Ann Harding

Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley, August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was one of the first actresses to gain fame in the new medium of "talking pictures", and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her work in Holiday.

Ann Harding
Ann Harding in 1930
Born	Dorothy Walton Gatley August 7, 1902 San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 1, 1981 (aged 79) Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1921–1965
Spouse(s)	Harry Bannister ​ ​ (m. 1926; div. 1932)​ Werner Janssen ​ ​ (m. 1937; div. 1962)​
Children	2

Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley, and was the daughter of a prominent United States Army officer. She was raised primarily in East Orange, New Jersey and graduated from East Orange High School. Having gained her initial acting experience in school drama classes, she decided on a career as an actress and moved to New York City. Because her father opposed her career choice, she used the stage name Ann Harding.

After initial work as a script reader, Harding began to win roles on Broadway and in regional theaters, primarily in Pennsylvania. She moved to California to begin working in movies, which were just then beginning to include sound. Her work in plays had given her notable diction and stage presence, and she became a leading lady. By the late 1930s, she was becoming stereotyped as the beautiful, innocent, self-sacrificing woman, and film work became harder for her to obtain. After marrying conductor Werner Janssen in 1937, she worked only sporadically, with two notable roles coming in Eyes in the Night (1942) and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956).

Harding also worked occasionally in television between 1955 and 1965, and she appeared in two plays in the early 1960s, returning to the stage after an absence of over 30 years, including the lead in "The Corn is Green" in 1964 at the Studio Theater in Buffalo, New York. After her 1965 retirement, she resided in Sherman Oaks, California. She died there in 1981, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park -- Hollywood Hills.

Early years

Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas to George G. Gatley, a career army officer, and Elizabeth "Bessie" Walton (Crabb) Gatley. After travelling often during her early life because of her father's career, she grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, graduated from East Orange High School,[1] and attended Bryn Mawr College.[2]

Because her father "violently opposed her profession", Harding changed her name when she began her acting career.[2]

Career

Harding's initial employment in the entertainment industry was as a script reader. She began acting and made her Broadway debut in Like a King in 1921.[3] Three years later she found her "home theater" in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, after being directed by Hedgerow Theatre founder Jasper Deeter[4] in The Master Builder. Over the years she returned to Hedgerow to reprise several of her roles. She soon became a leading lady; like other leading actresses of the day, she kept in shape by using the services of Sylvia of Hollywood.[5] She was a prominent actress in Pittsburgh theatre for a time, performing with the Sharp Company and later starting the Nixon Players with Harry Bannister.[6] In 1929, she made her film debut in Paris Bound, opposite Fredric March.[7] In 1931, she purchased the Hedgerow Theatre building from Deeter for $5,000 and donated it to the company.

Leslie Howard and Ann Harding in The Animal Kingdom, 1932

First under contract to Pathé, which was subsequently absorbed by RKO Pictures, Harding was promoted as the studio's 'answer' to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's superstar Norma Shearer.[8] She co-starred with Ronald Colman, Laurence Olivier, Myrna Loy, Herbert Marshall, Leslie Howard, Richard Dix, and Gary Cooper, and was often on loan to other studios, such as MGM and Paramount. At RKO, Harding, along with Helen Twelvetrees and Constance Bennett, comprised a trio who specialized in the "women's pictures" genre.

Harding's performances were often heralded by the critics, who cited her diction and stage experience as assets to the then-new medium of "talking pictures". Harding's second film was Her Private Affair, in which she portrayed a wife of questionable morality. The film was an enormous commercial success. During this period, she was generally considered to be one of cinema's most beautiful actresses, with her waist-length blonde hair being one of her most noted physical attributes. Films during her peak include The Animal Kingdom, Peter Ibbetson, When Ladies Meet, The Flame Within, and Biography of a Bachelor Girl. Harding, however, eventually became stereotyped as the innocent, self-sacrificing young woman. Following lukewarm responses by both critics and the public to several of her later 1930s films, she eventually stopped making movies after she married the conductor Werner Janssen in 1937. She returned to the big screen in 1942 to make Eyes in the Night and to take secondary roles in other films. She played "Mary", the estranged wife of Charlie Ruggles, in the Christmas film "It Happened on Fifth Avenue" in 1947. In 1956, she again starred with Fredric March, this time in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

The 1960s marked Harding's return to Broadway after an absence of decades—having last appeared in 1927. In 1962, she starred in General Seeger, directed by and co-starring George C. Scott, and in 1964 she appeared in Abraham Cochrane ("her last New York stage appearance").[7] Both productions had brief runs, with the former play lasting a mere three performances (including previews). Harding made her final acting performance in 1965 in an episode of television's Ben Casey before retiring.

Personal life

Harding was married twice, her husbands being:

• Harry Bannister,[4] an actor. They married in 1926 and divorced in 1932 in Reno, Nevada. A New York Times article (8 May 1932) about the divorce stated that the actress still loved her husband and only agreed to a divorce to help Bannister's stymied career. "The proceedings were among the most unusual in the history of Nevada's liberal divorce laws," the newspaper reported. "Only through dissolution of their marriage could he escape, they said, from being overshadowed by Miss Harding's rise to stardom." The divorce also resulted in what was described as "a bitter court fight ... over custody of their daughter,"[9] Jane Harding (1928-2005, Mrs Alfred P. Otto, Jr.). According to an interview with Harding's biographer, Scott O'Brien, Jane Harding said, "I had a terrible childhood. I hated my nurse. I never saw Mother. She was always busy."[10]
• Werner Janssen, the conductor.[11] Harding and Janssen married in 1937 and divorced in 1963, with Harding claiming that her husband had controlled her throughout their marriage, keeping her from her friends and isolating her from the world.[12] By this marriage, Harding had two stepchildren, Alice and Werner Jr.[13]

In the early 1960s, Harding began living with Grace Kaye, an adult companion, later known as Grace Kaye Harding.[14] Harding referred to Kaye as her daughter.[15]

Among Harding's romances was the novelist and screenwriter Gene Fowler.[16]

Death

On September 1, 1981, Harding died at the age of 79 in Sherman Oaks, California.[9] After cremation, her urn was placed in the Court of Remembrance wall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California.

She was survived by a daughter and four grandchildren.[9]

Recognition

Harding was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Holiday in 1931.[17] For her contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Harding has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — one in the Motion Pictures section 6201 Hollywood Boulevard and one in the Television section at 6850 Hollywood Boulevard.[18]

Broadway stage credits

Date	Production	Role
October 3, 1921 – Oct 1921	Like a King	Phyllis Weston
October 1, 1923 – May 1924	Tarnish	Letitia Tevis
September 8, 1924 – September 1924	Thoroughbreds	Sue
October 7, 1925 – December 1925	Stolen Fruit	Marie Millais
March 23, 1926 – April 1926	Schweiger	Anna Schweiger
September 28, 1926 – March 1927	The Woman Disputed	Marie-Ange
September 19, 1927 – October 1927	The Trial of Mary Dugan	Mary Dugan
February 28, 1962 – March 1, 1962	General Seeger	Rena Seeger
February 17, 1964 – February 17, 1964	Abraham Cochrane	Myra Holliday

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1929	Paris Bound	Mary Hutton
	Her Private Affair	Vera Kessler	Co-starred Harry Bannister
	Condemned	Madame Vidal	US reissue title: Condemned to Devil's Island, Co-starred Ronald Colman
1930	Holiday	Linda Seton	Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
	The Girl of the Golden West	Minnie
1931	East Lynne	Lady Isabella	The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar
	Devotion	Shirley Mortimer	co-star Leslie Howard
1932	Prestige	Therese Du Flos Verlaine
	Westward Passage	Olivia Van Tyne Allen Ottendorf	Co-starred Laurence Olivier
	The Conquerors	Caroline Ogden Standish	US reissue title: Pioneer Builders
	The Animal Kingdom	Daisy Sage	UK Title: The Woman in His House, Co-starred Leslie Howard
1933	When Ladies Meet	Claire Woodruff	Co-starred Myrna Loy
	Double Harness	Joan Colby	Co-starred William Powell
	The Right to Romance	Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Simmons	Co-starred Robert Young
1934	Gallant Lady	Sally Wyndham
	The Life of Vergie Winters	Vergie Winters aka Virginia Wood
	The Fountain	Julie von Marwitz
	The Hollywood Gad About	Herself	Short subject
1935	Biography of a Bachelor Girl	Marion Forsythe
	Enchanted April	Mrs. Lotty Wilkins
	The Flame Within	Doctor Mary White
	Peter Ibbetson	Mary, Duchess of Towers	Co-starred Gary Cooper
1936	The Lady Consents	Anne Talbot
	The Witness Chair	Paula Young
1937	Love from a Stranger	Carol Howard	US title: A Night of Terror, Co-starred Basil Rathbone
1942	Eyes in the Night	Norma Lawry	Starred Edward Arnold
1943	Mission to Moscow	Mrs. Marjorie Davies
	The North Star	Sophia Pavlova	US recut version: Armored Attack
1944	Nine Girls	Gracie Thornton
	Janie	Lucille Conway
1945	Those Endearing Young Charms	Mrs. Brandt (Captain)
1946	Janie Gets Married	Lucille Conway
1947	It Happened on 5th Avenue	Mary O'Connor
	Christmas Eve	Aunt Matilda Reed	US reissue title: Sinner's Holiday
1950	The Magnificent Yankee	Fanny Bowditch Holmes	Co-starred Louis Calhern
	Two Weeks with Love	Katherine Robinson
1951	The Unknown Man	Stella Mason	US title: The Bradley Mason Story
1956	The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit	Helen Hopkins	Starred Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones
	I've Lived Before	Mrs. Jane Stone
	Strange Intruder	Mary Carmichael

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Crossroads	Hulda Lund	1 episode
	Studio 57	Martha Halstead	1 episode
1956	Front Row Center	Grammie	1 episode
1959	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Naomi	1 episode, "Ruth and Naomi"
1961	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Sarah Hale	Episode 07x12: ″A Jury of Her Peers″
1963	The Defenders	Helen Bernard	1 episode
	Burke's Law	Annabelle Rogers	1 episode
1964	Dr. Kildare	Mae Priest	1 episode
1965	Ben Casey	Edith Sommers	1 episode

References

1. Percy, Eileen. "Durante Will Be Made an M. G. M. Star; 'Schnozzle; Has Set Record for Saving Pictures.", The Milwaukee Sentinel, October 26, 1932. "Ann Harding began hers 15 years ago in a dramatic class at East Orange High School."
2. Aaker, Everett (2013). George Raft: The Films. McFarland. p. 127. ISBN 9780786466467. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
3. "Like a King cast". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
4. "They Done Her Wrong". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. February 10, 1935. p. 55. Retrieved July 12, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Hollywood Undressed: Observations of Sylvia As Noted by Her Secretary (1931) Brentano’s.
6. Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 105–106. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
7. Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 308–309. ISBN 9781557835512. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
8. Carman, Emily (2015). Independent Stardom: Freelance Women in the Hollywood Studio System. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477307335. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
9. Lawson, Carol (September 4, 1981). "Ann Harding, Actress Hailed for Roles as Elegant Women". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
10. http://streamline.filmstruck.com/2010/12/08/ann-harding-a-q-a-with-biographer-scott-obrien/
11. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/04/obituaries/ann-harding-actress-hailed-for-roles-as-elegant-women.html
12. O'Brien, Scott. Ann Harding: Cinema's Gallant Lady (Bear Manor, 2010), page 465)
13. O'Brien, Scott. Ann Harding: Cinema's Gallant Lady (Bear Manor, 2010), pages 354)
14. O'Brien, Scott. Ann Harding: Cinema's Gallant Lady (Bear Manor, 2010), pages 499-510)
15. O'Brien, Scott. Ann Harding: Cinema's Gallant Lady (Bear Manor, 2010), page 505)
16. O'Brien, Scott. Ann Harding: Cinema's Gallant Lady (Bear Manor, 2010), pages 292+)
17. "("Ann Harding" search results)". Academy Awards Database. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
18. "Ann Harding". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.

External links

• Ann Harding at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ann Harding at IMDb
• Photographs of Ann Harding
• General Seeger
• Ann Harding at Find a Grave