Gloria Grahame

Gloria Grahame
Grahame in the 1940s
Born
Gloria Penelope Hallward[1]

(1923-11-28)November 28, 1923
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 5, 1981(1981-10-05) (aged 57)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placeOakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
EducationHollywood High School
OccupationActress
Years active1944–1981
Known forOklahoma!
It's a Wonderful Life
The Bad and the Beautiful
Crossfire
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
(m. 1945; div. 1948)
(m. 1948; div. 1952)
(m. 1954; div. 1957)
(m. 1960; div. 1974)
Children4

Gloria Grahame (born Gloria Penelope Hallward; November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American actress. She began her acting career in theater, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM.[2] Many biographies indicated she was born Gloria Grahame Hallward but she adopted the surname Grahame, her mother's acting name, as her professional name.[3] She was raised a Methodist.[4]

Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success and sold her contract to RKO. Often cast in film noir projects, Grahame was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire (1947), and later won the award for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). After starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place (1950), she achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear (1952), The Big Heat (1953), Human Desire (1954), and Oklahoma! (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards. She returned to work on the stage, but continued to appear in films and television productions, usually in supporting roles.[5]

In 1974, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It went into remission less than a year later and Grahame returned to work. In 1980, the cancer returned, but Grahame refused to accept the diagnosis or seek treatment. Choosing instead to continue working, she traveled to the United Kingdom to appear in a play. Her health, however, declined rapidly. At her family's insistence, she returned to New York, dying the same day, October 5, 1981, at St. Vincent's Hospital at the age of 57.

  1. ^ "U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference eunice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Flashback: Gloria Grahame". Beaver County Times. August 11, 1991. p. 7. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "About FUMC". First United Methodist Church, Eunice, Louisiana. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference remembering was invoked but never defined (see the help page).