Joan Bennett
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| Joan Bennett | |
|---|---|
 Joan Bennett in The Woman in the Window (1944) |
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| Born | Joan Geraldine Bennett February 27, 1910 Palisades Park, New Jersey |
| Died | December 7, 1990 (aged 80) Scarsdale, New York |
| Occupation | Stage, film, TV actress |
| Years active | 1916 to 1982 |
| Spouse(s) | John Marion Fox (1926-1928) Gene Markey (1932-1937) Walter Wanger (1940-1965) David Wilde (1978-1990) |
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an Emmy-nominated American actress.
Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies through the advent of the talkies. She is possibly best-remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in movies by director Fritz Lang.
Bennett had three distinct phases to her long and successful career, first as a winsome blonde ingenue, then as a sensuous brunette femme fatale and, finally, as a warmhearted wife/mother figure.
Her screen career was damaged by scandal in the early 1950s, after her husband shot and injured her agent, with whom she was allegedly having an affair.
In the 1960s, she achieved success for her portrayal of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard on TV's Dark Shadows, for which she received an Emmy nomination.
For her final movie role, as Madame Blanc in Suspiria (1977), she received a Saturn Award nomination.
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[edit] Early life
She was born in Palisades Park, New Jersey, the third of three daughters of actor Richard Bennett and actress/literary agent Adrienne Morrison. Her older sisters were actress Constance Bennett and actress/dancer Barbara Bennett, who was the mother of Morton Downey, Jr.
Part of a famous theatrical family, Joan's maternal grandfather was prominent Shakespearean actor Lewis Morrison, who embarked on a stage career in the late 1860s. On the side of her maternal grandmother, actress Rose Wood, the profession dated back to traveling minstrels in 18th century England.
Joan first appeared in a silent movie as a child with her parents and sisters in her father's drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he adapted for the screen.
She attended Miss Hopkins School for Girls in Manhattan, then St. Margaret's, a boarding school in Waterbury, Connecticut, and L'Hermitage, a finishing school in Versailles, France.
On September 15, 1926, she and John M. Fox were married in London. They were divorced on July 30, 1928 in Los Angeles.[1] They had one child, Adrienne Ralston Fox (whose name later became Diana Bennett Markey,[2] then Diana Bennett Wanger)[3] (born February 20, 1928).
Bennett's stage debut was at age 18, acting with her father in Jarnegan (1928), which ran on Broadway for 136 performances and she received good reviews for. By age 19, she had become a movie star courtesy of such roles as Phyllis Benton in the mystery/thriller talkie Bulldog Drummond starring Ronald Colman, which was her first important role, and as Lady Clarissa Pevensey opposite George Arliss in the biopic Disraeli (both 1929).
[edit] Career
Bennett moved quickly from movie to movie throughout the 1930s. She appeared as a blonde (her natural hair color) for several years. She starred in the role as Dolores Fenton in the United Artists musical Puttin' on the Ritz (1930) opposite Harry Richman and as Faith Mapple, his beloved, opposite John Barrymore in an early sound version of Moby Dick (1930) at Warner Brothers Studios.
Under contract to 20th Century Fox, she appeared in several movies. Receiving top billing, she played the role as Jane Miller opposite Spencer Tracy in She Wanted a Millionaire (1932). She was billed second, after Tracy, for her role as Helen Riley, a personable waitress who trades wisecracks, in Me and My Gal (1932).
On March 16, 1932, she and screenwriter/producer Gene Markey were married in Los Angeles.[4] They were divorced on June 3, 1937, in Los Angeles.[5] They had one child, Melinda Markey (born February 27, 1934).
Bennett left 20th Century Fox to play Amy, a pert sister competing with Katharine Hepburn's Jo in Little Women (1933), which was directed by George Cukor at RKO. This movie brought Bennett to the attention of independent producer Walter Wanger, who signed her to a contract and began managing her career. She played the role as Sally MacGregor, a psychiatrist's young wife slipping into insanity, in Private Worlds (1935) with Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea.
Wanger and director Tay Garnett persuaded Bennett to change her hair from blonde to brunette for her role as Kay Kerrigan in the scenic Trade Winds (1938) opposite Fredric March.
With the change in appearance, she began an entirely new screen career as her persona evolved into that of a glamorous, seductive femme fatale. She played the role as Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) opposite Louis Hayward.
During the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, Bennett was given a screen test and impressed producer David O. Selznick. She was briefly considered a front-runner for the role, but Selznick eventually turned his attention to Paulette Goddard, who was then rejected in favor of Vivien Leigh.
On January 12, 1940, Bennett and Walter Wanger were married in Phoenix.[6] They were divorced in September 1965 in Mexico.[7] They had two children together, Stephanie Wanger (born June 26, 1943) and Shelley Wanger (born July 4, 1948).
Combined with her sultry eyes and husky voice, Bennett's new brunette look gave her an earthier, more arresting personality.
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She won praise in 1940 for her performances as Brenda Bentley in the crime/drama The House Across the Bay opposite George Raft and as Carol Hoffman in the anti-Nazi drama The Man I Married co-starring Francis Lederer.
She then came into her own in a series of highly acclaimed film noir thrillers directed by Fritz Lang, with whom she and Wanger formed their own production company. Bennett appeared in four movies under Lang's direction. Three of these, as Cockney prostitute Jerry Stokes in Man Hunt (1941) opposite Walter Pidgeon, as mysterious model Alice Reed in The Woman in the Window (1945) opposite Edward G. Robinson, and as vulgar blackmailer Katharine "Kitty" March in Scarlet Street (1945) opposite Robinson, established her as a top Hollywood star.
Bennett also won acclaim as the shrewish, cuckolding wife, Margaret Macomber in Zoltan Korda's The Macomber Affair (1947) opposite Gregory Peck, as the deceitful wife, Peggy, in Jean Renoir's The Woman on the Beach (1947) opposite Robert Ryan and Charles Bickford, and as the tormented blackmail victem Lucia Harper in Max Ophüls's The Reckless Moment (1949) opposite James Mason.
Then, easily shifting images again, she changed her screen persona to that of an elegant, witty and nurturing wife and mother in two classic comedies directed by Vincente Minnelli.
Playing the role as Ellie Banks, wife of Spencer Tracy and mother of Elizabeth Taylor, Bennett appeared in both Father of the Bride (1950) and Father's Little Dividend (1951).
She made a number of radio appearances from the 1930s to the 1950s, performing on such programs as The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show and the anthology series Lux Radio Theater. With the increasing popularity of television, Bennett made five guest appearances in 1951, which includes an episode of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca's Your Show of Shows.
[edit] Scandal
For 12 years, Bennett was represented by agent Jennings Lang. She and the onetime vice-president of the Sam Jaffe Agency, who now headed MCA's West Coast television operations, met on the afternoon of December 13, 1951, to talk over an upcoming TV show.[8]
Bennett parked her Cadillac convertible in the lot at the back of the MCA offices, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Rexford Drive, across the street from the Beverly Hills Police Department, and she and Lang drove off in his car.
Meanwhile, Wanger drove by at about 2:30 p.m. and noticed his wife's car parked there. Half an hour later, he again saw her car there and stopped to wait. Bennett and Lang drove into the parking lot a few hours later and he walked her to her convertible. As she started the engine, turned on the headlights and prepared to drive away, Lang leaned on the car, with both hands raised to his shoulders, and talked to her.
In a fit of jealousy, Wanger walked up and twice shot and wounded the unsuspecting agent. One bullet hit Jennings in the right thigh, near the hip, and the other penetrated his groin.
Bennett said she did not see Wanger at first. She said she suddenly saw two livid flashes, then Lang slumped to the ground. As soon as she recognized who had fired the shots, she told Wanger, "Get away and leave us alone." He tossed the pistol into his wife's car.
She and the parking lot's service station manager took Lang to the agent's doctor. He was then taken to a hospital, where he fortunately recovered. The police, who had heard the shots, came to the scene and found the gun in Bennett's car when they took Wanger into custody. Wanger was booked and fingerprinted, and underwent lengthy questioning.
"I shot him because I thought he was breaking up my home," Wanger told the chief of police of Beverly Hills. He was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder.
Bennett denied a romance, however. "But if Walter thinks the relationships between Mr. Lang and myself are romantic or anything but strictly business, he is wrong," she declared. She blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.[9]
The following day Wanger, out on bond, returned to their Holmby Hills home, collected his belongings and moved. Bennett, however, said there would not be a divorce.[10]
On December 14, Bennett issued a statement in which she said she hoped her husband "will not be blamed too much" for wounding her agent. She read the prepared statement in the bedroom of her home to a group of newspapermen while TV cameras recorded the scene.[11]
"I hope Walter will not be blamed too much," she said. "He has been very unhappy and upset for many months, because of money worries, and because of his present bankruptcy proceedings which threaten to wipe out every penny he has ever made during his long and successful career as a producer. We have lived together in my Holmby Hills home some 11 years, together with our two children who love Walter dearly. Jennings Lang has been my agent and close friend for a long time. Walter and I have been close friends of Jennings and his wife Pam and saw them often. I feel confident that Walter would never have given voice to the suspicions expressed by him in the newspapers were it not for the fact that he has been so mentally upset with the complexities of the financial burden he has been carrying for a long time. I never dreamed a marriage that has been as successful as ours for 12 years with a family so lovely as ours would ever be involved in so unhappy a situation. Knowing Hollywood as I do, knowing how good, wholesome, and sincere, by far and away a majority of motion picture people are, I want to express my deep regret that this incident will add to the erroneous opinion entertained by so many."
On the same page of the Los Angeles Times appeared the first statement issued by Jennings Lang, which was given out by his wife, Pam.[12]
"I am bewildered by the unfortunate and unprovoked event that has occurred. I have represented Miss Bennett for many years as her agent, and can only state that Walter Wanger misconstrued what was solely a business relationship. Since there are families and children concerned, I hope this whole regrettable incident can be forgotten as quickly as possible."
Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense. He then decided to waive his rights to a jury and threw himself on the mercy of the court.[13] Wanger served a four-month sentence in the County Honor Farm at Castaic, 39 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles,[14] quickly returning to his career to make a string of intelligent hit movies.
Meanwhile, Bennett went to Chicago to appear on the stage in the role as the young witch Gillian Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle,[15] then went on national tour with the production.
Bennett made only five movies in the decade that followed, as the shooting incident was a stain on her career and she became virtually blacklisted. Blaming the scandal that occurred for destroying her career in the motion picture industry, she once said, "I might as well have pulled the trigger myself." Although Humphrey Bogart, a longtime friend of Bennett's, pleaded with the studio on her behalf to keep her role as Amelie Ducotel in We're No Angels (1955), that movie proved to be one of her last.
As the movie offers dwindled after the scandal, Bennett continued touring in stage successes, such as Susan and God, Once More With Feeling, The Pleasure of His Company and Never Too Late.
Her next TV appearance was in the role as Bettina Blane for an episode of General Electric Theater in 1954. Other roles include Honora in Climax! (1955) and Vickie Maxwell in Playhouse 90 (1957).
She starred on Broadway in the comedy Love Me Little (1958), which ran for only eight performances.
[edit] Later years
Despite the shooting scandal and the damage it caused Bennett's career, she and Wanger remained married until 1965. She continued to work steadily on the stage and in television, including her guest role as Denise Mitchell in an episode of TV's Burke's Law (1965).
Bennett was a cast regular on the gothic daytime television soap opera Dark Shadows, which attracted a major cult TV following, for its entire five year run, 1966 to 1971, receiving an Emmy Award nomination in 1968 for her performance as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, mistress of the haunted Collinwood Mansion.
Her autobiography, The Bennett Playbill, written with Lois Kibbee, was published in 1970.[16]
Other TV guest appearances include Bennett's roles as Joan Darlene Delaney in an episode of The Governor & J.J. (1970) and as Edith in an episode of Love, American Style (1971). She starred in five made-for-TV movies between 1972 and 1982.
Bennett also appeared in a few more movie roles, most notably as Madame Blanc in Italian director Dario Argento's cult movie horror thriller Suspiria (1977), for which she received a 1978 Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
On February 14, 1978, she and retired publisher/movie critic David Wilde were married in White Plains, New York.[17] Their marriage lasted until her death.
Celebrated for not taking herself too seriously, Bennett said in a 1978 interview, "I don't think much of most of the films I made, but being a movie star was something I liked very much."
Joan Bennett died at age 80 from a heart attack at her home in Scarsdale, New York.[18] She is interred in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut,[19] with her parents. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in Motion Pictures, at 6310 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood.
[edit] See also
[edit] Books
- How to Be Attractive, by Joan Bennett, 1943, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 131 pp.
- The Bennett Playbill, by Joan Bennett and Lois Kibbee, 1970, New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 332 pp.
- The Bennetts: An Acting Family, by Brian Kellow, 2004, Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 530 pp.
[edit] References
- ^ Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1928, "Daughter Of Actor Divorced --- Joan Bennett Fox Wins Decree on Charges of Mate's Intoxication," p. A 20
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22, 1936, "Wins Fight Over Daughter's Surname --- Child Given New Name --- Young Daughter Becomes Diana Markey Under Court Decision," p. 3
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Apr. 18, 1944, "Wanger Moves to Adopt Child of Joan Bennett," p. 2
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Mar. 17, 1932, "Bennett Sister Weds Here --- Actress Becomes Scenarist's Bride," p. A 2
- ^ Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1937, "Actress' Marital Tie Cut --- Joan Bennett Granted Divorce From Gene Markey, Writer," p. 3
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Jan. 13, 1940, "Joan Bennett and Wanger Marry in Phoenix Elopement --- Actress and Producer Make Trip by Auto; Announce They'll Return to Hollywood Today," p. 1
- ^ New York Times, Sep. 21, 1965, "Joan Bennett Divorced," p. SU 3_3
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Dec. 14, 1951, "Joan Bennett Sees Mate Shoot Agent --- 'Thought He Was Breaking Up My Home,' Says Wanger --- Jennings Lang Hit by Two Bullets; Actress Denies Any Romance," p. 1
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 1951, "Detectives Shadowed Joan For Months, Says Wanger --- Film Producer Tells Reasons for Jealousy; Divorce Discussed," p. 1
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 1951, "Joan Bennett Hopes Wanger 'Won't Be Blamed Too Much' --- Statement Cites Film Producer's Money Worries," p. A
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 1951, "Jennings Lang Bewildered by Wanger Action," p. A
- ^ Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1952, "Wanger Fate Will Rest On Transcript --- Producer to Escape Open Trial by Letting Judge Decide Case on Grand Jury Evidence," p. 1
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 1952, "Wanger to Be Released From County Jail Today," p. A 1
- ^ Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1952, "Joan Bennett to Play Witch if Wanger Trial Is on Time," p. 4
- ^ New York Times, Nov. 29, 1970, "Her Father's Daughter --- The Bennett Playbill By Joan Bennett and Lois Kibbee," p. 322
- ^ New York Times, Feb. 16, 1978, "Notes on People," p. C 2
- ^ Social Security Death Index, Name: Joan Bennett, Birth: 27 Feb 1910, SSN: 568-16-0948, Issued: California, Death: 07 Dec 1990, Last Residence: 10583 (Scarsdale, Westchester Co., NY).
- ^ New York Times, Dec. 9, 1990, "Joan Bennett, Whose Roles Ripened From Sweet to Siren, Dies at 80," p. 52
[edit] External links
- Joan Bennett at the Internet Movie Database
- Joan Bennett at the Internet Broadway Database
- Joan Bennett at Allmovie
- Joan Bennett at Find A Grave
- Joan Bennett at Turner Classic Movies
- Joan Bennett Photo Gallery
