Linda Darnell
Encyclopedia
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.
Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox
throughout the 1940s. She rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power
in adventure films and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber
(1947). Furthermore, she won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours
(1948) and A Letter to Three Wives
(1949).
Notorious for her unstable personal life, Darnell was incapable of dealing with Hollywood, and landed in a downward spiral of alcoholism, unsuccessful marriages and highly publicized or scandalous affairs. She failed to receive recognition from the industry and its critics, and disappeared from the screen in the 1950s. Darnell died from burns sustained in a house fire.
, as one of four children (excluding her mother's two children from an earlier marriage), to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and Pearl Brown. She was the younger sister of Undeen, born in March 1918, and the older sister of Monte Maloya (born 1929) and Calvin Roy, Jr. (born 1930). Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil. Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry. Her mother believed that Darnell was her only child with potential as an actress, and ignored the raising of her other children.
According to her siblings, Darnell enjoyed the limelight and shared her mother's dream. Darnell herself, though, once commented: "Mother really shoved me along, spotting me in one contest after another. I had no great talent, and I didn't want to be a movie star particularly. But Mother had always wanted it for herself, and I guess she attained it through me." One elocution teacher recalled: "[Darnell] didn't stand out particularly, except that she was so sweet and considerate. In her theater work she wasn't outstanding. But her mother was right behind her everywhere she went."
Unlike her husband, Pearl had a notorious reputation in the neighborhood of being "aggressive" or "downright mean". Despite some financial problems, Darnell insisted on having had a joyful childhood and loving parents. Darnell was a model
by the age of 11 and was acting on the stage by the age of 13. She initially started modeling to save money for the household, and performed mostly in beauty contest
s.
Before leaving school for Hollywood, Darnell was a student at Sunset High School, which she entered in September 1937, majoring in Spanish and art. She did not have a lot in common with her peers and usually spent her time at home as a teen, working under the guidance of her mother. In 1936, she entered The Dallas Little Theater
and was cast in the southwestern premiere of Murder in the Cathedral
. The same year, she was hired as one of the hostesses at the Texas Centennial Exposition
.
In November 1937, a talent scout for 20th Century Fox
arrived in Dallas, looking for new faces. Encouraged by her mother, Darnell met him, and after a few months he invited her for a screen test
in Hollywood. Arriving in California alongside Mary Healy
and Dorris Bowdon
in February 1938, Darnell was initially rejected by film studios and was sent home because she was declared "too young".
. There was no certainty, though, and Darnell soon returned to Dallas. When 20th Century Fox
offered her a part, Darnell wanted to accept, but RKO was unwilling to release her. Nevertheless, by age 15, she was signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox
and moved to a small apartment in Hollywood all alone on April 5, 1939. With production beginning in April 1939, she featured in her first film Hotel for Women in 1939, which had newspapers immediately hail her the newest star of Hollywood. Loretta Young
was originally assigned to play the role, but demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darryl F. Zanuck
instead cast Darnell "because he felt that the name would advertise her beauty and suggest a Latin quality that matched her coloring."
Although only 15 at the time, Darnell posed as a 17-year-old and was listed as 19 years old by the studio. According to columnist Louella O. Parsons, Darnell was "so young, so immature and so naive in her ideas" and was very loyal to her boss, Darryl F. Zanuck. Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films. While working on Hotel for Women, Darnell was cast alongside Henry Fonda
and Claudette Colbert
in Drums Along the Mohawk
(1939) in June 1939. She was later replaced, because the studio felt her role was not important enough. In an interview during production of Hotel for Women, which lasted until June, Darnell admitted that movie making was not what she expected: "I'm learning what really hard work is. At home in Dallas I used to sprawl on the lawn and dream about the nice, easy time the screen stars must be having in Hollywood, but the last two months have taught me quite another story."
Since the beginning of her career at 20th Century Fox, Darnell had been very positive about her frequent co-star Tyrone Power
. In a 1939 interview, she expressed her interest in starring opposite Power in Johnny Apollo
(1940). Rationalizing why she was not cast, Darnell said: "It's a man's part and the girl's role is only incidental." Dorothy Lamour
was cast instead. Nevertheless, Darnell had her way as she was assigned in the female lead opposite Power in the light romantic comedy Day-Time Wife (1939). Although the film received only slightly favorable reviews, Darnell's performance was received positively, with one critic saying: "Despite her apparent youth, [Darnell] turns in an outstanding performance when playing with popular players." Another critic wrote that "little Linda is not only a breath-taking eyeful but a splendid actress as well." Life magazine stated that Darnell appeared to be 22 and was "the most physically perfect girl in Hollywood". Following the film's release, she was cast in the drama comedy Star Dust in December 1939. The film was hailed as one of the "most original entertainment idea in years" and boosted Darnell's popularity, being nicknamed 'Hollywood's loveliest and most exciting star'. Variety
continued: "Miss Darnell displays a wealth of youthful charm and personality that confirms studio efforts to build her to a draw personality." Her studio contract had been revised to allow Darnell to earn $200 a week.
, in later life had only slight memories of Darnell and recalled that "a sweeter girl never lived." By June 1940, shortly after completing Brigham Young, Darnell achieved stardom and earned "a weekly salary larger than most bank officials."
In the summer of 1940, Darnell began working on The Mark of Zorro
(1940), in which she again co-starred as Power's sweetheart in a role for which Anne Baxter
was previously considered. A big budget adventure film that was raved over by the critics, The Mark of Zorro was a box office sensation and did much to enhance Darnell's star status. Afterwards, she was paired with Henry Fonda
for the first time in the western Chad Hanna
(1940), her first Technicolor
film. The film received only little attention, unlike Darnell's next film Blood and Sand
(1941), was shot on location in Mexico and she was re-teamed with Power. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. Nevertheless, Darnell later claimed that her downfall began after Blood and Sand. In an interview she said:
The studio was unable to find Darnell suitable roles. In late 1940, Fox chose her for the main role in Song of the Islands
(1942), a Hawaiian musical film which eventually starred Betty Grable
. After Blood and Sand, she was set to co-star with Claudette Colbert
in Remember the Day
(1941), but another actress was eventually cast. Meanwhile, she was considered for the female lead in Swamp Water
(1941), but Anne Baxter was later assigned the role. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected; she later said: "Right under your very nose someone else is brought in for that prize part you wanted so terribly." Months passed by without any work, and in August 1941 she was cast in a supporting role in the musical Rise and Shine (1941). The film was a setback in her career, and she was rejected for a later role because she refused to respond to Darryl F. Zanuck's advances. Instead, she contributed to war effort
, working for the Red Cross, selling war bond
s, and she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen
.
(1942). Zanuck insisted that she take the role, but she was replaced by Ann Rutherford
after twelve days of shooting. The press reported that "Linda Darnell and Twentieth Century-Fox aren't on the best of terms at the moment." As a punishment, she was loaned out to another studio for a supporting role in a B movie
called City Without Men. According to co-star Rosemary DeCamp
, Darnell nevertheless was "very polite", and she was satisfied to work at a studio which did not treat her as a child. In April 1943, she was put on suspension, which meant being replaced in the Technicolor musical film The Gang's All Here (1943). By this time, Darnell had eloped, which caused Zanuck to be in even greater fury.
In 1943, she was cast, uncredited, as the Virgin Mary in The Song of Bernadette
. By late 1943, Darnell was fed up with critics only praising her beauty rather than her acting abilities. Judging her performance in Sweet and Low-Down (1944), in which she co-starred with Lynn Bari
, one critic of the Los Angeles Examiner
wrote, "Lynn comes off the best because she has more of a chance to shine. Linda just doesn't have enough to do – but looks beautiful doing it." Darnell was reduced to second leads and was overlooked for big budget productions. Matters changed when she was named one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood, along with Hedy Lamarr
, Ingrid Bergman
and Gene Tierney
in a 1944 edition of Look
magazine. Afterwards, the studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm. Portraying a "seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered," it was a type of role she had never before played. In a later interview, Darnell commented:
Released in 1944, the film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl
. Shortly after, Darnell was again loaned out to portray a showgirl in The Great John L., the first film to feature her bare legs. Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Darryl F. Zanuck
to cast her in Hangover Square
(1945), playing a role she personally had chosen. The film became a great success, and with Darnell's triumph assured, she was allowed to abandon her upcoming film Don Juan Quilligan (1945), which would have been another low point in her career. In January 1945, she was added to the cast of the film noir
Fallen Angel
(1945), which also included Dana Andrews
and Alice Faye
. Despite suffering from the "terrifying" director Otto Preminger
, Darnell completed the film and was praised by reviewers so widely that there was even talk of an Oscar nomination. Due to her success in Fallen Angel, she was cast opposite Tyrone Power in Captain from Castile
in December 1945, on the insistence of Joseph L. Mankiewicz
. Although she looked forward to the film project, believing it would be her most important to date, she was later replaced by newcomer Jean Peters
due to scheduling conflicts, a decision she resented.
In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam and Preminger's Centennial Summer
. During the release of the latter, she was on location in Monument Valley
for the filming of the classic western My Darling Clementine
(1946), playing a role for which she lost twelve pounds. She was assigned to a negligible role by Zanuck, which displeased the film's director, John Ford
, who felt that she was not suitable.
In 1947, Darnell won the starring role in the highly anticipated movie Forever Amber
, based on a bestselling historical novel that was denounced as being immoral at that time. The character, Amber, was so named because of her hair color, and this is the only major film in which Darnell—normally known for her raven hair and somewhat Latin looks—appears as a redhead. It was the most expensive film yet produced by Fox, and publicity at the time compared the novel Forever Amber to Gone with the Wind
. Darnell replaced British actress Peggy Cummins
in July 1946 at a cost of $350,000. Because $1 million had already been spent on production costs when Darnell was brought in, the pressure was high to make the film a financial success. Her casting was a result of a campaign for stronger roles. Regardless, she was surprised to find out that she had been cast, because she had been intensively rehearsing for Captain from Castile by the time. Although she had to give up that role and work with Otto Preminger, she was delighted to play the title role and thought she was "the luckiest girl in Hollywood."
The search for the actress to portray Amber, a beauty who uses men to make her fortune in 17th-century England
, was modeled on the extensive process that led to the casting of Vivien Leigh
as Scarlett O'Hara
. Production demanded a lot from Darnell. She was again put on a diet and was assigned to a voice coach to learn how to speak with an English accent. In addition, she spent hours in fittings for costume changes. Darnell was certain that Forever Amber would be her ticket to stardom, and she told reporters:
Darnell worked long hours at the studio during filming, and according to her older sister she started loathing Preminger, which did not ease production. This and the heavy dieting resulted in exhaustion and a serious illness in November 1946. Her shooting schedule lasted until March 1947, and she collapsed on the set two times in the meanwhile. Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. Darnell was disappointed in the film's reception; it did not gain her the recognition she longed for.
The following year, Darnell portrayed Daphne de Carter in the Preston Sturges
' comedy Unfaithfully Yours
(1948), also starring Rex Harrison
, and was then rushed into production as one of the three wives in the comedy/drama A Letter to Three Wives
(1949). Darnell's hard-edged performance in the latter won her unanimous acclaim and the best reviews of her career. Darnell became one of the most-demanded actresses in Hollywood, and she now had the freedom to select her own roles. She longed for the leading role in the controversial film Pinky (1949), but Zanuck feared that her character would be compared to Amber by the audience, and A Letter to Three Wives co-star Jeanne Crain
was cast instead.
Darnell had been widely expected to win an Academy Award
nomination for A Letter to Three Wives; when this did not happen, her career began to wane. She was cast opposite Richard Widmark
and Veronica Lake
in Slattery's Hurricane
(1949), which she perceived as a step down from the level she had reached with A Letter to Three Wives, even though it did well at the box office.
and Sidney Poitier
in the groundbreaking No Way Out
(1950), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
, which she later called "the only good picture [she] ever made," her later films were rarely noteworthy, and her appearances were increasingly sporadic. Further hampering Darnell's career was the actress's alcoholism and weight gain. Her next film was a western, Two Flags West
(1950). Due to her allergy to horses, she loathed making westerns, and in addition to her complaints about her "colorless" role, she disliked her co-stars Joseph Cotten
and Cornel Wilde
. She was even less enthusiastic about her next film The 13th Letter
(1951), which reunited her with Otto Preminger
, and she only took the role because it was an unglamorous one. Shortly after its release, she was put on suspension for refusing a role in the film The Guy Who Came Back
(1951) opposite Paul Douglas
and Joan Bennett
, because it felt "too similar." She later consented to take on the glamor role, but she refused to bleach her hair for it.
On March 21, 1951, Darnell signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that allowed her to become a freelance actress. Her first film outside 20th Century Fox was for Universal Pictures
, The Lady Pays Off (1951), after Douglas Sirk
requested her for the lead role. She was responsible for putting the film behind schedule, because on the fifth day of shooting she learned that Ivan Kahn, the man responsible for her breakthrough, had died. After The Lady Pays Off, Darnell headed the cast of Saturday Island
(1952), which was filmed on location in Jamaica
in late 1951. There Darnell fell ill and had to be quarantined for several weeks. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the lot of 20th Century Fox in March 1952 and was cast in the film noir
Night Without Sleep
(1952). It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, though, since she was released from it in September 1952, most likely because the competition of television forced studios all over Hollywood to drop actors.
This news initially excited Darnell, because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe. She soon realized, though, that the ease and protection enjoyed under contract was gone, and she came to resent 20th Century Fox and Zanuck:
Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato
, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate
(1952), which — much to Darnell's distress — went far behind schedule. She arrived in Italy in August 1952 and started filming Angels of Darkness (1954) in February of the next year. The second collaboration proved disastrous, and the next film was never released in the United States. Due to a delay in the middle of production, she was sent back to Hollywood, and there accepted an offer from Howard Hughes
to star in RKO's
3-D film
Second Chance
(1953), filmed in Mexico. Afterwards, she flew back to Rome to complete Angels of Darkness, in which she spoke Italian. Upon returning to New York, she was under the misunderstanding that she would portray the title role in Mankiewicz' The Barefoot Contessa
(1954), believing that the role could carry her to dramatic heights. Through trade papers, she learned that Ava Gardner
assumed the part.
Due to the insistence of her then husband Philip Liebmann, Darnell put her career on a hiatus, though she returned to 20th Century Fox in August 1955. By then the studio had entered the television field, and Darnell was eager to appear on the General Electric Theater
.
Darnell resorted to television work, and she returned to the stage. Darnell's last work as an actress was in a stage production in Atlanta in early 1965.
In 1940, during the shooting of Star Dust, Darnell for a short time went out with teen idol Mickey Rooney
. Her first love was Jaime Jorba, a Mexican whom she met while still in high school. They met again during production of Blood and Sand, but they drifted apart when Jorba announced he could not marry a girl who was in the public eye. Starting at age 17, Darnell dated her publicity agent
Alan Gordon, whom she allegedly married in a double wedding with Lana Turner
and Joseph Stephen Crane
on July 17, 1942. The report turned out to be false, and over the years Darnell became known as "filmland's most eligible bachelorette." Up to 1942, she dated Kay Kyser
, Eddie Albert
, George Montgomery and Jackie Cooper
, among others. At one point, she was set to elope with talent agent Vic Orsatti, only to report later that she was "concentrating on [her] career."
Although a well-loved figure on the 20th Century Fox lot among the cast, crew and lot workers, it was reported that Darnell made only one good friend in Hollywood, actress-singer Ann Miller
, whom she met at a Catalina Island
benefit. Darnell was very negative about the Hollywood social scene, finding it "nauseating". During her stay in Hollywood, her relationship with her mother Pearl worsened, her mother being an unpopular figure on the lot due to her overbearing and possessive behavior. In 1940, Pearl accused her husband of having an incest
uous relationship with Evelyn, one of her children, even though he was not Evelyn's biological father. Following an intense fight between her parents in 1942, Darnell left home with her younger sister Monte and never returned. In spite, Pearl turned to the press, which gained Darnell some bad publicity.
In 1942, Darnell was plagued with extortion
letters from an unknown person threatening her with bodily harm unless $2,000 was paid immediately. The studio asked the FBI
to protect the actress, and eventually a 17-year-old high school student was arrested for the crime.
On April 18, 1943, at age 19, Darnell eloped with 42-year-old cameraman J. Peverell Marley
in Las Vegas. Darnell and Marley started seeing each other in 1940, and the press dismissed him as her "devoted friend and escort." Most friends and relatives disapproved of the marriage, including 20th Century Fox and her parents, and it was believed that Darnell looked at Marley more as a father figure than her romantic interest. Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol in 1944, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problem. Neighbors and acquaintances recalled the drastic change she underwent in this period, becoming hardened and hot-tempered. In 1946, during production of Centennial Summer, she repeatedly met with Howard Hughes
. Although she initially disregarded gossip of an affair, she fell in love with the womanizing millionaire and separated from Marley shortly after finishing My Darling Clementine. When Hughes announced that he had no desire to marry her, Darnell returned to her husband and cancelled divorce proceedings. Shortly after the reunion, her health worsened, caused by the tough production of Forever Amber (1947).
Because Darnell and Marley were unable to have children, they adopted a daughter in 1948, Charlotte Mildred "Lola" Marley (born January 5, 1948), the actress's only child. She also planned to adopt a boy within years, but nothing ever came of it. In mid-1948, she became romantically involved with Joseph L. Mankiewicz
, the director of A Letter to Three Wives
, and in July 1948, she filed for divorce. Mankiewicz, however, was unwilling to leave his wife for Darnell, and even though the affair would continue for six years, she returned to her husband. Whereas she called him the "great love of her life," Mankiewicz never acknowledged the affair; he only mentioned her to his biographer as a "marvelous girl with very terrifying personal problems." In 1949, Darnell went into psychotherapy
for hostile emotions that she had been building since childhood. Darnell's romance with Mankiewicz influenced her personal life. When he left in late 1949 for on location shooting of All About Eve
(1950), Darnell fell into a depression and almost committed suicide. She continued to occasionally meet with him until production of The Barefoot Contessa (1954) started.
On January 25, 1949, Darnell went to court to sue her former business manager Cy Tanner for fraud. She testified that he stole $7,250 from her between 1946 and 1947, and Tanner was eventually sent to prison. On July 19, 1950, it was reported that Darnell had separated from her husband. Marley offered a quiet settlement - without mention of Mankiewicz - for a payment of $125,000. She agreed, and she almost lost all of her money. When she filed for divorce from Marley in 1951, she accused her husband of cruelty, claiming he was "rude" and "critical" towards Darnell and her family. Following a five-minute hearing, Darnell was granted a divorce and custody of Charlotte, while Marley was to pay $75 a month for child support.
In her later life, she dated actor Dick Paxton and had an affair with Italian director Giuseppe Amato
. She secretly married brewery
heir Philip Liebmann in February 1954. Due to a lack of physical attraction from her side, Darnell agreed that the marriage would be a business arrangement: she was to be his wife in name only, and in return, he supported her financially. After a while, she grew dissatisfied with her loveless marriage, and she detested her husband for allowing her to lash out at him, as well as cheapening her by buying her lavish presents. In response, Darnell resorted to charity work, opening facilities accommodating thirty girls in the neighborhood of Rome in 1955. Liebmann attempted to save the marriage by adopting a baby named Alfreda, but the marriage ended nevertheless on grounds of incompatibility, and Liebmann kept the girl.
Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson from 1957 to 1963. In 1963, Darnell was granted a divorce from Robertson following an outburst in the courtroom, where she accused her third husband of fathering the baby of a Polish actress. She was promised a monthly alimony of $350 until July 15, 1964, and $250 until September 15, 1967.
, Illinois
. She had been staying there with friends while preparing for a stage role in the Chicago
area. Her 1940 film, Star Dust, had played on television the night of the fire, and it was widely reported that Darnell had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette while watching it. Some more sensational reports claimed she was intoxicated and despondent over her career. But biographer Ronald L. Davis, in his book Hollywood Beauty, wrote that there was no evidence that any of these stories were true, or that Darnell was in any way responsible for the blaze. By his account, Darnell was burned over 90 percent of her body because rather than jump from the window as her friend's daughter had already done, Darnell tried to make it to the front door. She reached the door but the doorknob was too hot to touch.
Her ashes are interred at the Union Hill Cemetery, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the family plot of her son-in-law. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Linda Darnell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 1631 Vine Street
.
Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
throughout the 1940s. She rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
in adventure films and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber
Forever Amber (film)
Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy...
(1947). Furthermore, she won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence. The film is a black comedy about a man's failed attempt to murder his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful to him...
(1948) and A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them. It stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas in his film debut, Jeffrey Lynn, and Thelma Ritter...
(1949).
Notorious for her unstable personal life, Darnell was incapable of dealing with Hollywood, and landed in a downward spiral of alcoholism, unsuccessful marriages and highly publicized or scandalous affairs. She failed to receive recognition from the industry and its critics, and disappeared from the screen in the 1950s. Darnell died from burns sustained in a house fire.
Early life
Born Monetta Eloyse Darnell in Dallas, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, as one of four children (excluding her mother's two children from an earlier marriage), to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and Pearl Brown. She was the younger sister of Undeen, born in March 1918, and the older sister of Monte Maloya (born 1929) and Calvin Roy, Jr. (born 1930). Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil. Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry. Her mother believed that Darnell was her only child with potential as an actress, and ignored the raising of her other children.
According to her siblings, Darnell enjoyed the limelight and shared her mother's dream. Darnell herself, though, once commented: "Mother really shoved me along, spotting me in one contest after another. I had no great talent, and I didn't want to be a movie star particularly. But Mother had always wanted it for herself, and I guess she attained it through me." One elocution teacher recalled: "[Darnell] didn't stand out particularly, except that she was so sweet and considerate. In her theater work she wasn't outstanding. But her mother was right behind her everywhere she went."
Unlike her husband, Pearl had a notorious reputation in the neighborhood of being "aggressive" or "downright mean". Despite some financial problems, Darnell insisted on having had a joyful childhood and loving parents. Darnell was a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
by the age of 11 and was acting on the stage by the age of 13. She initially started modeling to save money for the household, and performed mostly in beauty contest
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
s.
Before leaving school for Hollywood, Darnell was a student at Sunset High School, which she entered in September 1937, majoring in Spanish and art. She did not have a lot in common with her peers and usually spent her time at home as a teen, working under the guidance of her mother. In 1936, she entered The Dallas Little Theater
Dallas Theater Center
The Dallas Theater Center is a major regional theater in Dallas, Texas . It produces classic, contemporary and new plays. The theater was based in the Kalita Humphreys Theater, a building designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, from 1959 to 2009...
and was cast in the southwestern premiere of Murder in the Cathedral
Murder in the Cathedral
Murder in the Cathedral is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, first performed in 1935...
. The same year, she was hired as one of the hostesses at the Texas Centennial Exposition
Texas Centennial Exposition
The Texas Centennial Exposition was a World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836. More than 50 buildings, for which "George Dahl was director general of a group of architects who designed the buildings ", were...
.
In November 1937, a talent scout for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
arrived in Dallas, looking for new faces. Encouraged by her mother, Darnell met him, and after a few months he invited her for a screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
in Hollywood. Arriving in California alongside Mary Healy
Mary Healy
Mary Healy is a retired American actress, singer, and variety entertainer born in New Orleans, Louisiana. The former Miss New Orleans beauty pageant winner, whose first major screen role was in Second Fiddle , was married to fellow entertainer Peter Lind Hayes from 1940 until his death in 1998...
and Dorris Bowdon
Dorris Bowdon
Dorris Estelle Bowdon was an American actress, best known for her role as Rosasharn in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda....
in February 1938, Darnell was initially rejected by film studios and was sent home because she was declared "too young".
Career beginnings
Although originally wanting to become an actress on the stage, Darnell was featured in a "Gateway to Hollywood" talent-search and initially landed a contract at RKO PicturesRKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. There was no certainty, though, and Darnell soon returned to Dallas. When 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
offered her a part, Darnell wanted to accept, but RKO was unwilling to release her. Nevertheless, by age 15, she was signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and moved to a small apartment in Hollywood all alone on April 5, 1939. With production beginning in April 1939, she featured in her first film Hotel for Women in 1939, which had newspapers immediately hail her the newest star of Hollywood. Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
was originally assigned to play the role, but demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
instead cast Darnell "because he felt that the name would advertise her beauty and suggest a Latin quality that matched her coloring."
Although only 15 at the time, Darnell posed as a 17-year-old and was listed as 19 years old by the studio. According to columnist Louella O. Parsons, Darnell was "so young, so immature and so naive in her ideas" and was very loyal to her boss, Darryl F. Zanuck. Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films. While working on Hotel for Women, Darnell was cast alongside Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
and Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
in Drums Along the Mohawk
Drums Along the Mohawk
Drums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the...
(1939) in June 1939. She was later replaced, because the studio felt her role was not important enough. In an interview during production of Hotel for Women, which lasted until June, Darnell admitted that movie making was not what she expected: "I'm learning what really hard work is. At home in Dallas I used to sprawl on the lawn and dream about the nice, easy time the screen stars must be having in Hollywood, but the last two months have taught me quite another story."
Since the beginning of her career at 20th Century Fox, Darnell had been very positive about her frequent co-star Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
. In a 1939 interview, she expressed her interest in starring opposite Power in Johnny Apollo
Johnny Apollo (film)
Johnny Apollo is a 1940 crime film starring Tyrone Power as a man who resorts to crime to buy a pardon for his embezzler father . Lloyd Nolan plays the gangster he works for, while Dorothy Lamour portrays the boss's girlfriend....
(1940). Rationalizing why she was not cast, Darnell said: "It's a man's part and the girl's role is only incidental." Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
was cast instead. Nevertheless, Darnell had her way as she was assigned in the female lead opposite Power in the light romantic comedy Day-Time Wife (1939). Although the film received only slightly favorable reviews, Darnell's performance was received positively, with one critic saying: "Despite her apparent youth, [Darnell] turns in an outstanding performance when playing with popular players." Another critic wrote that "little Linda is not only a breath-taking eyeful but a splendid actress as well." Life magazine stated that Darnell appeared to be 22 and was "the most physically perfect girl in Hollywood". Following the film's release, she was cast in the drama comedy Star Dust in December 1939. The film was hailed as one of the "most original entertainment idea in years" and boosted Darnell's popularity, being nicknamed 'Hollywood's loveliest and most exciting star'. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
continued: "Miss Darnell displays a wealth of youthful charm and personality that confirms studio efforts to build her to a draw personality." Her studio contract had been revised to allow Darnell to earn $200 a week.
Stardom
After appearing in several small films, Darnell was cast in her first big-budget film in May 1940, appearing again opposite Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (1940), which was shot on location in mid-1940 and was regarded the most expensive film 20th Century Fox had yet produced. Darnell and Power were cast together for the second time due to the box office success of Day-Time Wife, and they became a highly publicized onscreen couple, which prompted Darryl F. Zanuck to add 18 more romantic scenes to Brigham Young. The film's director, Henry HathawayHenry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
, in later life had only slight memories of Darnell and recalled that "a sweeter girl never lived." By June 1940, shortly after completing Brigham Young, Darnell achieved stardom and earned "a weekly salary larger than most bank officials."
In the summer of 1940, Darnell began working on The Mark of Zorro
The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)
The Mark of Zorro is a 1940 American adventure film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox. The action movie stars Tyrone Power as Don Diego Vega , Linda Darnell as his love interest, and Basil Rathbone as the villain...
(1940), in which she again co-starred as Power's sweetheart in a role for which Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
was previously considered. A big budget adventure film that was raved over by the critics, The Mark of Zorro was a box office sensation and did much to enhance Darnell's star status. Afterwards, she was paired with Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
for the first time in the western Chad Hanna
Chad Hanna
Chad Hanna is a 1940 film directed by Henry King, and was adapted from a bestseller of sorts that was published that same year. The novel was written by Walter Dumaux Edmonds It stars Henry Fonda and Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:*Henry Fonda as Chad Hanna*Dorothy Lamour as...
(1940), her first Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
film. The film received only little attention, unlike Darnell's next film Blood and Sand
Blood and Sand (1941 film)
Blood and Sand is a Technicolor film produced by 20th Century Fox, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, and Alla Nazimova...
(1941), was shot on location in Mexico and she was re-teamed with Power. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. Nevertheless, Darnell later claimed that her downfall began after Blood and Sand. In an interview she said:
- "People got tired of seeing the sweet young things I was playing and I landed at the bottom of the roller coaster. The change and realization were very subtle. I'd had the fame and money every girl dreams about–and the romance. I'd crammed thirty years into ten, and while it was exciting and I would do it over again, I still know I missed out on my girlhood, the fun, little things that now seem important."
The studio was unable to find Darnell suitable roles. In late 1940, Fox chose her for the main role in Song of the Islands
Song of the Islands
Song of the Islands is a 1942 musical comedy film starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. It was directed by Walter Lang and released through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
(1942), a Hawaiian musical film which eventually starred Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
. After Blood and Sand, she was set to co-star with Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
in Remember the Day
Remember the Day
Remember the Day is a 1941 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Henry King, and starring Claudette Colbert and John Payne-Plot:An elderly schoolteacher reflects on her life and teaching career while waiting to see "Dewey Roberts", formerly her student and currently a Presidential nominee...
(1941), but another actress was eventually cast. Meanwhile, she was considered for the female lead in Swamp Water
Swamp Water
Swamp Water is a 1941 film directed by Jean Renoir, starring Walter Brennan, produced at 20th Century Fox, and based on the novel by Vereen Bell. The drama was shot on location at Okefenokee Swamp, Waycross, Georgia, USA. This was Renoir's first American film...
(1941), but Anne Baxter was later assigned the role. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected; she later said: "Right under your very nose someone else is brought in for that prize part you wanted so terribly." Months passed by without any work, and in August 1941 she was cast in a supporting role in the musical Rise and Shine (1941). The film was a setback in her career, and she was rejected for a later role because she refused to respond to Darryl F. Zanuck's advances. Instead, she contributed to war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
, working for the Red Cross, selling war bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
s, and she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen
Hollywood Canteen
The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and November 22, 1945 as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas...
.
Professional setbacks
In early 1942, Darnell filmed The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe, another film that would not do much to improve her career. Meanwhile, she realized that Darryl F. Zanuck had lost interest in her, and she was overlooked for most film roles that suited her. Instead, she was cast in roles that she loathed, including the musical Orchestra WivesOrchestra Wives
Orchestra Wives is a 1942 American musical film by 20th Century Fox starring Ann Rutherford, George Montgomery, and Glenn Miller. The film was the second and last film to feature The Glenn Miller Orchestra, and is notable among the many swing era musicals because its plot is more serious and...
(1942). Zanuck insisted that she take the role, but she was replaced by Ann Rutherford
Ann Rutherford
Ann Rutherford is a Canadian-American actress in film, radio, and television. She has had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict on the big screen of the 1930s and 1940s in the Andy Hardy series, and on The Bob Newhart Show as Newhart's character's...
after twelve days of shooting. The press reported that "Linda Darnell and Twentieth Century-Fox aren't on the best of terms at the moment." As a punishment, she was loaned out to another studio for a supporting role in a B movie
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....
called City Without Men. According to co-star Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
, Darnell nevertheless was "very polite", and she was satisfied to work at a studio which did not treat her as a child. In April 1943, she was put on suspension, which meant being replaced in the Technicolor musical film The Gang's All Here (1943). By this time, Darnell had eloped, which caused Zanuck to be in even greater fury.
In 1943, she was cast, uncredited, as the Virgin Mary in The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
. By late 1943, Darnell was fed up with critics only praising her beauty rather than her acting abilities. Judging her performance in Sweet and Low-Down (1944), in which she co-starred with Lynn Bari
Lynn Bari
Lynn Bari , born Margaret Schuyler Fisher, was a movie actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in over one hundred 20th Century Fox films from the early 1930s through the 1940s.-Career:Bari was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
, one critic of the Los Angeles Examiner
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. The afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Examiner, both of which had been publishing in...
wrote, "Lynn comes off the best because she has more of a chance to shine. Linda just doesn't have enough to do – but looks beautiful doing it." Darnell was reduced to second leads and was overlooked for big budget productions. Matters changed when she was named one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood, along with Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
, Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
and Gene Tierney
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
in a 1944 edition of Look
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
magazine. Afterwards, the studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm. Portraying a "seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered," it was a type of role she had never before played. In a later interview, Darnell commented:
- I was told that such a violent change of type might ruin my career, but I insisted on taking the chance. [...] This is one picture on which I am setting much store for the future. For eighteen months I did nothing in pictures. I pleaded for something to do, but nothing happened. The character in the ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
film is a wild sort of she-devil, which any actress would go miles to play. She's devil mostly–at times angelic–and perfectly fascinating to interpret. I'm counting on my Russian girl to give me a new start.
Released in 1944, the film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl
Pin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
. Shortly after, Darnell was again loaned out to portray a showgirl in The Great John L., the first film to feature her bare legs. Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
to cast her in Hangover Square
Hangover Square (film)
Hangover Square is a film noir directed by John Brahm, based on the novel Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon who made a number of changes to the novel, including the transformation of George Harvey Bone into a classical composer-pianist and filming the...
(1945), playing a role she personally had chosen. The film became a great success, and with Darnell's triumph assured, she was allowed to abandon her upcoming film Don Juan Quilligan (1945), which would have been another low point in her career. In January 1945, she was added to the cast of the film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
Fallen Angel
Fallen Angel (1945 film)
Fallen Angel is a 1945 black-and-white film noir directed by Otto Preminger, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, who had also worked with Preminger on Laura a year before. The film features Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Charles Bickford. It was the last film Faye made as a major...
(1945), which also included Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
and Alice Faye
Alice Faye
Alice Faye was an American actress and singer, called by The New York Times "one of the few movie stars to walk away from stardom at the peak of her career." She is remembered first for her stardom at 20th Century Fox and, later, as the radio comedy partner of her husband, bandleader and comedian...
. Despite suffering from the "terrifying" director Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, Darnell completed the film and was praised by reviewers so widely that there was even talk of an Oscar nomination. Due to her success in Fallen Angel, she was cast opposite Tyrone Power in Captain from Castile
Captain from Castile
Captain from Castile is an action historical drama and swashbuckler film released by 20th Century Fox in 1947. Directed by Henry King, the Technicolor film starred Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, and Cesar Romero. Shot on location in Michoacán, Mexico, the film includes scenes of the Parícutin...
in December 1945, on the insistence of Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
. Although she looked forward to the film project, believing it would be her most important to date, she was later replaced by newcomer Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
due to scheduling conflicts, a decision she resented.
In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam and Preminger's Centennial Summer
Centennial Summer
Centennial Summer is a 1946 film directed by Otto Preminger. The musical, that stars Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde, is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell.It was produced in response to the hugely successful MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis...
. During the release of the latter, she was on location in Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
for the filming of the classic western My Darling Clementine
My Darling Clementine
My Darling Clementine is a 1946 western movie. It was directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and others.The movie...
(1946), playing a role for which she lost twelve pounds. She was assigned to a negligible role by Zanuck, which displeased the film's director, John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, who felt that she was not suitable.
Renewed success
Forever Amber (film)
Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy...
, based on a bestselling historical novel that was denounced as being immoral at that time. The character, Amber, was so named because of her hair color, and this is the only major film in which Darnell—normally known for her raven hair and somewhat Latin looks—appears as a redhead. It was the most expensive film yet produced by Fox, and publicity at the time compared the novel Forever Amber to Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. Darnell replaced British actress Peggy Cummins
Peggy Cummins
Peggy Cummins is a retired Irish actress. Cummins is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy , playing a trigger happy femme fatale who robs banks with her lover .-Early life:...
in July 1946 at a cost of $350,000. Because $1 million had already been spent on production costs when Darnell was brought in, the pressure was high to make the film a financial success. Her casting was a result of a campaign for stronger roles. Regardless, she was surprised to find out that she had been cast, because she had been intensively rehearsing for Captain from Castile by the time. Although she had to give up that role and work with Otto Preminger, she was delighted to play the title role and thought she was "the luckiest girl in Hollywood."
The search for the actress to portray Amber, a beauty who uses men to make her fortune in 17th-century England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, was modeled on the extensive process that led to the casting of Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
as Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O' Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
. Production demanded a lot from Darnell. She was again put on a diet and was assigned to a voice coach to learn how to speak with an English accent. In addition, she spent hours in fittings for costume changes. Darnell was certain that Forever Amber would be her ticket to stardom, and she told reporters:
- My first seven years in Hollywood were a series of discouraging struggles for me. For a while it looked as though the Darnell-versus-Hollywood tussle was going to find Darnell coming out second best. The next seven years aren't going to be the same.
Darnell worked long hours at the studio during filming, and according to her older sister she started loathing Preminger, which did not ease production. This and the heavy dieting resulted in exhaustion and a serious illness in November 1946. Her shooting schedule lasted until March 1947, and she collapsed on the set two times in the meanwhile. Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. Darnell was disappointed in the film's reception; it did not gain her the recognition she longed for.
The following year, Darnell portrayed Daphne de Carter in the Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
' comedy Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence. The film is a black comedy about a man's failed attempt to murder his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful to him...
(1948), also starring Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
, and was then rushed into production as one of the three wives in the comedy/drama A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them. It stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas in his film debut, Jeffrey Lynn, and Thelma Ritter...
(1949). Darnell's hard-edged performance in the latter won her unanimous acclaim and the best reviews of her career. Darnell became one of the most-demanded actresses in Hollywood, and she now had the freedom to select her own roles. She longed for the leading role in the controversial film Pinky (1949), but Zanuck feared that her character would be compared to Amber by the audience, and A Letter to Three Wives co-star Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
was cast instead.
Darnell had been widely expected to win an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nomination for A Letter to Three Wives; when this did not happen, her career began to wane. She was cast opposite Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
and Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
in Slattery's Hurricane
Slattery's Hurricane
Slattery's Hurricane is a 1949 drama film based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk to Twentieth Century Fox. The film tells the story of an anti-hero ex-navy pilot who discovers that he works for a dope-smuggling ring, but ultimately attempts to redeem himself during a violent hurricane. It stars...
(1949), which she perceived as a step down from the level she had reached with A Letter to Three Wives, even though it did well at the box office.
Later career
Aside from her co-starring role opposite Richard WidmarkRichard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
and Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
in the groundbreaking No Way Out
No Way Out (1950 film)
No Way Out is a black-and-white film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, and Sidney Poitier...
(1950), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
, which she later called "the only good picture [she] ever made," her later films were rarely noteworthy, and her appearances were increasingly sporadic. Further hampering Darnell's career was the actress's alcoholism and weight gain. Her next film was a western, Two Flags West
Two Flags West
Two Flags West is a 1950 Western drama set during the American Civil War, directed by Robert Wise and starring Joseph Cotton, Jeff Chandler, Linda Darnell, and Cornell Wilde...
(1950). Due to her allergy to horses, she loathed making westerns, and in addition to her complaints about her "colorless" role, she disliked her co-stars Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
and Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
. She was even less enthusiastic about her next film The 13th Letter
The 13th Letter
The 13th Letter is a 1951 film directed by Otto Preminger. The film is a remake of Le Corbeau directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.-Plot:...
(1951), which reunited her with Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, and she only took the role because it was an unglamorous one. Shortly after its release, she was put on suspension for refusing a role in the film The Guy Who Came Back
The Guy Who Came Back
The Guy Who Came Back is a 1951 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Joseph M. Newman, and starring by Paul Douglas, Joan Bennett and Linda Darnell. The screenplay was written byAllan Scott, based on story by W.G...
(1951) opposite Paul Douglas
Paul Douglas (actor)
Paul Douglas was an American actor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Paul Douglas Fleischer.-Career:...
and Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, because it felt "too similar." She later consented to take on the glamor role, but she refused to bleach her hair for it.
On March 21, 1951, Darnell signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that allowed her to become a freelance actress. Her first film outside 20th Century Fox was for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, The Lady Pays Off (1951), after Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
requested her for the lead role. She was responsible for putting the film behind schedule, because on the fifth day of shooting she learned that Ivan Kahn, the man responsible for her breakthrough, had died. After The Lady Pays Off, Darnell headed the cast of Saturday Island
Saturday Island
Saturday Island is a 1952 British romantic war film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, Donald Gray and John Laurie, Lloyd Lamble and Peter Butterworth....
(1952), which was filmed on location in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in late 1951. There Darnell fell ill and had to be quarantined for several weeks. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the lot of 20th Century Fox in March 1952 and was cast in the film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
Night Without Sleep
Night Without Sleep
Night Without Sleep is a 1952 mystery film directed by Roy Ward Baker.-Plot:A composer, Richard Morton experiences blackouts and cannot account for his actions. He seems to recall a woman's screams and a conversation with his wife, Emily, but it's all a blur.Morton goes to see his friend John...
(1952). It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, though, since she was released from it in September 1952, most likely because the competition of television forced studios all over Hollywood to drop actors.
This news initially excited Darnell, because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe. She soon realized, though, that the ease and protection enjoyed under contract was gone, and she came to resent 20th Century Fox and Zanuck:
- Suppose you'd been earning $4,000 to $5,000 a week for years. Suddenly you were fired and no one would hire you at any figure remotely comparable to your previous salary. I thought in a little while I'd get offers from other studios, but not many came along. The only thing I knew how to do was be a movie star. No one expects to last forever in this business. You know that sooner or later the studio's going to let you go. But who wants to be retired at twenty-nine?
Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato
Giuseppe Amato
Giuseppe Amato was an Italian film producer, screenwriter and director. He produced 58 films between 1932 and 1961.He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate
Blackbeard the Pirate
Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film made by RKO. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.-Plot:...
(1952), which — much to Darnell's distress — went far behind schedule. She arrived in Italy in August 1952 and started filming Angels of Darkness (1954) in February of the next year. The second collaboration proved disastrous, and the next film was never released in the United States. Due to a delay in the middle of production, she was sent back to Hollywood, and there accepted an offer from Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
to star in RKO's
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
3-D film
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
Second Chance
Second Chance (1953 film)
Second Chance is a 1953 American color film noir, directed by Rudolph Maté. The picture, shot on location in Mexico in 3-Dimension, features Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, and Jack Palance...
(1953), filmed in Mexico. Afterwards, she flew back to Rome to complete Angels of Darkness, in which she spoke Italian. Upon returning to New York, she was under the misunderstanding that she would portray the title role in Mankiewicz' The Barefoot Contessa
The Barefoot Contessa
The Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 film about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien....
(1954), believing that the role could carry her to dramatic heights. Through trade papers, she learned that Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
assumed the part.
Due to the insistence of her then husband Philip Liebmann, Darnell put her career on a hiatus, though she returned to 20th Century Fox in August 1955. By then the studio had entered the television field, and Darnell was eager to appear on the General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
.
Darnell resorted to television work, and she returned to the stage. Darnell's last work as an actress was in a stage production in Atlanta in early 1965.
Personal life
Since Darnell was underage when she arrived in Hollywood, she was tutored on the sets. She planned on attending graduation day at Sunset High School, but she was excluded from it, and instead she graduated from University High School in 1941. Her work schedules prohibited her from enrolling in a university.In 1940, during the shooting of Star Dust, Darnell for a short time went out with teen idol Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
. Her first love was Jaime Jorba, a Mexican whom she met while still in high school. They met again during production of Blood and Sand, but they drifted apart when Jorba announced he could not marry a girl who was in the public eye. Starting at age 17, Darnell dated her publicity agent
Press agent
A press agent, or flack, is a professional publicist who acts on behalf of his or her client on all matters involving public relations. Press agents are typically employed by public personalities and organizations such as performers and businesses...
Alan Gordon, whom she allegedly married in a double wedding with Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and Joseph Stephen Crane
Joseph Stephen Crane
Joseph Stephen Crane was an American actor and restaurateur. A Columbia Pictures actor in the early 1940s, Crane opened the Luau, a popular celebrity restaurant, in 1953 and established a successful 25-year career in the restaurant industry...
on July 17, 1942. The report turned out to be false, and over the years Darnell became known as "filmland's most eligible bachelorette." Up to 1942, she dated Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
, Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
, George Montgomery and Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
, among others. At one point, she was set to elope with talent agent Vic Orsatti, only to report later that she was "concentrating on [her] career."
Although a well-loved figure on the 20th Century Fox lot among the cast, crew and lot workers, it was reported that Darnell made only one good friend in Hollywood, actress-singer Ann Miller
Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...
, whom she met at a Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
benefit. Darnell was very negative about the Hollywood social scene, finding it "nauseating". During her stay in Hollywood, her relationship with her mother Pearl worsened, her mother being an unpopular figure on the lot due to her overbearing and possessive behavior. In 1940, Pearl accused her husband of having an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous relationship with Evelyn, one of her children, even though he was not Evelyn's biological father. Following an intense fight between her parents in 1942, Darnell left home with her younger sister Monte and never returned. In spite, Pearl turned to the press, which gained Darnell some bad publicity.
In 1942, Darnell was plagued with extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
letters from an unknown person threatening her with bodily harm unless $2,000 was paid immediately. The studio asked the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
to protect the actress, and eventually a 17-year-old high school student was arrested for the crime.
On April 18, 1943, at age 19, Darnell eloped with 42-year-old cameraman J. Peverell Marley
J. Peverell Marley
J. Peverell Marley was an American cinematographer. He is one of only six cinematographers to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame...
in Las Vegas. Darnell and Marley started seeing each other in 1940, and the press dismissed him as her "devoted friend and escort." Most friends and relatives disapproved of the marriage, including 20th Century Fox and her parents, and it was believed that Darnell looked at Marley more as a father figure than her romantic interest. Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol in 1944, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problem. Neighbors and acquaintances recalled the drastic change she underwent in this period, becoming hardened and hot-tempered. In 1946, during production of Centennial Summer, she repeatedly met with Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
. Although she initially disregarded gossip of an affair, she fell in love with the womanizing millionaire and separated from Marley shortly after finishing My Darling Clementine. When Hughes announced that he had no desire to marry her, Darnell returned to her husband and cancelled divorce proceedings. Shortly after the reunion, her health worsened, caused by the tough production of Forever Amber (1947).
Because Darnell and Marley were unable to have children, they adopted a daughter in 1948, Charlotte Mildred "Lola" Marley (born January 5, 1948), the actress's only child. She also planned to adopt a boy within years, but nothing ever came of it. In mid-1948, she became romantically involved with Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
, the director of A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives
A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 film which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them. It stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas in his film debut, Jeffrey Lynn, and Thelma Ritter...
, and in July 1948, she filed for divorce. Mankiewicz, however, was unwilling to leave his wife for Darnell, and even though the affair would continue for six years, she returned to her husband. Whereas she called him the "great love of her life," Mankiewicz never acknowledged the affair; he only mentioned her to his biographer as a "marvelous girl with very terrifying personal problems." In 1949, Darnell went into psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
for hostile emotions that she had been building since childhood. Darnell's romance with Mankiewicz influenced her personal life. When he left in late 1949 for on location shooting of All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
(1950), Darnell fell into a depression and almost committed suicide. She continued to occasionally meet with him until production of The Barefoot Contessa (1954) started.
On January 25, 1949, Darnell went to court to sue her former business manager Cy Tanner for fraud. She testified that he stole $7,250 from her between 1946 and 1947, and Tanner was eventually sent to prison. On July 19, 1950, it was reported that Darnell had separated from her husband. Marley offered a quiet settlement - without mention of Mankiewicz - for a payment of $125,000. She agreed, and she almost lost all of her money. When she filed for divorce from Marley in 1951, she accused her husband of cruelty, claiming he was "rude" and "critical" towards Darnell and her family. Following a five-minute hearing, Darnell was granted a divorce and custody of Charlotte, while Marley was to pay $75 a month for child support.
In her later life, she dated actor Dick Paxton and had an affair with Italian director Giuseppe Amato
Giuseppe Amato
Giuseppe Amato was an Italian film producer, screenwriter and director. He produced 58 films between 1932 and 1961.He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
. She secretly married brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
heir Philip Liebmann in February 1954. Due to a lack of physical attraction from her side, Darnell agreed that the marriage would be a business arrangement: she was to be his wife in name only, and in return, he supported her financially. After a while, she grew dissatisfied with her loveless marriage, and she detested her husband for allowing her to lash out at him, as well as cheapening her by buying her lavish presents. In response, Darnell resorted to charity work, opening facilities accommodating thirty girls in the neighborhood of Rome in 1955. Liebmann attempted to save the marriage by adopting a baby named Alfreda, but the marriage ended nevertheless on grounds of incompatibility, and Liebmann kept the girl.
Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson from 1957 to 1963. In 1963, Darnell was granted a divorce from Robertson following an outburst in the courtroom, where she accused her third husband of fathering the baby of a Polish actress. She was promised a monthly alimony of $350 until July 15, 1964, and $250 until September 15, 1967.
Death
She died on April 10, 1965, at age 41, from burns she received in a house fire in GlenviewGlenview, Cook County, Illinois
Glenview is a suburban village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 41,847...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. She had been staying there with friends while preparing for a stage role in the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
area. Her 1940 film, Star Dust, had played on television the night of the fire, and it was widely reported that Darnell had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette while watching it. Some more sensational reports claimed she was intoxicated and despondent over her career. But biographer Ronald L. Davis, in his book Hollywood Beauty, wrote that there was no evidence that any of these stories were true, or that Darnell was in any way responsible for the blaze. By his account, Darnell was burned over 90 percent of her body because rather than jump from the window as her friend's daughter had already done, Darnell tried to make it to the front door. She reached the door but the doorknob was too hot to touch.
Her ashes are interred at the Union Hill Cemetery, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the family plot of her son-in-law. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Linda Darnell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1631 Vine Street
Vine Street
Vine is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north-south from Melrose Avenue up past Hollywood Boulevard. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was once a symbol of Hollywood itself...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Hotel for Women | Marcia Bromley | |
| 1939 | Day-Time Wife | Jane Norton | |
| 1940 | Star Dust | Carolyn Sayres | |
| 1940 | Brigham Young | Zina Webb – The Outsider | Alternative title: Brigham Young: Frontiersman |
| 1940 | Lolita Quintero | ||
| 1940 | Chad Hanna Chad Hanna Chad Hanna is a 1940 film directed by Henry King, and was adapted from a bestseller of sorts that was published that same year. The novel was written by Walter Dumaux Edmonds It stars Henry Fonda and Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:*Henry Fonda as Chad Hanna*Dorothy Lamour as... |
Caroline Tridd Hanna | |
| 1941 | Blood and Sand Blood and Sand (1941 film) Blood and Sand is a Technicolor film produced by 20th Century Fox, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, and Alla Nazimova... |
Carmen Espinosa | |
| 1941 | Rise and Shine | Louise Murray | |
| 1942 | Virginia Clemm | ||
| 1943 | City Without Men | Nancy Johnson | Alternative title: Prison Farm |
| 1943 | The Virgin Mary | Uncredited | |
| 1944 | Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill (film) Buffalo Bill Technicolor is a biographical Western about the life of the legendary frontiersman, starring Joel McCrea and Maureen O'Hara with Linda Darnell and Anthony Quinn in supporting roles.-Cast:*Joel McCrea as Buffalo Bill Cody... |
Dawn Starlight | |
| 1944 | It Happened Tomorrow It Happened Tomorrow It Happened Tomorrow is a 1944 fantasy film starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and Sig Ruman. It was directed by René Clair.-Plot:... |
Sylvia Smith/Sylvia Stevens | |
| 1944 | Summer Storm | Olga Kuzminichna Urbenin | |
| 1944 | Sweet and Low-Down | Trudy Wilson | |
| 1945 | Hangover Square Hangover Square (film) Hangover Square is a film noir directed by John Brahm, based on the novel Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton. The screenplay was written by Barré Lyndon who made a number of changes to the novel, including the transformation of George Harvey Bone into a classical composer-pianist and filming the... |
Netta Longdon | |
| 1945 | Anne Livingstone | ||
| 1945 | Fallen Angel Fallen Angel (1945 film) Fallen Angel is a 1945 black-and-white film noir directed by Otto Preminger, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, who had also worked with Preminger on Laura a year before. The film features Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Charles Bickford. It was the last film Faye made as a major... |
Stella | |
| 1946 | Anna and the King of Siam | Tuptim | |
| 1946 | Centennial Summer Centennial Summer Centennial Summer is a 1946 film directed by Otto Preminger. The musical, that stars Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde, is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell.It was produced in response to the hugely successful MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis... |
Edith Rogers | |
| 1946 | My Darling Clementine My Darling Clementine My Darling Clementine is a 1946 western movie. It was directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and others.The movie... |
Chihuahua | |
| 1947 | Forever Amber Forever Amber (film) Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy... |
Amber St. Clair | |
| 1948 | Algeria Wedge | ||
| 1948 | Unfaithfully Yours Unfaithfully Yours Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence. The film is a black comedy about a man's failed attempt to murder his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful to him... |
Daphne De Carter | |
| 1949 | Lora Mae Hollingsway | ||
| 1949 | Slattery's Hurricane Slattery's Hurricane Slattery's Hurricane is a 1949 drama film based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk to Twentieth Century Fox. The film tells the story of an anti-hero ex-navy pilot who discovers that he works for a dope-smuggling ring, but ultimately attempts to redeem himself during a violent hurricane. It stars... |
Mrs. Aggie Hobson | |
| 1949 | Everybody Does It Everybody Does It Everybody Does It is a 1949 comedy film starring Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell and Celeste Holm.In the film, a businessman's wife tries to become an opera star, failing miserably due to her lack of talent... |
Cecil Carter | |
| 1950 | No Way Out No Way Out (1950 film) No Way Out is a black-and-white film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, and Sidney Poitier... |
Edie Johnson | |
| 1950 | Two Flags West Two Flags West Two Flags West is a 1950 Western drama set during the American Civil War, directed by Robert Wise and starring Joseph Cotton, Jeff Chandler, Linda Darnell, and Cornell Wilde... |
Elena Kenniston | |
| 1951 | Denise Turner | ||
| 1951 | Dee Shane | ||
| 1951 | Evelyn Walsh Warren | ||
| 1952 | Saturday Island Saturday Island Saturday Island is a 1952 British romantic war film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, Donald Gray and John Laurie, Lloyd Lamble and Peter Butterworth.... |
Lt. Elizabeth Smythe | |
| 1952 | Night Without Sleep Night Without Sleep Night Without Sleep is a 1952 mystery film directed by Roy Ward Baker.-Plot:A composer, Richard Morton experiences blackouts and cannot account for his actions. He seems to recall a woman's screams and a conversation with his wife, Emily, but it's all a blur.Morton goes to see his friend John... |
Julie Bannon | |
| 1952 | Blackbeard the Pirate Blackbeard the Pirate Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 Technicolor adventure film made by RKO. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Edmund Grainger from a screenplay by Alan Le May based on the story by DeVallon Scott.-Plot:... |
Edwina Mansfield | |
| 1953 | Second Chance Second Chance (1953 film) Second Chance is a 1953 American color film noir, directed by Rudolph Maté. The picture, shot on location in Mexico in 3-Dimension, features Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, and Jack Palance... |
Clare Shepperd, alias Clare Sinclair | |
| 1954 | Angels of Darkness | Lola Baldi | Original title: Donne proibite |
| 1954 | This Is My Love | Vida Dove | |
| 1955 | It Happens in Roma | Renata Adorni | Alternative title: The Last Five Minutes |
| 1956 | Dakota Incident Dakota Incident Dakota Incident is a 1956 Western produced by Republic Pictures. The film stars Dale Robertson and Linda Darnell.-Featured cast:... |
Amy Clarke | |
| 1957 | Zero Hour! Zero Hour! Zero Hour! is a 1957 movie whose screenplay was written by Arthur Hailey, starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden, and released by Paramount Pictures. Zero Hour! was an adaptation of Hailey's 1956 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation play Flight into Danger... |
Ellen Stryker | |
| 1965 | Black Spurs | Sadie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Lily Martyn | Episode: "Deception" | |
| 1956 | Screen Director's Playhouse | Ellen | Episode: "White Corridors" |
| 1956– 1957 |
Jennifer Hollander/Meredith Montague Ann Dean |
Episodes: "All for a Man" "Fate Travels East" |
|
| 1957 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer... |
Episode: "Terror in the Streets" | |
| 1957 | Playhouse 90 Playhouse 90 Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California... |
Meg Lyttleton | Episode: "Homeward Borne" |
| 1957 | Climax! | Helen Randall | Episode: "Trial by Fire" |
| 1958 | Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre Fireside Theater Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran from on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned... |
Lora | Episode: "The Elevator" |
| 1958 | Studio 57 | Episode: "My Little Girl" | |
| 1958 | Wagon Train Wagon Train Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65... |
Dora Gray Fogelberry | Episodes: "The Dora Gray Story" "The Sacramento Story" |
| 1958 | Pursuit | Episode: "Free Ride" | |
| 1958 | Cimarron City Cimarron City (TV series) Cimarron City is an American Western television series starring George Montgomery and John Smith that aired on NBC from October 11, 1958 until April 4, 1959... |
Mary Clinton | Episode: "Kid on a Calico Horse" |
| 1959 | 77 Sunset Strip 77 Sunset Strip 77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes.... |
Zina Felice | Episode: "Sing Something Simple" |
| 1964 | Burke's Law Burke's Law Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud... |
Monica Crenshaw | Episode: "Who Killed His Royal Highness?" |