Lane, who's been absent from films for some time, gives a good enough performance which should ensure her work in more pictures." However, Priscilla returned to domestic life. Once again she and her husband moved, this time to Studio CityStudio City is a seven-square-mile district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is bounded roughly by Ethel Avenue to the west, Highway 101 to the north and east, and Mulholland Drive and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south.-Origin of...
.
In 1948 Priscilla accepted the offer of the lead role opposite Lawrence TierneyLawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
in a film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, Bodyguard, starring as Doris Brewster. During an interview with a Hollywood correspondent, she stated, "I didn't realize how much I miss filming until I came back. I love this work, and I hope to make many, many more pictures."
Unfortunately Bodyguard would be her last picture. An expected contract with RKO Studios did not come to pass. With the advent of television, and the Supreme Court's anti-trust rulingUnited States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 was a landmark United States Supreme Court anti-trust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusivity rights on which theatres would...
against the studios, the whole studio system was collapsing, and there was a drastic cutback in the number of players under contract.
In January 1951, Cora Mullican died at the San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in Southern California, United States. More than half of the city of Los Angeles' land area lies within the San Fernando Valley...
home her daughters had bought for her years earlier.
Priscilla returned to show business briefly in 1958 with her own show on a local television station broadcasting from Boston. Titled The Priscilla Lane Show, she chatted and interviewed celebrities visiting the area. She enjoyed the television experience, but family demands proved too much, and she gave up after a year.
Personal lives
Leota was married once; to Jerome Day. The pair had no children.
Lola was married five times, but bore no children. She was first married to Henry Clay Dunham. After this brief marriage she wed actor Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
on the fifteenth of September 1931. They subsequently divorced on the third of January 1933. She then married director Alexander Hall in 1934. They divorced on the fourteenth of December 1936.
She then married Roland WestRoland West was a Hollywood director known for his innovative film noir movies of the 1920s and early 1930s.-Biography:...
in 1940. He was a producer, director and screenwriter, but was mostly famous for being a suspect in the 1935 death of his girlfriend, actress Thelma ToddThelma Todd was an American actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s film. Appearing in over 40 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring...
. Neighbors heard them quarreling the night before she was found in her garage, overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning. Though a suspect, he was never arrested. The pair remained married until his death on the thirty-first of March 1952 from heart disease. On his deathbed he allegedly confessed murdering Thelma Todd, to good friend and actor Chester MorrisJohn Chester Brooks Morris was an American actor, perhaps most famous for his role in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s...
. She married Robert Hanlon three years later in 1955, the pair were married till her death twenty-six years later. Hanlon later passed on in 1988.
Rosemary was married just once. On December 28, 1941, at the home of a Flushing, New York, minister, Lane married handsome George H. "Bud" Westmore, wizard Hollywood makeup artist who previously had had a stormy three-month marriage to comic actress Martha RayeMartha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television.-Early life:...
. The Lane-Westmore marriage lasted 13 years and produced a daughter, Bridget. But Lane sued Westmore for separate maintenance in November 1952, saying he walked out on her four months earlier, on July 11. Frank Westmore, in his book "The Westmores of Hollywood" (1976), said Lane and Westmore "had been very happy, or so everyone thought, including Rosemary". The couple went through a messy divorce in 1954.
Priscilla dated assistant director and screenwriter Oren Haglund. Impulsively she eloped with Haglund to Yuma, ArizonaYuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423....
on January 14, 1939, but left him the following day. The marriage was soon annulled. In November 1941, Priscilla became engaged to publisher John Barry, whom she had first met in 1939. She wrote in the November issue of PhotoplayPhotoplay was one of the first film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story....
how she looked forward to their marriage. She also stated she would continue her career.
In early 1942, the engagement to Barry ended after she met Joseph Howard, a young Air ForceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
lieutenant, at a dude ranch in the Mojave DesertThe Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. A native of Lawrence, MassachusettsLawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 72,043. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are the county...
, he had joined the Army Air CorpsThe United States Army Air Corps was the predecessor of the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1926-41, which in turn was the forerunner of today's U.S. Air Force , established in 1947...
straight from college in 1939. He was scouting the area for likely sites for air bases and had taken a short vacation. The couple were married on May 22, 1942, by a justice of the peace in Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
at the home of the executive officer of an Army Air Force gunnery school.
At the war's end in 1945, Priscilla and Joe were living in New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
and she was pregnant with their first child. Their son, Joseph Lawrence, was born on December 31, 1945. In 1946 after Joe's discharge from the service, the couple moved back to California, where they resided in Victorville. Joe, who had a degree in engineering, became a building contractor. The family moved to Van Nuys in December 1945. Afterwards Joe and Priscilla moved to Studio City. Priscilla became pregnant again in 1949. On April 17, 1950, daughter Hannah was born. By June 1951 the boom in the construction industry in New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
had Priscilla and Joe moving back to his native Massachusetts. Joe left the final decision up to Priscilla, who later declared she never regretted her choice. She fell in love with New England, and the couple settled with their children in Andover, MassachusettsAndover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
. Priscilla was busy with her family. She gave birth to a second daughter, Judith, on August 22, 1953. The Howard's fourth and youngest child, James, was born December 4, 1955.
Outside her family, Priscilla was a busy woman. She was devoutly religious, having converted to Roman Catholicism, as had her elder sister Lola. The family attended church regularly, and she was involved with Catholic charities. She enjoyed tending her garden, growing flowers and vegetables. She ran a girl scout troop and volunteered at local hospitals. She had, however, become less outgoing as far as public life was concerned. She refused all offers of work, most interviews and did not answer fan mail.
In July 1972 Joe Howard retired from business, and he and Priscilla moved to their summer home at 7 Howards Grove in Derry, New HampshireDerry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,021 at the 2000 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the fourth most-populous community in New Hampshire....
. Joe Howard died suddenly on May 18, 1976, aged 60. He was still in the Air Force Reserve, which he had joined after his discharge from active duty in 1946. Heart broken, Priscilla remained in Derry. She said, more than a year later in 1977, "I'm still trying to pull myself together after Joe's death." She busied herself with volunteer work and her garden.
Deaths
- Leota died following open-heart surgery on July 25, 1963 in Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, aged 59.
- Lola died of arterial disease on June 22, 1981 in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
, aged 75.
- Rosemary had just turned sixty and was living quietly in retirement in Pacific Palisades when she died on November 25, 1974, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. The cause was a cerebral blood clot, stemming from diabetes and chronic pulmonary obstruction. Services were held at Santa Monica, and for unknown reasons, Rosemary was buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.
- Priscilla was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which is the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells...
in 1994. She moved to a nursing home, Wingate, in Andover, near her son Joe and his family. She died there at 7:30 a.m. on April 4, 1995 from lung cancer and chronic heart failure, aged 79. A funeral mass was celebrated at St. Matthew's church in Windham, New HampshireWindham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 10,709 at the 2000 census.- History :Named after Sir Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, who was a member of Parliament from 1734 to 1750 and Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1761 to...
and burial followed at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery, in Arlington County, Virginia is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington. The...
. Her husband had served his country for nearly forty years and was buried there with full military honors. Priscilla was laid to rest beside him.
Cultural references
In episode 9 of the "Topsy Turvy World" sequence of The Bullwinkle ShowThe Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate American television animated series: Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show . Rocky & Bullwinkle enjoyed great popularity during the 1960s. Much of this success was a result of it being targeted towards both children and...
, Boris BadenovBoris Badenov is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
gives Natasha FataleNatasha Fatale is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
three guesses as to who lives at the North Pole. She uses all three guesses in one reply, "Santa Claus, Judge Crater, and the Lane Sisters."
Lois LaneLois Joanne Lane-Kent is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, Superman's girlfriend, was named after Lola Lane, who played "Torchy Blane" a fictional reporter who inspired Lois' character, in one of the 1930s films.
The address of host Lionel Twain (played by Truman CapoteTruman Garcia Capote , born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel"...
) in Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
's Murder By DeathMurder by Death is a comedy movie with a star-studded cast, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of the traditional country-house whodunit, familiar to mystery fiction fans from classics such as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, a form also parodied for...
is shown on the invitations in the beginning of the movie as "22 Lola Lane".
Lola Lane
They Made Me a KillerThey Made Me a Killer is a 1946 B-movie. The film was made by Pine-Thomas, the B-movie unit of Paramount Pictures.- Plot :Tom Durling quits his job and drives across country after his brother is killed in an accident. He gives an attractive girl a ride and he's forced at gun point to be the...
(1946) .... Betty Ford
Deadline at DawnDeadline at Dawn is a 1946 film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novella by Cornell Woolrich . The RKO Radio Picture was the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate,...
(1946) .... Edna Bartelli
Why Girls Leave Home (1945) .... Irene Mitchell
Steppin' in Society (1945) .... The Duchess
Identity Unknown (1945) .... Wanda
Buckskin Frontier (1943) .... Rita Molyneaux
Lost Canyon (1942) .... Laura Clark
Miss V from Moscow (1942) .... Vera Marova, posing as Greta Hiller
Mystery Ship (1941) .... Patricia Marshall
Four Mothers (1941) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
Girls of the Road (1940) .... Elly
Gangs of Chicago (1940) .... June Whitaker
Zanzibar (1940) .... Jan Browning
Convicted Woman (1940) .... Hazel Wren
Four Wives (1939) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
Daughters CourageousDaughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Linda Masters
Four DaughtersFour Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Thea Lemp
Mr. Chump (1938) .... Jane Mason
When Were You Born (1938) .... Nita Kenton (Cancer)
Torchy Blane in Panama (1938) .... Torchy Blane
Hollywood HotelHollywood Hotel is a 1937 American film, directed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Ted Healy. Ronald Reagan and Benny Goodman also appear.- Production :...
(1937) .... Mona Marshall
The Sheik Steps Out (1937) .... Phyllis 'Flip' Murdock
Marked WomanMarked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
(1937) .... Dorothy 'Gabby' Marvin
In Paris, A.W.O.L. (1936) .... Lola
His Night Out (1935) .... Lola
Death from a Distance- Cast :*Russell Hopton*Lola Lane*George F. Marion*Lee Kohlmar*John St. Polis*Lew Kelly*E.H. Calvert*Wheeler Oakman*Robert Frazer*Cornelius Keefe*John Davidson*John Dilson...
(1935) .... Kay Palmer
Alias Mary Dow (1935) .... Minna
Murder on a HoneymoonMurder on a Honeymoon is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver and James Gleason. This was the third and last time Oliver portrayed astute schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers, who in this film witnesses the death of an airplane passenger...
(1935) .... Phyllis La Font
Burn 'Em Up BarnesBurn 'Em Up Barnes is a Mascot movie serial. It was a loose remake of the 1921 film of the same name.-Cast:*Jack Mulhall as Burn-'em-Up Barnes, racing driver nicknamed the "King of the Dirt Track" and shortly the co-owner of the Temple Barnes Transportation school bus company*Frankie Darro as...
(1934) .... Marjorie Temple
Ticket to a Crime (1934) .... Peggy Cummings
Port of Lost Dreams (1934) .... Molly Deshon/Molly Clark Christensen
The Woman Condemned (1934) .... Jane Merrick
Public Stenographer (1934) .... Ann McNair
The Woman Who Dared (1933) .... Kay Wilson
Ex-Bad Boy (1931) .... Letta Lardo
Hell Bound (1931) .... Platinum Reed
The Costello Case (1930) .... Mollie
Good NewsGood News is the title of two American MGM musical films based on the 1927 stage production of the same name.The first, released in 1930, was directed by Nick Grinde. The cast included Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards and Penny Singleton. The film was shot in black-and-white, although the finale was in...
(1930) .... Patricia Bingham
The Big Fight (1930) .... Shirly
Let's Go Places (1930) .... Marjorie Lorraine
The Girl from Havana (1929) .... Joan Anders
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, aka Apollo! Apollo! , Follie del giorno Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 is a 1929 black and white American musical film.-Cast:...
(1929) .... Lila Beaumont
SpeakeasySpeakeasy was a 1929 sports film drama directed by Benjamin Stoloff adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Edwin J. Burke. Lola Lane and Paul Page played the lead roles and the film also starred John Wayne who had a minor role in the film at age 22....
(1929) .... Alice Woods
Rosemary Lane
- Sing Me a Song of Texas (1945) .... Laurie Lang
- Trocadero (1944) .... Judy
- Harvest Melody (1943) .... Gilda Parker
- All by Myself
"All by Myself" is a power ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975.The verse borrows very heavily from the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18, which Carmen believed was in the public domain...
(1943) .... Val Stevenson
- Chatterbox
- In music :* "Chatterbox", a song by composer Jerome Brainin for the musical film That’s Right You’re Wrong * Chatterbox , a 1990 album by Toadies frontman Todd Lewis and guitarist Darrel Herbert...
(1943) .... Carol Forrest
- Time Out for Rhythm
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallee, Ann Miller and The Three Stooges.-Plot:Harvard educated Danny Collins and street-wise Mike Armstrong team up after a chance meeting to form the most successful talent agency in New York City...
(1941) .... Frances Lewis
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Kay Lemp Forrest
- Always a Bride (1940) .... Alice Bond
- The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a 1940 musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, based on the play The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction by Jack Otterson...
(1940) .... Phyllis
- Ladies Must Live (1940) .... Pat Halliday
- An Angel from Texas (1940) .... Lydia Weston
- Four Wives (1939) .... Kay Lemp
- The Return of Doctor X
The Return of Doctor X is a horror film starring Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, and Humphrey Bogart as the title character. It was based on the short story "The Doctor's Secret" by William J. Makin. Despite supposedly being a sequel to Doctor X, the films are unrelated.-Plot:Dr...
(1939) .... Joan Vance
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Tinka Masters
- The Oklahoma Kid
The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The movie was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his black-clad and viciously villainous nemesis...
(1939) .... Jane Hardwick
- Blackwell's Island (1939) .... Mary 'Sunny' Walsh
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Kay Lemp
- Gold Diggers in Paris
Gold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
(1938) .... Kay Morrow
- Hollywood Hotel
The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hostelry and landmark located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orchid Avenues in Hollywood, California, USA.-History:...
(1937) .... Virginia Stanton
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Barbara 'Babs' Steward
Priscilla Lane
- Bodyguard (1948) .... Doris Brewster
- Fun on a Weekend (1947) .... Nancy Crane
- Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
(1944) .... Elaine Harper
- The Meanest Man in the World (1943) .... Janie Brown
- Silver Queen
Silver Queen is a 1942 Western film directed by Lloyd Bacon. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Art Direction . -Cast:* George Brent - James Kincaid* Priscilla Lane - Coralie Adams...
(1942) .... Coralie Adams
- Saboteur
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942) .... Patricia Pat Martin
- Blues in the Night
Blues in the Night is musical film released by Warner Brothers, directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Priscilla Lane, Richard Whorf, Betty Field, Lloyd Nolan, Elia Kazan, and Jack Carson. The project began filming with the working title Hot Nocturne but was eventually named after its principal...
(1941) .... Ginger 'Character' Powell
- Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 1941 romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn.-Plot:...
(1941) .... Pamela 'Pam' McAllister
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Ann Lemp Deitz
- Three Cheers for the Irish (1940) .... Maureen Casey
- Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Wives (1939) .... Ann Lemp Dietz
- The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
(1939) .... Jean Sherman, later Jean Hart
- Dust Be My Destiny
Dust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
(1939) .... Mabel Alden
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Buff Masters
- Yes, My Darling Daughter
Yes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
(1939) .... Ellen Murray
- Brother Rat
Brother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
(1938) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Ann Lemp
- Cowboy from Brooklyn
Cowboy from Brooklyn is a 1938 American film.Ronald Reagan starred in the film.- Plot :Singer Elly Jordan, a Brooklyn man who is terrified of animals, ends up broke along with his two musical partners at Hardy's Dude Ranch in Two Bits, Wyoming. The Hardys, Ma and Pop, daughter Jane and son Jeff,...
(1938) .... Jane Hardy
- Men Are Such Fools (1938) .... Linda Lawrence Hall
- Love, Honor and Behave (1938) .... Barbara Blake
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Betty Bradley
External links
The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether.
| Name |
Birthname |
Birthdate |
Birthplace |
Died and Age |
Place of Death |
Active |
Spouses |
Leota
Lane |
Leota B.
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
|
1931 - 1931 |
Mischel D. Picard
(m.1928)
Edward Joseph Pitts
(m.1941)
Jerome Day |
Lola
Lane |
Dorothy
Mullican |
| Macy, Indiana Macy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
|
| Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
|
1929 - 1946 |
Henry Clay Dunham
(div.)
Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
(1931-1933)
Alexander Hall
(1934-1936)
Roland West
(1940-1952)
Robert Hanlon
(1955-1981) |
Rosemary
Lane |
Rosemary
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
|
1937 - 1945 |
Bud Westmore
(1941-1954) |
Priscilla
Lane |
Priscilla
Mullican |
| Indianola, Iowa Indianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
|
| Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
|
1937 - 1948 |
Oren Haglund
(1939-1939)
Joseph A. Howard
(1942-1976) |
Early life
The four sisters were from a family of five. Leotabel (Leota) (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963), Dorothy (Lola) (May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981), Rosemary (April 4, 1914 – November 25, 1974), and Priscilla (June 12, 1915 – April 4, 1995), were born to Dr. Lorenzo A. Mullican and his wife, Cora Bell Hicks. Their sister, Martha (1905-19??) did not enter show business. The first three children had been born in Macy, IndianaMacy is a town in Allen Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Macy is located at ....
, but the family moved in 1907 to Indianola, IowaIndianola is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 12,998 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. Simpson College, a liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, is in Indianola. Indianola is also the home of the National Balloon Classic and...
, a small college town south of Des MoinesDes Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. Here Dr. Mullican had a dental practice. The Mullicans owned a large house with 22 rooms, some of which they rented out to students attending nearby Simpson College.
Before marrying, Cora Mullican had been a reporter with a local newspaper in Macy, and she had originally harbored acting ambitions. In this, she was frustrated by the strict religious beliefs of her MethodistMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to Reverend John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Church. His younger brother...
parents who frowned on any form of public entertainment.
Cora encouraged her daughters to sing and play musical instruments. All the girls were fond of music, and at one time or another studied music in night classes at Simpson College in Indianola. Dorothy was already playing piano at age twelve for a silent screen movie house.
Career beginnings
Leota was the first to leave home to pursue a musical career in New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
in the mid-1920s. In 1928 Dorothy followed Leota to New York. The girls shared an apartment and made the theatrical rounds. They eventually obtained parts in a Gus EdwardsGus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...
show, Greenwich Village Follies. It was Edwards who changed their names to Lane, and consequently Dorothy became Lola Lane. Martha, meanwhile, eloped with a college professor and moved to Des Moines. She had no interest in show business. She had a child, later divorced, and became a medical secretary.
Leota and Lola both made their BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
debuts in the late twenties, Lola in 1928, as Sally Moss in The War Song, which opened on Broadway on the twenty-fourth of August, 1928, at the Nederlander TheatreDavid T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
(then known as the National Theatre) and Leota in 1929 as Contrary Mary in Babes in ToylandBabes in Toyland is an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough , which wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a Christmas-themed musical extravaganza...
, which opened on December 23, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre. The War Song closed four months into its run but Lola soon went to Hollywood where she made her debut starring as Alice Woods alongside Paul PagePaul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who was the lead announcer for ABC Sports' coverage of CART and the IRL from 1988 to 2004. He currently is the lead announcer for NHRA and, formerly, for NASCAR.-Early life and career:...
in the drama Speakeasy (1929). She was soon teamed with Page again in the film The Girl from Havana (1929) as Joan Anders. Meanwhile Babes in Toyland closed after only thirty-two performances. Leota then followed her sister to Hollywood where she made her only screen appearance in a comedy short directed by Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle called Three Hollywood Girls (1931). She soon returned to New York. Dr. Mullican strenuously objected to his younger daughters following theatrical careers, but Cora was determined.
Rosemary and Priscilla travelled to Des Moines every weekend to study dancing with Rose Lorenz. The girls made their first professional appearance September 30, 1930, at Des Moines' Paramount Theater. Rosemary, then 17, and Priscilla, 15, performed on stage as part of the entertainment accompanying the release of Lola's Hollywood movie, Good News.
Rosemary, a member of the National Honor Society, graduated from Indianola High in 1931 and attended Simpson College for a while, playing on the freshman basketball team.
After graduating from high school, Priscilla was permitted to travel to New York to visit Leota who was then appearing in a musical revue in Manhattan. Priscilla decided to enroll at the nearby Fagen School of Dramatics and Leota paid the fee. At this time talent agent Al Altman saw Priscilla performing in one of Fagen's school plays and invited her to screentest for MGM. She was 16 years old.
Priscilla wrote to a friend in Indianola, "Leota accompanied me to a sort of theater in a New York skyscraper. Others were there being made up. One was a strange looking girl with her hair slicked back in a sort of a bun. Her name is said to be Catherine [sic] HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
. Not very pretty, I thought, but Mr. Altman said she has something. Margaret SullavanMargaret Brooke Sullavan . Margaret Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. She was especially known for her effortless acting and her distinctive throaty voice. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M...
, the Broadway actress, was there too!" A follow-up letter said that her test had proven unsuitable. Neither Hepburn nor Sullavan were approved, and neither received a contract from MGM at the time.
In the meantime, Cora had left her husband and in 1932, accompanied by Rosemary, arrived in New York. Cora immediately went to work pushing her two young daughters into attending auditions for various prospective Broadway productions, without success. It was while the girls were trying out numbers at a music publishing office that Fred WaringFredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
, an orchestra leader, heard them harmonizing. He found them attractive and individually talented. In early 1933 with Cora's approval they were signed to a contract with Waring. Cora acted as chaperone to Rosemary and Priscilla who at this time adopted the name Lane.
Fred Waring not only toured with his band, known as "The Pennsylvanians", but had a weekly radio show. Priscilla quickly became known as the comedienne of the group. Rosemary sang the ballads while Priscilla performed the swing numbers and wisecracked with Waring and various guests. Dr. Mullican instituted divorce proceedings against his wife on the grounds of desertion, and the divorce was granted in 1933.
Rosemary and Priscilla remained with Fred Waring for almost five years. In 1937, Waring was engaged by Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
in Hollywood to appear with his entire band in Varsity Show, a musical starring Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. Both Rosemary and Priscilla were tested and awarded feature roles in the film. Rosemary shared the romantic passages with Powell, while Priscilla was a high-spirited college girl.
Although Lola had been in Hollywood since 1929, she had twice retired from the screen for marriage. Now she had made a comeback. She was second lead to Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
in the melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
, Marked WomanMarked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
, and won critical acclaim. Lola played the part of Gaby, a tough clip joint "hostess". Warners awarded her a contract in 1937 and her looks suited the hard-edged roles she found at Warners.
Warner's purchased Priscilla and Rosemary's contract from Fred Waring and signed them to seven-year pacts. Priscilla's first film after Varsity Show was Men are Such Fools, in which she was starred opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
. This was followed by Love Honor and Behave, another light romantic comedy again with Morris and Cowboy From Brooklyn again teaming with Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
. The publicity department at the studio suggested that Priscilla and Morris be seen together around town; they liked each other and did date for a period; however, Priscilla later said it was never serious on either side. Rosemary's first film after Varsity Show was the musical Hollywood Hotel, in which she co-starred with sister Lola and former co-star Dick Powell, before starring in Gold Diggers in ParisGold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
, opposite Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in Brother RatBrother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
, which had been a very successful Broadway play. Again she played opposite Wayne MorrisWayne Morris , born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace...
, and among the cast were such newcomers as Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, Jane WymanJane Wyman was an American character actress of stage, film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, Jane BryanJane Bryan was an American actress who was being prepared by the Warner Bros. studio to become one of their leading ladies until she married a drugstore magnate in 1940 and retired....
, and Eddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , better known as Eddie Albert, was an American actor, gardener, humanitarian, activist and World War II veteran...
. The film, when released in October 1938, was a big success for all the young players.
At this time of professional success, the sisters were informed that Dr. Mullican had died in Iowa.
The Lane Sisters
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
had purchased a story by Fannie HurstFannie Hurst was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust , Lummox , A President is Born , Back Street , and Imitation of Life .-Biography:Hurst was born in Hamilton, Ohio, the only surviving child of a...
titled Sister Act and planned to star Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
in the film, along with four actresses. Flynn, however, was withdrawn from the project to star in The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
. The script for Sister Act was then rewritten to place the emphasis on the four girls. Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
was to be the star, but she refused the role. Lola, always enterprising, approached Jack WarnerJack Leonard "J.L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, Canada, was the president and driving force behind the successful development of Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
with the suggestion she and her sisters star in the film. Warner agreed, and Leota was summoned from New York to test for the part of Emma, but proved unsuitable. The studio substituted Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
, a young contractee as the fourth daughter. The actress would be tagged for the rest of her career as the fourth Lane. When the film, now titled Four DaughtersFour Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
, was released on September 24, 1938, it proved to be a big hit. It was followed by two sequels, Four Wives in 1939 and Four Mothers in 1941, again starring the Lanes and Gale PageGale Page was an American actress.Born Sally Perkins Rutter in Spokane, Washington, Page was a radio actress and singer before being signed to a Hollywood film contract by Warner Brothers in 1938....
. Leota played Emma in the Lux Radio version of the film heard on the evening of December 18, 1939.
Priscilla's next assignment was Yes, My Darling DaughterYes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
, adapted from a successful play. The story concerned a girl, the daughter of a feminist and one time suffragette, who decides to spend a weekend alone with her fiancee, played by Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
. The premise of the film in which an unmarried couple spent a weekend together unchaperoned was roundly criticized and was banned in some parts of the United States. The publicity, however, piqued public curiosity, and the film became a box office hit. Priscilla received praise for her vivacious performance, as did Lynn playing the boy friend. The supporting cast included Roland Young-Early life and career:Born in London, England, Young was educated at Sherborne College, Dorset, and the University of London before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his first stage appearance in London's West End in Find the Woman in 1908, and in 1912 he made his...
, Fay BainterFay Okell Bainter was an American actress. She is the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess and sister-in-law to actress Grace Burgess.-Early life:...
, May RobsonMay Robson was an actress and playwright. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th century, Robson is best known today for the dozens of 1930s motion pictures she appeared in when she was well into her seventies, usually playing cross old ladies with hearts of gold.-History:Born Mary...
, Genevieve TobinGenevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
, and Ian HunterIan Hunter is the name of:* Ian Hunter , English singer-songwriter, frontman of Mott the Hoople* Ian Hunter , South African/British actor* Ian Hunter , cricketer with Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
.
Upon completion of this film Warners sent Priscilla, Rosemary, Errol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Background and early life:...
, and Ann Sheridan-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas, she was a college student when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a Paramount film...
among others on a personal appearance tour in conjunction with the release of Flynn's first western Dodge CityDodge City is a Technicolor western movie starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Directed by Hungarian-turned-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Curtiz and based on a story by Robert Buckner, it was filmed in early Technicolor...
. Priscilla enjoyed the experience and the chance to travel through the country.
Returning to Hollywood, another story was prepared to feature the four daughters, Daughters CourageousDaughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
, which co-starred John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
who had also co-starred in both Four Daughters and Four Wives. Although the story was different, it also covered the lives and loves of four sisters, and proved to be another hit with the public.
Priscilla was again cast with John Garfield in Dust Be My DestinyDust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
, a melodrama of prison life. She played the sympathetic stepdaughter of a brutal prison foreman, played by Stanley RidgesStanley Ridges was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts...
. She falls in love with convict Garfield. The original ending of the film had the young lovers dying as fugitives from justice. Audience reaction at previews was so negative that the studio withdrew the film and reshot a happy ending. Variety wrote, "She is completely sincere throughout with several dramatic scenes rising far above the material provided."
Rosemary Lane was also teamed with Garfield in Blackwell's Island (1939), however this was not a success.
Priscilla attained full co-starring status in her next film, The Roaring Twenties and was billed above the title along with James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. A major box office hit, Priscilla was shown to advantage as a night club singer, who marries lawyer Jeffrey LynnJeffrey Lynn was an American actor.Born Ragnar Lind in Auburn, Massachusetts, Lynn was a school teacher before he began his acting career. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in Out Where the Stars Begin...
, but is lusted after by gangster Cagney. She sang "It Had to Be You", "Melancholy Baby", and "I’m Just Wild About Harry".
At this point, Priscilla was earning $750 a week, a fantastic salary for the Depression era, but puny compared to the salaries of other studio stars. She demanded an increase. She also felt the plot of her next movie, Money and the Woman was sordid and refused to report for work. Her agent explained, "The role is not one she should be asked to do." She was replaced by Brenda MarshallBrenda Marshall was an American film actress.Born Ardis Ankerson Gaines in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent....
.
Priscilla was next assigned the lead in My Love Came Back, a romantic story involving a female violinist. Again, Priscilla refused the part, so a furious Jack Warner suspended her. Olivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is an actress. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland is one of the last surviving female stars from 1930s Hollywood. She is also the last living lead from Gone with the Wind....
, equally reluctant to act in the film, eventually did.
Later careers and eventual retirement
Lola continued her career into the 1940s with her tough girl persona in dramas such as Convicted Woman (1940), Gangs Of Chicago (1940), Mystery Ship (1941), Miss V From Moscow (1942) and Lost Canyon (1942), although she desperately wanted to break away from her type-casting . She retired at the age of forty in 1946. Her last three films—Why Girls Leave Home (1945) as Irene Mitchell, Deadline at Dawn (1946) as Edna Bartelli and They Made Me A Killer (1946) as Betty Ford—had her in supporting roles.
Rosemary had good reviews for 1940's The Boys from Syracuse, based on Rogers and Hart's Broadway hit of 1938. The next year she made an unusual move for a film actress of her era by becoming a Broadway star in the musical Best Foot ForwardBest Foot Forward is a 1943 American film adapted from the 1941 Broadway musical comedy of the same title. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler, Chill Wills, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, and Nancy Walker.-Plot:The...
, as Gale Joy, which opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore TheatreThe Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and constructed by the Shuberts, it opened on December 20 1928 with The Kingdom of God, a play selected by leading lady Ethel Barrymore...
on October 1, 1941. It closed after 326 performances on the fourth of July 1942. However she lost the subsequent movie role to Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
. Good movie roles dwindled and Rosemary closed out her film career in 1945 with Sing Me a Song of Texas, as nightclub singer Laurie Lang, the niece of a wealthy Texas rancher. She began a career selling real estate from an office in Pacific PalisadesPacific Palisades is a district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located between Brentwood to the east, Malibu to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The area currently has about 27,000 residents...
.
After winning her raise, Priscilla returned to work, but the films assigned to her were no better than those she had turned down. Brother Rat and a Baby was an inferior sequel and Three Cheers For the Irish gave her little to do.
The British Picturegoer, always a supporter of the Lane Sisters, stated that all was not right with Priscilla Lane. In its June 15, 1940 issue, they wondered why "Priscilla was still knocking at the door of major stardom". They felt Warner Bros. was casting her as stooge to such actors as John GarfieldJohn Garfield was an American actor. Garfield was especially adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles...
and James CagneyJames Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.For his first performing...
. They went on to say Priscilla had great charm and while not a really great dramatic actress, deserved much larger and more important roles than she was getting. The same magazine, two years later on August 22, 1942, referred to their 1940 article and once again expressed disappointment at Warners' treatment of the star. They were unaware that she had already left the studio.
On April 28, 1941, she was heard on Lux Radio TheaterLux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series [NBC Blue Network ; CBS ; NBC ] which first adapted Broadway stage works, and then films to hour-long radio programs performed live before studio audiences...
with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
and Gail PatrickGail Patrick was an American film actress.Born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, she appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's extremely formidable rival; some of these roles include the second wife in My Favorite Wife with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's...
in Wife, Husband and Friend. At Warner Bros. she appeared opposite Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
in a light hearted comedy, Million Dollar Baby and as a night club singer in Blues in the Night.
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
requested her for the lead opposite Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was a British-American actor...
in Arsenic and Old LaceArsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
. The hit comedy film was completed in early 1942, but was not released until 1944, held up by contractual agreement not to distribute the film until the play's long Broadway run was over. It was Priscilla's last Warner film. Her contract was terminated by mutual agreement after five years with the studio.
She freelanced next, signing a one-picture deal with Universal StudiosUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
where she starred with Robert CummingsCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor....
in Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's SaboteurSaboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942). The director did not want either Cummings or Priscilla in the film. In Priscilla's case, Hitchcock felt she was too much the girl next door. Universal insisted that they play the leads, and when the film was released, Priscilla's acting was praised while some criticism was focused on Hitchcock for reworking so much from his earlier films into this wartime spy drama.
Priscilla had commitments for two more films. The first was Silver Queens for producer Harry Sherman in which she was co-starred with George BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, to a family with a history of British Army service...
. She played the owner of a gambling house in 1870s San Francisco. The other film was a Jack BennyJack Benny , born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
comedy, The Meanest Man in the World, released in January 1943. Priscilla then retired from films. For the duration of the war, she followed her husband across the country as he moved from one military base to another. She was generous with her talents and often performed at camp shows.
While living in Van NuysVan Nuys is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.-Geography:Van Nuys is located at .-Description:Lot sales began at the new town of Van Nuys on February 22, 1911...
, Priscilla was offered and accepted the leading role in Fun on a Weekend for producer–director Andrew StoneAndrew L. Stone was an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known for his b-movies, Stone frequently collaborated with his wife, editor and producer Virginia Lively Stone...
, co-starring Eddie BrackenEdward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Career:Born in Astoria, New York, Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940 film adaptation...
. When the film was released in 1947, Variety opined, "Miss Lane, who's been absent from films for some time, gives a good enough performance which should ensure her work in more pictures." However, Priscilla returned to domestic life. Once again she and her husband moved, this time to Studio CityStudio City is a seven-square-mile district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is bounded roughly by Ethel Avenue to the west, Highway 101 to the north and east, and Mulholland Drive and the Santa Monica Mountains to the south.-Origin of...
.
In 1948 Priscilla accepted the offer of the lead role opposite Lawrence TierneyLawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
in a film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, Bodyguard, starring as Doris Brewster. During an interview with a Hollywood correspondent, she stated, "I didn't realize how much I miss filming until I came back. I love this work, and I hope to make many, many more pictures."
Unfortunately Bodyguard would be her last picture. An expected contract with RKO Studios did not come to pass. With the advent of television, and the Supreme Court's anti-trust rulingUnited States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 was a landmark United States Supreme Court anti-trust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusivity rights on which theatres would...
against the studios, the whole studio system was collapsing, and there was a drastic cutback in the number of players under contract.
In January 1951, Cora Mullican died at the San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in Southern California, United States. More than half of the city of Los Angeles' land area lies within the San Fernando Valley...
home her daughters had bought for her years earlier.
Priscilla returned to show business briefly in 1958 with her own show on a local television station broadcasting from Boston. Titled The Priscilla Lane Show, she chatted and interviewed celebrities visiting the area. She enjoyed the television experience, but family demands proved too much, and she gave up after a year.
Personal lives
Leota was married once; to Jerome Day. The pair had no children.
Lola was married five times, but bore no children. She was first married to Henry Clay Dunham. After this brief marriage she wed actor Lew AyresLew Ayres, born Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor.-Career:Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and reared in San Diego, California, Ayres began acting in bit player roles in films in 1927...
on the fifteenth of September 1931. They subsequently divorced on the third of January 1933. She then married director Alexander Hall in 1934. They divorced on the fourteenth of December 1936.
She then married Roland WestRoland West was a Hollywood director known for his innovative film noir movies of the 1920s and early 1930s.-Biography:...
in 1940. He was a producer, director and screenwriter, but was mostly famous for being a suspect in the 1935 death of his girlfriend, actress Thelma ToddThelma Todd was an American actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s film. Appearing in over 40 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring...
. Neighbors heard them quarreling the night before she was found in her garage, overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning. Though a suspect, he was never arrested. The pair remained married until his death on the thirty-first of March 1952 from heart disease. On his deathbed he allegedly confessed murdering Thelma Todd, to good friend and actor Chester MorrisJohn Chester Brooks Morris was an American actor, perhaps most famous for his role in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s...
. She married Robert Hanlon three years later in 1955, the pair were married till her death twenty-six years later. Hanlon later passed on in 1988.
Rosemary was married just once. On December 28, 1941, at the home of a Flushing, New York, minister, Lane married handsome George H. "Bud" Westmore, wizard Hollywood makeup artist who previously had had a stormy three-month marriage to comic actress Martha RayeMartha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television.-Early life:...
. The Lane-Westmore marriage lasted 13 years and produced a daughter, Bridget. But Lane sued Westmore for separate maintenance in November 1952, saying he walked out on her four months earlier, on July 11. Frank Westmore, in his book "The Westmores of Hollywood" (1976), said Lane and Westmore "had been very happy, or so everyone thought, including Rosemary". The couple went through a messy divorce in 1954.
Priscilla dated assistant director and screenwriter Oren Haglund. Impulsively she eloped with Haglund to Yuma, ArizonaYuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2006 Census Bureau estimated population of 87,423....
on January 14, 1939, but left him the following day. The marriage was soon annulled. In November 1941, Priscilla became engaged to publisher John Barry, whom she had first met in 1939. She wrote in the November issue of PhotoplayPhotoplay was one of the first film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story....
how she looked forward to their marriage. She also stated she would continue her career.
In early 1942, the engagement to Barry ended after she met Joseph Howard, a young Air ForceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense, the national military that primarily conducts aerial warfare...
lieutenant, at a dude ranch in the Mojave DesertThe Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. A native of Lawrence, MassachusettsLawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 72,043. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are the county...
, he had joined the Army Air CorpsThe United States Army Air Corps was the predecessor of the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1926-41, which in turn was the forerunner of today's U.S. Air Force , established in 1947...
straight from college in 1939. He was scouting the area for likely sites for air bases and had taken a short vacation. The couple were married on May 22, 1942, by a justice of the peace in Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of...
at the home of the executive officer of an Army Air Force gunnery school.
At the war's end in 1945, Priscilla and Joe were living in New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
and she was pregnant with their first child. Their son, Joseph Lawrence, was born on December 31, 1945. In 1946 after Joe's discharge from the service, the couple moved back to California, where they resided in Victorville. Joe, who had a degree in engineering, became a building contractor. The family moved to Van Nuys in December 1945. Afterwards Joe and Priscilla moved to Studio City. Priscilla became pregnant again in 1949. On April 17, 1950, daughter Hannah was born. By June 1951 the boom in the construction industry in New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
had Priscilla and Joe moving back to his native Massachusetts. Joe left the final decision up to Priscilla, who later declared she never regretted her choice. She fell in love with New England, and the couple settled with their children in Andover, MassachusettsAndover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
. Priscilla was busy with her family. She gave birth to a second daughter, Judith, on August 22, 1953. The Howard's fourth and youngest child, James, was born December 4, 1955.
Outside her family, Priscilla was a busy woman. She was devoutly religious, having converted to Roman Catholicism, as had her elder sister Lola. The family attended church regularly, and she was involved with Catholic charities. She enjoyed tending her garden, growing flowers and vegetables. She ran a girl scout troop and volunteered at local hospitals. She had, however, become less outgoing as far as public life was concerned. She refused all offers of work, most interviews and did not answer fan mail.
In July 1972 Joe Howard retired from business, and he and Priscilla moved to their summer home at 7 Howards Grove in Derry, New HampshireDerry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,021 at the 2000 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the fourth most-populous community in New Hampshire....
. Joe Howard died suddenly on May 18, 1976, aged 60. He was still in the Air Force Reserve, which he had joined after his discharge from active duty in 1946. Heart broken, Priscilla remained in Derry. She said, more than a year later in 1977, "I'm still trying to pull myself together after Joe's death." She busied herself with volunteer work and her garden.
Deaths
- Leota died following open-heart surgery on July 25, 1963 in Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, aged 59.
- Lola died of arterial disease on June 22, 1981 in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's...
, aged 75.
- Rosemary had just turned sixty and was living quietly in retirement in Pacific Palisades when she died on November 25, 1974, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. The cause was a cerebral blood clot, stemming from diabetes and chronic pulmonary obstruction. Services were held at Santa Monica, and for unknown reasons, Rosemary was buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.
- Priscilla was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which is the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells...
in 1994. She moved to a nursing home, Wingate, in Andover, near her son Joe and his family. She died there at 7:30 a.m. on April 4, 1995 from lung cancer and chronic heart failure, aged 79. A funeral mass was celebrated at St. Matthew's church in Windham, New HampshireWindham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 10,709 at the 2000 census.- History :Named after Sir Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, who was a member of Parliament from 1734 to 1750 and Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1761 to...
and burial followed at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery, in Arlington County, Virginia is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington. The...
. Her husband had served his country for nearly forty years and was buried there with full military honors. Priscilla was laid to rest beside him.
Cultural references
In episode 9 of the "Topsy Turvy World" sequence of The Bullwinkle ShowThe Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate American television animated series: Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show . Rocky & Bullwinkle enjoyed great popularity during the 1960s. Much of this success was a result of it being targeted towards both children and...
, Boris BadenovBoris Badenov is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
gives Natasha FataleNatasha Fatale is a fictional character in the 1960s animated cartoons Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle for short...
three guesses as to who lives at the North Pole. She uses all three guesses in one reply, "Santa Claus, Judge Crater, and the Lane Sisters."
Lois LaneLois Joanne Lane-Kent is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, Superman's girlfriend, was named after Lola Lane, who played "Torchy Blane" a fictional reporter who inspired Lois' character, in one of the 1930s films.
The address of host Lionel Twain (played by Truman CapoteTruman Garcia Capote , born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel"...
) in Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
's Murder By DeathMurder by Death is a comedy movie with a star-studded cast, written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore.The plot is a spoof of the traditional country-house whodunit, familiar to mystery fiction fans from classics such as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, a form also parodied for...
is shown on the invitations in the beginning of the movie as "22 Lola Lane".
Lola Lane
- They Made Me a Killer
They Made Me a Killer is a 1946 B-movie. The film was made by Pine-Thomas, the B-movie unit of Paramount Pictures.- Plot :Tom Durling quits his job and drives across country after his brother is killed in an accident. He gives an attractive girl a ride and he's forced at gun point to be the...
(1946) .... Betty Ford
- Deadline at Dawn
Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novella by Cornell Woolrich . The RKO Radio Picture was the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate,...
(1946) .... Edna Bartelli
- Why Girls Leave Home (1945) .... Irene Mitchell
- Steppin' in Society (1945) .... The Duchess
- Identity Unknown (1945) .... Wanda
- Buckskin Frontier (1943) .... Rita Molyneaux
- Lost Canyon (1942) .... Laura Clark
- Miss V from Moscow (1942) .... Vera Marova, posing as Greta Hiller
- Mystery Ship (1941) .... Patricia Marshall
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
- Girls of the Road (1940) .... Elly
- Gangs of Chicago (1940) .... June Whitaker
- Zanzibar (1940) .... Jan Browning
- Convicted Woman (1940) .... Hazel Wren
- Four Wives (1939) .... Thea Lemp Crowley
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Linda Masters
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Thea Lemp
- Mr. Chump (1938) .... Jane Mason
- When Were You Born (1938) .... Nita Kenton (Cancer)
- Torchy Blane in Panama (1938) .... Torchy Blane
- Hollywood Hotel
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American film, directed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Ted Healy. Ronald Reagan and Benny Goodman also appear.- Production :...
(1937) .... Mona Marshall
- The Sheik Steps Out (1937) .... Phyllis 'Flip' Murdock
- Marked Woman
Marked Woman is a crime melodrama film released by Warner Brothers Studios in 1937.It was directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starred Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lola Lane, Isabel Jewell, Mayo Methot, Eduardo Ciannelli, Rosalind Marquis, Jane Bryan and Allen Jenkins.The film proved to be a major success...
(1937) .... Dorothy 'Gabby' Marvin
- In Paris, A.W.O.L. (1936) .... Lola
- His Night Out (1935) .... Lola
- Death from a Distance
- Cast :*Russell Hopton*Lola Lane*George F. Marion*Lee Kohlmar*John St. Polis*Lew Kelly*E.H. Calvert*Wheeler Oakman*Robert Frazer*Cornelius Keefe*John Davidson*John Dilson...
(1935) .... Kay Palmer
- Alias Mary Dow (1935) .... Minna
- Murder on a Honeymoon
Murder on a Honeymoon is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver and James Gleason. This was the third and last time Oliver portrayed astute schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers, who in this film witnesses the death of an airplane passenger...
(1935) .... Phyllis La Font
- Burn 'Em Up Barnes
Burn 'Em Up Barnes is a Mascot movie serial. It was a loose remake of the 1921 film of the same name.-Cast:*Jack Mulhall as Burn-'em-Up Barnes, racing driver nicknamed the "King of the Dirt Track" and shortly the co-owner of the Temple Barnes Transportation school bus company*Frankie Darro as...
(1934) .... Marjorie Temple
- Ticket to a Crime (1934) .... Peggy Cummings
- Port of Lost Dreams (1934) .... Molly Deshon/Molly Clark Christensen
- The Woman Condemned (1934) .... Jane Merrick
- Public Stenographer (1934) .... Ann McNair
- The Woman Who Dared (1933) .... Kay Wilson
- Ex-Bad Boy (1931) .... Letta Lardo
- Hell Bound (1931) .... Platinum Reed
- The Costello Case (1930) .... Mollie
- Good News
Good News is the title of two American MGM musical films based on the 1927 stage production of the same name.The first, released in 1930, was directed by Nick Grinde. The cast included Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards and Penny Singleton. The film was shot in black-and-white, although the finale was in...
(1930) .... Patricia Bingham
- The Big Fight (1930) .... Shirly
- Let's Go Places (1930) .... Marjorie Lorraine
- The Girl from Havana (1929) .... Joan Anders
- Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, aka Apollo! Apollo! , Follie del giorno Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 is a 1929 black and white American musical film.-Cast:...
(1929) .... Lila Beaumont
- Speakeasy
Speakeasy was a 1929 sports film drama directed by Benjamin Stoloff adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Edwin J. Burke. Lola Lane and Paul Page played the lead roles and the film also starred John Wayne who had a minor role in the film at age 22....
(1929) .... Alice Woods
Rosemary Lane
- Sing Me a Song of Texas (1945) .... Laurie Lang
- Trocadero (1944) .... Judy
- Harvest Melody (1943) .... Gilda Parker
- All by Myself
"All by Myself" is a power ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975.The verse borrows very heavily from the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18, which Carmen believed was in the public domain...
(1943) .... Val Stevenson
- Chatterbox
- In music :* "Chatterbox", a song by composer Jerome Brainin for the musical film That’s Right You’re Wrong * Chatterbox , a 1990 album by Toadies frontman Todd Lewis and guitarist Darrel Herbert...
(1943) .... Carol Forrest
- Time Out for Rhythm
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallee, Ann Miller and The Three Stooges.-Plot:Harvard educated Danny Collins and street-wise Mike Armstrong team up after a chance meeting to form the most successful talent agency in New York City...
(1941) .... Frances Lewis
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Kay Lemp Forrest
- Always a Bride (1940) .... Alice Bond
- The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a 1940 musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, based on the play The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction by Jack Otterson...
(1940) .... Phyllis
- Ladies Must Live (1940) .... Pat Halliday
- An Angel from Texas (1940) .... Lydia Weston
- Four Wives (1939) .... Kay Lemp
- The Return of Doctor X
The Return of Doctor X is a horror film starring Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, and Humphrey Bogart as the title character. It was based on the short story "The Doctor's Secret" by William J. Makin. Despite supposedly being a sequel to Doctor X, the films are unrelated.-Plot:Dr...
(1939) .... Joan Vance
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Tinka Masters
- The Oklahoma Kid
The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The movie was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his black-clad and viciously villainous nemesis...
(1939) .... Jane Hardwick
- Blackwell's Island (1939) .... Mary 'Sunny' Walsh
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Kay Lemp
- Gold Diggers in Paris
Gold Diggers in Paris is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:...
(1938) .... Kay Morrow
- Hollywood Hotel
The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hostelry and landmark located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orchid Avenues in Hollywood, California, USA.-History:...
(1937) .... Virginia Stanton
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Barbara 'Babs' Steward
Priscilla Lane
- Bodyguard (1948) .... Doris Brewster
- Fun on a Weekend (1947) .... Nancy Crane
- Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
(1944) .... Elaine Harper
- The Meanest Man in the World (1943) .... Janie Brown
- Silver Queen
Silver Queen is a 1942 Western film directed by Lloyd Bacon. It was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Art Direction . -Cast:* George Brent - James Kincaid* Priscilla Lane - Coralie Adams...
(1942) .... Coralie Adams
- Saboteur
Saboteur is a 1942 Universal film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker. The movie stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, and Norman Lloyd...
(1942) .... Patricia Pat Martin
- Blues in the Night
Blues in the Night is musical film released by Warner Brothers, directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Priscilla Lane, Richard Whorf, Betty Field, Lloyd Nolan, Elia Kazan, and Jack Carson. The project began filming with the working title Hot Nocturne but was eventually named after its principal...
(1941) .... Ginger 'Character' Powell
- Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 1941 romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn.-Plot:...
(1941) .... Pamela 'Pam' McAllister
- Four Mothers (1941) .... Ann Lemp Deitz
- Three Cheers for the Irish (1940) .... Maureen Casey
- Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Wives (1939) .... Ann Lemp Dietz
- The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
(1939) .... Jean Sherman, later Jean Hart
- Dust Be My Destiny
Dust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Cast:*John Garfield as Joe Bell*Priscilla Lane as Mabel Alden*Alan Hale as Michael Leonard...
(1939) .... Mabel Alden
- Daughters Courageous
Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. It also starred John Garfield and Claude Rains...
(1939) .... Buff Masters
- Yes, My Darling Daughter
Yes, My Darling Daughter is a 1941 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program, as well as Shore's first record...
(1939) .... Ellen Murray
- Brother Rat
Brother Rat is a 1938 film about students at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
(1938) .... Joyce Winfree
- Four Daughters
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. It stars the Lane Sisters plus Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn,...
(1938) .... Ann Lemp
- Cowboy from Brooklyn
Cowboy from Brooklyn is a 1938 American film.Ronald Reagan starred in the film.- Plot :Singer Elly Jordan, a Brooklyn man who is terrified of animals, ends up broke along with his two musical partners at Hardy's Dude Ranch in Two Bits, Wyoming. The Hardys, Ma and Pop, daughter Jane and son Jeff,...
(1938) .... Jane Hardy
- Men Are Such Fools (1938) .... Linda Lawrence Hall
- Love, Honor and Behave (1938) .... Barbara Blake
- Varsity Show
The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia University and certainly its oldest performing arts presentation. Founded in 1894 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series...
(1937) .... Betty Bradley
External links