Matinee Classics - Bonita Granville Biography & Filmography

Bonita Granville ACTOR

PHOTOS

BONITA GRANVILLE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Bonita Granville was born on February 02, 1923 in New York City. The daughter of Ziegfeld Follies headliner Bernard “Bunny” Granville, she seemed to be born with show business in her blood and a true talent for acting, and made her first stage appearance at the age of three.

Ms. Granville’s first movie was “Westward Passage” in 1932, when she was nine years old, and she went on to have roles in “Silver Dollar” (1932) and in the Academy Award winning “Cavalcade” in 1933.

During her early career she worked for several film studios including RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, appearing in films such as “Anne of Green Gables” in 1934, and “Ah, Wilderness!” in 1935.

Her fame was enhanced in 1936 when she appeared in “These Three” for United Artists (starring Joel McCrea, Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins). Based on Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour”, Bonita’s role was that of a malicious child trying to interfere in the lives of two schoolteachers and the man they both love. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role.

Following her appearance in “These Three” she was often typecast as a troublemaking little girl, and repeated the role in movies like “Maid of Salem” in 1937, and “My Bill” and “Beloved Brat” in 1938.

In 1939 Warner Brothers released “Nancy Drew, Detective”, starring their resident child star, Bonita Granville. She would go on to portray Nancy Drew in all four of Warner Brothers movies: “Nancy Drew, Reporter” “Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter”, and “Nance Drew and the Hidden Treasure”, all released in 1939.

Continuing in supporting roles, Granville moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1940, and appeared in “The Mortal storm” with Jimmy Stewart and “Escape” with Norma Shearer. She also had roles in Alan Ladd’s “The Glass Key” at Paramount and “Now, Voyager” with Bette Davis at Warner Brothers. In 1943 she starred in RKO’s “Hitler’s Children”, an anti-Nazi propaganda film which was their most successful picture up to that time.

Although never achieving super-stardom as some actors did, Bonita Granville did manage to make the transition from child to adult movie star gracefully, and continued in supporting roles in movies like 1944’s “Song of the Open Road” with Jane Powell, and in “Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble” (1944) and “Love Laughs at Andy Hardy” (1946), starring Mickey Rooney.

In 1948 Bonita Granville married John “Jack” Wrather, Jr., and gave up her career as an actress to assist him in his business empire, which included the Muzak Corporation (elevator music), the dry-docked Queen Mary attraction in Long Beach, California, and the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

She did, however, return to the big screen for a few more roles, notably in “The Lone Ranger-Outlaw’s Trail” in 1954, and “The Lone Ranger” in 1956. Her final screen appearance was a cameo in “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” in 1981.

Remaining involved in show business, Bonita Granville was the producer of the “Lassie” television series from 1950 to 1972, which was owned by Wrather, along with “The Lone Ranger” television series, and in 1978 she was co-producer of “The Magic of Lassie”, a film starring James Stewart and Alice Faye. She also served as the fifth Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute (AFI) in 1986.

Bonita Granville died on October 11, 1988 at the age of 65 in Santa Monica, California.

FILMOGRAPHY:

1932 Silver Dollar

1932 Westward Passage

1933 Cavalcade

1933 Cradle Song

1934 Anne of Green Gables

1934 The Life of Vergie Winters

1935 Ah, Wilderness!

1936 Song of the Saddle

1936 The Garden of Allah

1936 The Plough and the Stars