American actress
For the fictional literary character she played, see
Anne Shirley .
Anne Shirley
Born Dawn Evelyn Paris
(1918-04-17 ) April 17, 1918New York City, NY, U.S.
Died July 4, 1993(1993-07-04) (aged 75) Other names Dawn O'Day Occupation Actress Years active 1922–1944 Known for Spouses Children 2, including Julie Payne Awards Hollywood Walk of Fame
Anne Shirley (born Dawn Evelyn Paris ; April 17, 1918 – July 4, 1993) was an American actress.
Beginning her career as a child actress under the stage name Dawn O'Day , she adopted the stage name of Anne Shirley after playing the title character in the film adaptation of Anne of Green Gables in 1934,[ 1] after which she achieved a successful career in supporting roles. Among her films is Stella Dallas (1937), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress .
Shirley left the acting profession in 1944 at the age of 26 and remained in Los Angeles, where she died at the age of 75.[ 2]
Early life
Born in New York City as Dawn Evelyn Paris,[ 2] Shirley began modeling as a baby and made her film debut with a featured role in Moonshine Valley (1922).[ 3] She began acting at the age of five as the live-action Alice in Walt Disney 's silent animated series Alice in Cartoonland . Shirley had a highly successful career in pre-Code films such as Liliom , Riders of the Purple Sage , So Big , Three on a Match and Rasputin and the Empress .
Career
John Beal and Anne Shirley in 1936.
In 1934, Shirley starred as the character of Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables and took that character's name as her legal and stage name.[ 4]
She starred in Steamboat Round the Bend , Make Way for a Lady and Stella Dallas , for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . Her later roles came in films such as Vigil in the Night , Anne of Windy Poplars , The Devil and Daniel Webster and Murder, My Sweet , her final film.
Critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised Shirley's performance in Saturday's Children (1940), writing that she played her role "with heroic integrity and strength of character."[ 5]
Personal life
Shirley married actor John Payne on August 22, 1937, in Montecito, California .[ 6] They had a daughter, former actress Julie Payne , and divorced in 1943.[ 7]
Her second husband was film producer and screenwriter Adrian Scott . When he was blacklisted and wanted to move the family to Europe, Shirley opted to remain in the U.S. The couple divorced in 1949.[ 8]
Her third husband was Charles Lederer , nephew of Marion Davies . They had one son, Daniel Lederer.[ 7]
Shirley had brief relationships with younger Western star Rory Calhoun and with French film star Jean-Pierre Aumont .
Shirley died from lung cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 75 on July 4, 1993, and was cremated.[ 7] For her contributions to the motion-picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Blvd.
Filmography
Shirley as "Alice", with Julius the Cat , in a scene from Alice's Egg Plant (1925)
Shirley in Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1922
The Hidden Woman
Girl
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
Moonshine Valley
Nancy
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
1923
The Rustle of Silk
Girl
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
The Spanish Dancer
Don Balthazar Carlos
as Dawn O'Day
1924
The Man Who Fights Alone
Dorothy
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
The Fast Set
Little Margaret
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
1925
Riders of the Purple Sage
Fay Larkin
uncredited
Alice's Egg Plant
Alice
Short subject as Dawn O'Day
1927
The Callahans and the Murphys
Mary Callahan
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
Night Life
Daughter of War Profiteer
as Dawn O'Day
1928
Mother Knows Best
Sally, as a child
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
4 Devils
Marion, as a girl
as Dawn O'Day Lost film
Sins of the Fathers
Mary, as a child
as Dawn O'Day
1930
City Girl
Marie Tustine
as Dawn O'Day
Liliom
Louise
as Dawn O'Day
1931
Gun Smoke
Horton's Daughter
as Dawn O'Day
Hello Napoleon
The Little Girl
short, as Dawn O'Day
Howdy Mate
-
short, as Dawn O'Day
Rich Man's Folly
Anne, as a child
as Dawn O'Day
1932
Emma
Isabelle as a Child
uncredited
Young America
Mabel Saunders
as Dawn O'Day
So Big!
Selina Peake, as a Child
uncredited
The Purchase Price
Sarah Tipton, the Daughter
uncredited
Three on a Match
Vivian Revere as a Child
as Dawn O'Day
Rasputin and the Empress
Princess Anastasia
uncredited
1933
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
Mary Lou
uncredited
1934
This Side of Heaven
Flower Girl
scenes deleted, as Dawn O'Day
School for Girls
Catherine Fogarty
Finishing School
Billie
as Dawn O'Day
The Key
Flower Girl
as Dawn O'Day
Bachelor Bait
Miriam Ann Johnson, Marriage License Applicant
uncredited
Anne of Green Gables
Anne Shirley
Picture Palace
Dawn
short, as Dawn O'Day
Private Lessons
Dawn
short, as Dawn O'Day
1935
Chasing Yesterday
Jeanne Alexandre
Steamboat Round the Bend
Fleety Belle
1936
Chatterbox
Jenny Yates
M'Liss
M'liss Smith
Make Way for a Lady
June Drew
1937
Too Many Wives
Betty Jackson
Meet the Missus
Louise Foster
Stella Dallas
Laurel "Lollie" Dallas
nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1938
Condemned Women
Millie Anson
Law of the Underworld
Annabelle Porter
Mother Carey's Chickens
Nancy Carey
Girls' School
Natalie Freeman
A Man to Remember
Jean Johnson
1939
Boy Slaves
Annie
Sorority House
Alice Fisher
Career
Sylvia Bartholomew
1940
Vigil in the Night
Lucy Lee
Saturday's Children
Bobby Halevy
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne Shirley
1941
West Point Widow
Nancy Hull
Unexpected Uncle
Kathleen Brown
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Mary Stone
1942
Four Jacks and a Jill
Karanina 'Nina' Novak
The Mayor of 44th Street
Jessey Lee
1943
Lady Bodyguard
A.C. Baker
The Powers Girl
Ellen Evans
Bombardier
Burton Hughes
Government Girl
May Harness Blake
1944
Man from Frisco
Diana Kennedy
Music in Manhattan
Frankie Foster
Murder, My Sweet
Anne Grayle
final film role
Awards and nominations
References
^ "Anne Shirley At Weller" . The Times Recorder . Zanesville, Ohio. July 7, 1940. p. 16. Retrieved July 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .[dead link ]
^ a b Shipman, David (October 22, 2011). "Obituary: Anne Shirley" . The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved November 1, 2015 .
^ "Information Desk" . Modern Screen . Vol. 11, no. 2. July 1935. p. 10. Retrieved November 1, 2015 .
^ "Venus em Flor" . Gazeta de Noticias (in Brazilian Portuguese). Vol. 60, no. 156. Rio de Janeiro. 1935-07-04. p. 9.
^ Crowther, Bosley (1940-05-04). "The Screen; John Garfield and Anne Shirley Seen at Strand in 'Saturday's Children'—Star Dust' at Roxy". The New York Times . p. 13.
^ "Anne Marries" . Mansfield News Journal . United Press. August 23, 1937. p. 10. Retrieved July 13, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. [dead link ]
^ a b c "Anne Shirley" . Variety . Associated Press . July 8, 1993. Retrieved August 26, 2020 .
^ Barzman, Norma (August 18, 2004). The Red and the Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate . Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1560256175 .
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