Ellen Hall
Encyclopedia
Ellen Hall was a B-movie
actress of the 1940s.
Ellen Hall was born in Los Angeles, California
, and came from an acting family, though all were little known. Her grandmother, May Hall, had been a struggling actress, appearing in one silent film. Her father, Emory Johnson, had been a fairly successful silent film actor from 1913 through 1922, and her brother Richard Emory started acting in 1949, mostly in western films. Of her family of actors and actresses, only her mother, Ella Hall
, achieved any real notoriety.
At the age of 8, Ellen Hall received her first film role, uncredited, in the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front. She had no more acting roles until 1941, when she appeared uncredited in The Chocolate Soldier. Her first credited role would be in Outlaws of the Stampede opposite Johnny Mack Brown
, with her portraying the heroine. She would star in three films opposite Brown, in addition to films opposite cowboy stars William Boyd
and Sunset Carson
. It would be in B-westerns like that in which she would see her greatest success. In 1944 she would appear alongside Bela Lugosi
, John Carradine
, and Louise Currie
in Voodoo Man. In 1946 she starred opposite Bob Steele
in Thunder Town, then in 1949 she starred opposite Jimmy Wakely
in Lawless Code, which would be her last film role.
Hall had appearances in several television programs during the early 1950s, and by 1951 she had retired. She eventually settled in Bellevue, Nebraska
, where she was residing at the time of her death on March 24, 1999.
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
actress of the 1940s.
Ellen Hall was born in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and came from an acting family, though all were little known. Her grandmother, May Hall, had been a struggling actress, appearing in one silent film. Her father, Emory Johnson, had been a fairly successful silent film actor from 1913 through 1922, and her brother Richard Emory started acting in 1949, mostly in western films. Of her family of actors and actresses, only her mother, Ella Hall
Ella Hall
Ella Hall was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 87 films between 1912 and 1933. She was the mother of B-movie actress Ellen Hall....
, achieved any real notoriety.
At the age of 8, Ellen Hall received her first film role, uncredited, in the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front. She had no more acting roles until 1941, when she appeared uncredited in The Chocolate Soldier. Her first credited role would be in Outlaws of the Stampede opposite Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown was an All-American college football player and film actor originally billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career.-Early life:...
, with her portraying the heroine. She would star in three films opposite Brown, in addition to films opposite cowboy stars William Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
and Sunset Carson
Sunset Carson
Sunset Carson, born Winifred Maurice Harrison was an American B-western star of the 1940s.-Early life, acting:...
. It would be in B-westerns like that in which she would see her greatest success. In 1944 she would appear alongside Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
, John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
, and Louise Currie
Louise Currie
Louise Currie is a former American film actress, active from the 1940s into the early 1950s.Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Currie first attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she became interested in acting...
in Voodoo Man. In 1946 she starred opposite Bob Steele
Bob Steele (actor)
Bob Steele was an American actor. He was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. After years of touring, the family settled down in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father, Robert N...
in Thunder Town, then in 1949 she starred opposite Jimmy Wakely
Jimmy Wakely
James Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
in Lawless Code, which would be her last film role.
Hall had appearances in several television programs during the early 1950s, and by 1951 she had retired. She eventually settled in Bellevue, Nebraska
Bellevue, Nebraska
Bellevue is a city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 50,137 at the 2010 census. Eight miles south of Omaha, Bellevue is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Originally settled in the 1830s, It was the first state capitol. Bellevue was incorporated in...
, where she was residing at the time of her death on March 24, 1999.