Gloria Grahame

She seems to have been born to act in crime and noir movies, something she did with bravura, and becoming memorable in some classic movies from the late 1940's to mid-1950's.
Early in her acting career she was under MGM contract, but they didn't know what to do with her, even after a substantial role in what has later become a Christmas classic. They sold her contract to RKO just like that, resulting in an Oscar nomination.
Her great period was from the late 1940 to the mid-1950's, but she continued to act, even in horror movies and on television, until she died.
She was a subject of the movie Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool 2017, based on a novel by Peter Turner, first published in 1987.
This year we celebrate her birth date 100 years ago in Los Angeles, California.



Gloria Grahame (1923-1981)


Here are examples from here career...


Movie debut in Blond Fever 1944 co-starring Philip Dorn and Mary Astor.


As Violet in Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life 1946.


With Red Skelton in Merton of the Movies 1947.


Crossfire 1947 gave her an Oscar nomination, her first at RKO.


With Bogart in In a Lonely Place 1950.


Cecil B. DeMille circus extravaganza The Greatest Show on Earth 1952.


Sudden Fear 1952 co-starring Jack Palance and Joan Crawford.


The Bad and the Beautiful 1952, earning an Oscar supporting actress award, made at MGM, the studio that once rejected her.


With Italian import Vittorio Gassman in The Glass Wall 1953. (think it was in 3-D).


What hot coffee can do, The Big Heat 1953


In British thriller The Good Die Young 1954, co-starring Laurence Harvey and Richard Basehart.


Human Desire 1954 co-starring Glenn Ford.


Vincente Minnelli's all-star The Cobweb 1955.


Stanley Kramer's all-star Not as a Stranger 1955


As Ado Annie in musical Oklahoma! 1955, rumors have it that she was very troublesome on set and alienated all her co-stars.


British war-drama based on real events, The Man Who Never Was 1956

After the mid-1950's her career and attraction went downhill, and movie roles became few...


One exception was Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow 1959

From 1961 she started acting in TV episodes, something she continued to do until she passed away.


Ride Beyond Vengeance 1966, co-starring Chuck Connors and Bill Bixby, first movie in seven years.


First leading role in years, in low-budget horror movie Blood and Lace 1968.


Another horror was Mansion of the Doomed 1976 co-starring Richard Basehart.


Her screen farewell came in yet another horror movie, The Nesting 1981, co-starring horror movie nestor John Carradine,


Last acting role was on British TV-series Tales of the Unexpected episode Sauce for the Goose 1984, not broadcasted until nearly three years after her death.


First published in 2011



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