Gwili Andre

Gwili Andre (born Gurli Ingeborg Elna Andresen, 4 February 1907 – 5 February 1959) was a Danish model and actress who had a brief career in Hollywood films. (Another source gives her birth date as 4 February 1907.)[1]

Gwili Andre
Andre in 1932
Born
Gurli Ingeborg Elna Andresen

(1907-02-04)4 February 1907
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died5 February 1959(1959-02-05) (aged 52)
Venice, California, U.S.
Cause of deathInjuries sustained in house fire
NationalityDanish
Other namesGwili Mlotkowski
Gwili A. Cross
OccupationModel, actress
Years active1932–1942
Spouse(s)
Stanisŀaw Mlotkowski
​
​
(m. 1929; div. 1935)​

William Dallas Cross, Jr.
​
​
(m. 1940; div. 1948)​
Children1

Early years

Born in Frederiksberg, Andre had two sisters. Her parents were Carl Axel Andresen b. 1880 and Emma Marie Ellen Sørensen Bruun b. 1884, they married in 1904. Her parents divorced, and her father remarried in 1917.[1]

Career

Andre came to Hollywood in the early 1930s with the intention of establishing herself as a film star after working as model in Europe. In 1930, she moved to New York City with her first husband where she was reportedly spotted by David O. Selznick at the premiere of a Broadway show. Selznick was taken by her beauty and arranged for a screen test.[2]

She was signed to RKO Studio and, in 1932 appeared in Roar of the Dragon[3] and Secrets of the French Police.[4] While her striking looks were likened to that of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich,[4]:268 her acting garnered poor reviews. One newspaper columnist called her "stiff, colorless and completely talentless performer." Despite the poor reviews of her acting, RKO began using her glamorous looks to promote her career.[5] A widespread publicity campaign ensured that her name and face became well known to the American public, but her next role in No Other Woman (1933), opposite Irene Dunne, was not the success the studio expected. Over the next few years she was relegated to supporting roles which included a role in the Joan Crawford picture A Woman's Face (1941).[6]

Personal life

Andre was married twice. She was married to realtor Stanisław Mlotkowski in 1929. They separated in 1930, and divorced in 1935.[7] Andre then married engineer William Dallas Cross, Jr. in 1943.[2] They had a son, Peter Lance Cross, in February 1944. They divorced in 1948.[5]

Later years and death

By the early 1940s, Andre's film career had come to a standstill. Her final role was a minor part in one of the popular Falcon series, The Falcon's Brother in 1942. She did not return to the screen, although she spent the rest of her life trying to orchestrate a comeback. Andre returned to her native Denmark with her son after her divorce from William Cross, Jr. but returned to New York City in 1954. She eventually moved back to California.

On 5 February 1959, Andre died in a fire that started in her Venice, California apartment[8] where she lived alone. The cause of the fire was never determined.[5] Upon her death, she was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California,[9] and her ashes sent for burial at Søndermark Cemetery in Copenhagen, Denmark.[10]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1932 Roar of the Dragon Natascha
1932 Secrets of the French Police Eugenie Dorain
1933 No Other Woman Margot Van Deering
1937 Meet the Boyfriend Vilma Vlare
1937 The Girl Said No Gretchen Holman
1941 A Woman's Face Gusta
1942 The Falcon's Brother Diane Medford (final film role)

References
  1. Wagner, Laura (Summer 2014). "Gwili Andre: An Ideal Model". Films of the Golden Age (77): 63–64.
  2. Wollstein, Hans J. (1994). Strangers in Hollywood: The History of Scandinavian Actors in American Films From 1910 To World War II. Scarecrow Press. pp. 18–20. ISBN 0-810-82938-X.
  3. Richards, Jeffrey (2016). China and the Chinese in Popular Film: From Fu Manchu to Charlie Chan. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781786720641. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  4. Pitts, Michael R. (2015). RKO Radio Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1929-1956. McFarland. p. 267. ISBN 9780786460472. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. "The Private Life and Times of Gwili Andre". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  6. T.s (16 May 1941). "At the Capitol". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. "Reno Divorce Lists for '35 Show Gains Over Year Ago". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. 23 April 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Once a Top Model". The Kansas City Times. Missouri, Kansas City. 7 February 1959. p. 20. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Obituary for Gwili A. Cross". Los Angeles Times. 9 February 1959. p. 84. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
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