Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries

by Paul Donnelley

  CAUSE: He died of lung cancer in Reading, Berkshire, at the age of 60.

  Theresa Allen

  Born October 17, 1908

  Died May 18, 1997

  Early retiree. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, 5́ 3˝ Theresa Allen began her career by winning a Miss Personality contest which gained her a stage contract in a Lupino Lane revue. In 1925, she moved to the silent screen and was a double for Colleen Moore in Twinkletoes (1927) who also taught her how to dance for that film. Theresa Allen found that the cinema was not for her and she retired aged 22 with just a few films under her belt. For the rest of her life she worked as an estate agent. Her films included: The Dance Of Life (1929), Happy Days (1930), The Vagabond King (1930), The Golden Calf (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930) and Scarlet Pages (1930).

  CAUSE: She died aged 88 of an aortic aneurysm in Newport Beach, California.

  Sara Allgood

  Born October 15, 1879

  Died September 13, 1950

  Irish character. Born in Dublin, Ireland, she toured with William George Fay before a long and successful career as one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre in 1904. It was at the Abbey that she created the role of Juno in Sean O’Casey’s Juno And The Paycock, a part she reprised in the Alfred Hitchcock cinematic version (1930). Hitchcock may not have been overly complimentary about actors but Sara Allgood was not his greatest fan either – she called him a “cheap, second-rate director”. When she moved to Hollywood she gave up stage acting. She mostly played mothers in Tinseltown. She became an American citizen in 1945. Her films included Just Peggy (1918) as Peggy, To What Red Hell (1929), Blackmail (1929) as Mrs White, The World, The Flesh, The Devil (1932) as Emme Stanger, The Fortunate Fool (1933) as Rose, Lily Of Killarney (1934) as Mrs O’Connor, Irish Hearts (1934) as Mrs Gogarthy, Riders To The Sea (1935) as Maurya, Peg Of Old Drury (1935) as an Irish woman, The Passing Of The Third Floor Back (1935) as Mrs de Hooley, Lazybones (1935) as Bridget, Southern Roses (1936) as Miss Florence, Sabotage (1936) as a customer in the bird shop, Pot Luck (1936) as Mrs Kelly, It’s Love Again (1936) as Mrs Hopkins, Kathleen Mavourneen (1937) as Mary Ellen O’Dwyer, Storm In A Teacup (1937) as Honoria Hegarty, The Sky’s The Limit (1938) as Mrs O’Reilly, The Londonderry Air (1938), On The Night Of The Fire (1939) as a charwoman, That Hamilton Woman (1941) as Mrs Cadogan-Lyon, Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde as Mrs Higgins, Lydia (1941) as Johnny’s Mother, How Green Was My Valley (1941) as Mrs Beth Morgan, Roxie Hart (1942) as Mrs Morton, This Above All (1942) as a tea room waitress, It Happened In Flatbush as Mrs ‘Mac’ McAvoy, The War Against Mrs Hadley (1942) as Mrs Michael Fitzpatrick, Life Begins At Eight-Thirty (1942) as Alma Lothian, City Without Men (1943) as Maria Barton, The Lodger (1944) as Ellen, Jane Eyre (1944) as Bessie, Between Two Worlds (1944) as Mrs Midget, The Keys Of The Kingdom (1944) as Sister Martha, The Strange Affair Of Uncle Harry (1945) as Nona, Kitty (1945) as Old Meg, Cluny Brown (1946) as Mrs Maile, The Spiral Staircase (1946) as Nurse Barker, Ivy (1947) as Martha Huntley, The Fabulous Dorseys (1947) as Mrs Dorsey, Mother Wore Tights as Grandmother McKinley, My Wild Irish Rose (1947) as Mrs Brennan, Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) as Landlady, One Touch Of Venus (1948) as Mrs Gogarty, The Girl From Manhattan as Mrs Beeler, Challenge To Lassie as Mrs MacFarland, Sierra as Mrs Jonas and Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) as Mrs Monahan. Sara Allgood was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in How Green Was My Valley but lost out to Mary Astor. In 1916 she married Gerald Henson, the actor, and had one daughter who died in the influenza epidemic of 1917. Henson himself died the following year. She did not remarry.

  CAUSE: She died aged 70 of a combination of Bright’s disease and a heart attack in the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital, 23450 Calabasas Road, Woodland Hills, California.

  Claud Allister

  (WILLIAM CLAUD MICHAEL PALMER)

  Born October 3, 1888

  Died July 26, 1970

  Amiable silly ass. The son of a general, Allister was born in London and educated at Felstead. He began life as a stockbroker’s clerk but decided that that life was not glamorous enough and opted for a stage career. His long nose, weak chin and posh voice meant that he was often cast as a silly ass. 5˝10˝ Allister made his film début in The Trial Of Mary Dugan (1929) playing Henry Plaisted but found a measure of fame as Algy Longworth, Bulldog Drummond’s buffoonish sidekick in three films in the long-running film series: Bulldog Drummond (1929), The Return Of Bulldog Drummond (1934) and Bulldog Drummond At Bay (1937) although in Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1939) he played Sir Basil Leghorne. His other films included: Charming Sinners (1929) as Gregson, Three Live Ghosts (1929) as Spoofy, Such Men Are Dangerous (1930) as Fred Wyndham, Ladies Love Brutes (1930) as Tailor, The Florodora Girl (1930) as Rumblesham, Monte Carlo (1930) as Prince Otto Von Seibenheim, Reaching For The Moon (1930) as Sir Horace Partington Chelmsford, Meet The Wife (1931) as Victor Staunton, Platinum Blonde (1931) as Dawson, The Sea Ghost (1931) as Percy Atwater, The Return Of Raffles (1932) as Bunny, The Midshipmaid (1932) as Chinley, The Private Life Of Henry VIII (1933) as Cornell, Sleeping Car (1933) as Baron Delande, The Medicine Man (1933) as the Honourable Freddie Wiltshire, The Private Life Of Don Juan (1934) as The Duke, The Dark Angel (1935) as Lawrence Bidley, Captain Fury (1939) as Suco, Lillian Russell (1940) as Arthur Sullivan, Charley’s Aunt (1941), A Yank In The R.A.F. (1941), Never Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941), Kiss The Bride Goodbye (1945) as Adolphus Pickering, The Wind In The Willows (1949) as Rat, Kiss Me Kate (1953) as Paul and The Black Shield Of Falworth (1954) as Sir George. He was married twice, to Gwen Dowling and Barbara Fay.

  CAUSE: Claud Allister retired in 1955. He died aged 81 in Santa Barbara, California, and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park, 1218 Glendon Avenue, Los Angeles, California. His death was due to cancer.

  Néstor Almendros

  (NESTOR ALMENDROS CUYAS)

  Born October 30, 1930

  Died March 4, 1992

  New Wave-ist. Cinematographer and director Almendros, born in Barcelona, Spain, was educated at the University of Cuba where he read literature and philosophy. On graduating he moved to New York to study editing and cinematography at the Big Apple’s City College. In the Sixties he moved again, this time to Paris where he was at the forefront of the New Wave movement. On April 9, 1979, he won an Oscar for Days Of Heaven (1978) and worked on Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Blue Lagoon (1980), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Pauline At The Beach (1983), Heartburn (1986) and Billy Bathgate (1991). Four years before his death, he returned to Cuba and made a documentary on Fidel Castro’s poor human rights record.

  CAUSE: A homosexual, he died in New York aged 61 from AIDS.

  Don Alvarado

  (JOSE PAIGE)

  Born November 4, 1904

  Died March 31, 1967

  Valentino clone. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alvarado’s father intended for the boy to become a sheep farmer. However, he decided a career on the silver screen would be more exciting than counting sheep and ran away from home aged 17 to make his way to Hollywood. In Tinseltown he befriended Gilbert Roland and came to the attention of Jack Warner. Warner supposedly thought of the stage name while driving down Alvarado Street in Los Angeles. He got work in several films thanks to his swarthy good looks. His films included: The Wife Who Wasn’t Wanted (1925) as Theo, The Night Cry (1926) as Pedro, The Loves Of Carmen (1927) as Jose, Breakfast At Sunrise (1927) as Lussan, The Bridge Of San Luis Rey (1929) as Manuel, Captain Thunder (1930) as Juan Sebastian, Beau Ideal (1931) as Ramon Gonzales and The Devil Is A Woman (1935) as Morenito. By this time 5˝11˝ Alvarado had married Ann Boyar and become a father to daughter Joy (b. November 9, 1924). After six years of marriage Ann fell in love with Jack Warner in 1930. They married in 1936 after his parents had died. The advent of the talkies ruined Alvarado’s acting career and he moved behind the cameras as an assistant director. He ended his life as the manager of an 80,000 acre cattle ranch owned by his ex-wife and Jack Warner.

  CAUSE: He died aged 62 in Holly
wood, California, from cancer.

  Kirk Alyn

  (JOHN FEGGO, JR)

  Born October 8, 1910

  Died March 14, 1999

  The first superhero. Kirk Alyn was born in Oxford, New Jersey. Like many entertainers, he began in vaudeville and as a chorus boy on Broadway. He began to make small supporting appearances in low-budget fare. Remarkably in his first film Private Lessons (1934) in which he played John Humphries he was credited as Jack Fago. It was in 1948 that he achieved stardom as the first Superman, a role he played for two years. However, when the film serial ended he was unable to maintain his stardom and eventually retired to Arizona. One of his last films was playing Lois Lane’s father in the 1978 version of Superman. In 1942 he married Virginia O’Brien. They divorced in 1955. His films included Rooftop Frolics (1937), You Were Never Lovelier (1942) as a suitor, The Man From The Rio Grande (1943) as Tom Traynor, Is Everybody Happy? (1943) as Thew, Overland Mail Robbery (1943) as Tom Hartley, Pistol Packin’ Mama (1943) as J. Leslie Burton, III, a pilot in Four Jills in a Jeep (1944), Goodnight, Sweetheart (1944), Forty Thieves (1944) as Jerry Doyle, Call Of The Rockies (1944) as Ned Crane, Daughter Of Don Q (1946) as Cliff Roberts, Little Miss Broadway (1947) as Detective Mel O’Brien, Sweet Genevieve (1947) as Doctor Wright, The Three Musketeers (1948) as Aramis’ friend, Federal Agents Versus Underworld, Inc. (1949) as Inspector David Worth, Radar Patrol Versus Spy King (1950) as Chris Calvert, Atom Man Versus Superman (1950) as Superman/Clark Kent, Blackhawk: Fearless Champion Of Freedom (1952) as Blackhawk and Scalps (1983) as Professor Machen.

  CAUSE: Alyn died aged 88 of natural causes in Woodlands, Texas.

  Don Ameche

  (DOMINIC FELIX AMICI)

  Born May 31, 1904

  Died December 6, 1993

  Dapper comedian. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, one of eight children of an Italian publican, he was educated at the University of Wisconsin where he read law. He also appeared in the university’s theatre and went on to work in radio. Having failed his first screen test, he made it in his second and made his first film in 1935 (Clive Of India [1935]). Ameche subsequently became one of the most popular stars at Twentieth Century-Fox and the highest paid ($7,500 a week). With a voice described by some as “butterscotch baritone,” he appeared in over 70 films, often opposite Alice Faye. In the Fifties his film work began to wane and he took to Broadway instead. His career was revived playing the artful and conniving Mortimer Duke in the Wall Street comedy Trading Places (1983). Hollywood ignored him when it came to the Academy Awards for many years until he finally won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Art Selwyn in Ron Howard’s Cocoon (1985), making him the oldest ever winner. Among his other films were One In A Million (1936) as Bob Harris, Ladies In Love (1936) as Dr Rudi Imre, Love Under Fire (1937) as Tracy Egan, Love Is News (1937) as Marty Canavan, You Can’t Have Everything (1937) as George Macrae, Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938) as Charlie Dwyer, the title role in The Story Of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), The Three Musketeers (1939) as D’Artagnan, Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) as Michael Linnett Connors, Down Argentine Way (1940) as Ricardo Quintan, Moon Over Miami (1941) as Phil O’Neil, Heaven Can Wait (1943) as Henry Van Cleve, Picture Mommy Dead (1966) as Edward Shelley, Suppose They Gave A War And Nobody Came? (1970) as Colonel Flanders, Harry And The Hendersons (1987) as Doctor Wallace Wrightwood, Cocoon: The Return (1988) as Art Selwyn and Corrina, Corrina (1994) as Grandpa Harry. At one time he was a heavy gambler, losing almost one million dollars on the horses. On November 26, 1932, he married dietitian Honore Prendergast. They had four sons Dominic Felix (b. 1933), Ronald John (b. 1936), Thomas Anthony (b. 1940) and Lawrence Michael (b. 1941) and adopted two daughters, Barbara and Cornelia. Within the family they are known as Donnie, Ronnie, Tommie, Lonnie, Bonnie and Connie.

  CAUSE: He died in Arizona of prostate cancer aged 89.

  Adrienne Ames

  (ADRIENNE RUTH MACCLURE)

  Born August 3, 1907

  Died May 31, 1947

  Beautiful B-leading lady. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, 5́ 5˝ Adrienne Ames was one of four boys and three daughters of Samuel Hugh MacClure (b. 1871, d. August 1928, after falling from the third floor) a chief engineer at the Baker Hotel, Texas, and Flora Parthenia. Her sister Doris died when she was just one year old. Her younger sister was the actress Gladys MacClure (b. Fort Worth, Texas, August 5, 1914, d. San Francisco, California, November 26, 1933 aged 29 in a car crash that left four dead). Adrienne studied literature at Columbia University and art at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. She made her screen début as a stand-in for Pola Negri on Hotel Imperial (1927) and then in a small part in Sally (1929). In 1931 after a Hawaiian holiday with her second husband, Adrienne stopped off in California where she was spotted by a Paramount scout who, captivated by her beauty, offered Adrienne a contract without a screen test. Her films included: The Road To Reno (1931), 24 Hours (1931) as Ruby Wintryingham, Girls About Town (1931) as Anne, Working Girls (1931), Husband’s Holiday (1931) as Myrtle, Two Kinds Of Women (1932) as Jean, Sinners In The Sun (1932) as Claire Kinkaid, Merrily We Go To Hell (1932), Guilty As Hell (1932) as Vera Marsh, The Death Kiss (1932) as Marcia Lane, From Hell To Heaven (1933) as Joan Burt, Broadway Bad (1933) as Aileen, A Bedtime Story (1933) as Paulette, Disgraced! (1933) as Julia Thorndyke, The Avenger (1933) as Ruth Knowles, George White’s Scandals (1934) as Barbara Loraine, You’re Telling Me! as Princess Lescaboura, a girl in the audience in The Old Fashioned Way (1934), Abdul The Damned (1935) as Therese Alder, Gigolette (1935) as Kay Parrish, Black Sheep (1935) as Mrs Millicent Bath, Woman Wanted (1935) as Betty Randolph, Ladies Love Danger as Adele Michel, Harmony Lane (1935) as Jane McDowell, La Fiesta De Santa Barbara (1935) as herself, City Girl (1938) as Vivian Ross, Fugitives For A Night (1938) as Eileen Baker, Slander House (1938) as Helen Smith, Panama Patrol (1939) as Lia Maing and The Zero Hour (1939) as Susan. Her scenes in her last film, I Take This Woman (1940), in which she played Lola Estermonte, were deleted before release. In 1941 she retired from films and landed a job as a wireless commentator on WHN, a New York-based radio station. From 1942 until 1945 she was active in the war effort, raising funds. The lure of acting proved too great and in the summer of 1946 she appeared in repertory in Clinton, Connecticut and Norwich, Rhode Island. Adrienne Ames was married three times: to the Texas oilman Deward Truax (from 1923 until 1925) by whom she had a daughter Barbara (b. 1924); in 1929 to the millionaire broker, later film producer Stephen Ames (b. New York, December 18, 1898, d. April 22, 1955). When he was away, Ames allowed the actor Bruce Cabot to squire her around town. On September 15, 1933 she moved to Reno to enable her to get a divorce from Stephen Ames to allow her to marry Bruce Cabot. The divorce became final on October 30, 1933. The following day she married Cabot at the Carlsbad, New Mexico, home of his mother. She learned of her sister’s death on her honeymoon with Cabot. The marriage was fraught and they separated. Adrienne moved to New York but Cabot followed her to try to salvage their relationship. In July 1936 Cabot persuaded her not to divorce him but it was only a brief respite. On March 4, 1937, Adrienne again went to court and applied for a divorce, citing Cabot’s unreasonable behaviour such as smashing up furniture during drunken sprees. On April 6, 1937, the divorce was granted and she was awarded alimony of $125 a week plus 20 per cent of any salary he might earn. Cabot resisted paying and on October 27, 1939, Adrienne went back to court to apply for back maintenance pay.

  CAUSE: She died of cancer at her home, 25 Sutton Place South, in New York City. She was 39. Her funeral was held on June 2, 1947, in New York. Two days later, her body was flown back to Texas and a second ceremony was held at the Robertson-Mueller-Harper funeral home before her burial in the family plot in Oakwood Cemetery, Fort Worth, next to her sister who had been interred on December 7, 1933.

  Leon Ames

  (LEON WYCOFF)

  Born January 20, 1902

  Died October 12, 1993

  Dependable dad. Born in Portland, Indiana, Leon Ames was in regular stage employme
nt in the Twenties before trying his hand in Hollywood. In 1931 he made a screen test for Universal opposite a promising young actress called Bette Davis. He appeared under his real name in Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932) before deciding that he preferred the stage. However, he decided to give films a second chance and by the late Thirties was a regular on screen. He appeared in over 100 films, including Calling All Marines (1939), Meet Me In St Louis (1944) his favourite role even though his singing was dubbed, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Son Of Lassie (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Little Women (1949), Peyton Place (1957) and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). One of the founding members (in 1933) of the Screen Actors Guild, Ames believed that none of his films were particularly worthy. He also appeared as a regular on the television series Life With Father (1953–1955), Father Of The Bride (1961–1962) and Mr Ed (1963–1965). Following his retirement, he lived on the Ford car dealership he had the foresight to buy. He was financially tight: “Don’t lend your friends money, or they won’t stay your friends. Unhappily, we don’t choose our relatives. So don’t lend your relatives money – they’ll still be your relatives … And if you are a celebrity, your friends and relatives will interpret the word ‘loan’ to mean ‘give’.” He married actress Christine Gossett on June 25, 1938, and they had a son, Leon Jr, in 1944, and a daughter, Shelley, in 1941.