1925-01-26 ( 100 years old ) in Detroit, Michigan, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress, dancer, and vaudevillian who, during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as High Sierra, Sergeant York, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel was born on January 26, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan, the youngest child of John and Agnes Brodel.
At 15, Leslie had her first significant role as the crippled girl in High Sierra (1941), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. The same year she played in Sergeant York as York's fiancée.
Leslie had a supporting role in The Male Animal (1942) as Olivia de Havilland's younger sister. In Yankee Doodle Dandy (also 1942) she portrayed George M. Cohan's girlfriend/wife. By now, Leslie had become a star whose on-screen image was described as "sweet innocence without seeming too sugary."
Leslie was in four motion pictures released during 1943: The Hard Way, starring Ida Lupino and Dennis Morgan; The Sky's the Limit (1943), starring with Fred Astaire; the wartime film This Is the Army (1943) with Ronald Reagan; and finally Thank Your Lucky Stars.
During World War II, she was a regular volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen, where she danced with servicemen and signed hundreds of autographs. She was featured with Robert Hutton, among many others, in the Warner Bros. film Hollywood Canteen (1944). In 1946 Leslie's career took a dive when she took Warner Brothers to court in order to get released from her contract based on moral and religious grounds because of the parts they kept giving her. She wanted more serious and mature roles. In 1947, the Catholic Theatre Guild gave Leslie an award because of her "consistent refusal to use her talents and art in film productions of objectionable character." As a result of this, Jack Warner used his influence to blacklist her from other major Hollywood studios.
From this point on Leslie had a more irregular film career. In 1947, she signed a two-picture contract with the poverty row studio Eagle-Lion Films. The first one was Repeat Performance (1947), a film noir. The other was Northwest Stampede (1948) in which she performed with James Craig. In 1952, she signed a short-term deal with Republic Pictures. One of the films she made for Republic was Flight Nurse (1953). Her last film was The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956). However, she continued making sporadic appearances in television shows while her children were at school. She retired from acting in 1991, after appearing in the TV film Fire in the Dark.
Leslie died on October 12, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. She was 90. Her survivors include her two children and one sister, Betty.
On October 8, 1960, Joan Leslie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. In 1999, she was one of the 250 actresses nominated for the American Film Institute's selection of the 25 greatest female screen legends to have debuted before 1950. On August 12, 2006, she received a Golden Boot Award for her contributions to Western television shows and movies.
Movies
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
2009-01-01
Hollywood Gangster
2008-12-27
Sergeant York: Of God and Country
2006-11-07
Curtains for Roy Earle
2003-11-03
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
1998-03-17
Inside the Dream Factory
1995-11-01
James Cagney: Top of the World
1992-07-05
Fire in the Dark
1991-07-01
Turn Back the Clock
1989-11-20
Charley Hannah
1986-04-05
Showbiz Goes to War
1982-12-31
The Keegans
1976-05-03
The Revolt of Mamie Stover
1956-05-11
Hell's Outpost
1954-12-15
Jubilee Trail
1954-05-15
Flight Nurse
1953-11-15
Woman They Almost Lynched
1953-03-20
Toughest Man in Arizona
1952-10-10
Hellgate
1952-09-04
Man in the Saddle
1951-12-02
Born to Be Bad
1950-09-28
The Skipper Surprised His Wife
1950-06-29
Northwest Stampede
1948-07-28
So You Want to Be in Pictures
1947-06-07
Repeat Performance
1947-05-22
Two Guys from Milwaukee
1946-07-26
Janie Gets Married
1946-06-22
Cinderella Jones
1946-03-09
Too Young to Know
1945-12-01
Parade of Aquatic Champions
1945-07-22
Rhapsody in Blue
1945-06-27
Where Do We Go from Here?
1945-05-23
I Am an American
1944-12-23
Hollywood Canteen
1944-12-15
The Voice That Thrilled the World
1943-10-16
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943-09-25
This Is the Army
1943-08-14
The Sky's the Limit
1943-07-13
Stars on Horseback
1943-04-23
The Hard Way
1943-01-13
Yankee Doodle Dandy
1942-05-29
The Male Animal
1942-03-12
Sergeant York
1941-09-27
Nine Lives Are Not Enough
1941-09-20
Thieves Fall Out
1941-05-03
The Wagons Roll at Night
1941-04-25
The Great Mr. Nobody
1941-02-15
High Sierra
1941-01-23
Foreign Correspondent
1940-08-16
Susan and God
1940-06-07
Star Dust
1940-04-06
Alice in Movieland
1940-03-03
Young as You Feel
1940-02-16
High School
1940-01-26
Laddie
1940-01-18
Two Thoroughbreds
1939-12-08
Winter Carnival
1939-07-28
Love Affair
1939-04-07
Nancy Drew... Reporter
1939-02-18
Men with Wings
1938-07-16
Camille
1936-12-26
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