Glenda Farrell's career spanned more than 50 years, appearing in numerous Broadway plays, films and television series.
46 Facts About Glenda Farrell
2.
Glenda Farrell won an Emmy Award in 1963 for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her performance as Martha Morrison in the medical drama television series Ben Casey.
3.
Glenda Farrell began acting on stage as a child and continued with various theatre companies and on Broadway before signing with Warner Bros.
4.
Glenda Farrell's father, Charles Farrell, was a horse trader of Irish and Cherokee descent.
5.
Glenda Farrell's mother had never achieved her desire of being an actress, encouraged and supported her daughter's acting interests.
6.
When her family moved to San Diego, California, a teenage Glenda Farrell joined the Virginia Brissac Stock Company.
7.
Glenda Farrell made the third honor roll in Motion Picture Magazine's "Fame and Fortune Contest".
8.
Glenda Farrell received a formal education at the Mount Carmel Catholic Academy.
9.
In 1928, Glenda Farrell was cast as the lead actress in the play The Spider and made her film debut in a minor role in Lucky Boy.
10.
Glenda Farrell moved to New York City in 1929, where she replaced Erin O'Brien-Moore as Marion Hardy in Aurania Rouverol's play Skidding.
11.
Glenda Farrell appeared in several other plays, including Divided Honors, Recapture, and Love, Honor and Betray with George Brent, Alice Brady, and Clark Gable.
12.
In 1930, she starred in the comedy short film The Lucky Break with Harry Fox and in July 1930, Film Daily announced that Glenda Farrell had been cast as the female lead, Olga Stassoff, in director Mervyn LeRoy's gangster film Little Caesar.
13.
At the time, Glenda Farrell conceded that motion pictures offered immense salaries but felt the theatre was the foundation of the actor's profession.
14.
In 1932, Glenda Farrell starred in the hit Broadway play Life Begins, an episodic drama set entirely in the maternity ward in a hospital.
15.
Glenda Farrell received rave reviews and notices for her performance as Florette Darien, the professionally sullen chorus girl.
16.
Glenda Farrell was asked to recreate the role in Warner Bros.
17.
Glenda Farrell was given a seven years contract with the Warner Bros.
18.
Glenda Farrell appeared in over 30 films in her first five years with Warner Bros.
19.
Glenda Farrell co-starred in the Academy-Award nominated films I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang with Paul Muni and Lady for a Day by director Frank Capra.
20.
Glenda Farrell appeared in films such as Girl Missing, Little Big Shot, the musical Go into Your Dance and the comedies Nobody's Fool and High Tension.
21.
In 1937, Glenda Farrell began starring as Torchy Blane, a fast-talking, wisecracking newspaper reporter.
22.
Glenda Farrell continued to play Torchy in seven films opposite MacLane between 1937 and 1939.
23.
Glenda Farrell was beloved by the moviegoing public and received a huge amount of fan mail for the series.
24.
Glenda Farrell performed in the radio series Vanity and Playhouse in 1937 and Manhattan Latin with Humphrey Bogart in 1938.
25.
Glenda Farrell was elected to a one-year term as the honorary mayor of North Hollywood in 1937, beating her competition Bing Crosby and Lewis Stone by a three-to-one margin.
26.
Glenda Farrell was put in charge when the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that it wanted to put sewers along Ventura Highway and started the groundwork for that project.
27.
In July 1939, Farrell starred in the lead role in the play Anna Christie at the Westport Country Playhouse and followed that with a summer stock production of S N Behrman's play Brief Moment.
28.
Glenda Farrell co-starred with Lyle Talbot and Alan Dinehart in the long-running play Separate Rooms at Broadway's Plymouth Theater for a successful 613-performance run throughout 1940 and 1941.
29.
Glenda Farrell appeared in the Broadway plays The Overtons in 1945 and Home is the Hero by Walter Macken in 1954.
30.
Glenda Farrell returned to motion pictures in 1941, starring in Mervyn LeRoy's film noir, Johnny Eager.
31.
Glenda Farrell starred in the 1959 film adaptation of the Broadway play Middle of the Night with Fredric March and Kim Novak.
32.
Glenda Farrell co-starred with her son Tommy Glenda Farrell in two comedy films in 1964: Kissin' Cousins with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis in The Disorderly Orderly.
33.
Glenda Farrell made her television debut in 1949 in the anthology series The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre.
34.
Glenda Farrell appeared in over 40 television series between 1950 and 1969, including Kraft Theatre, Studio One in Hollywood, The United States Steel Hour, Bonanza and Bewitched.
35.
In 1963, Glenda Farrell guest-starred in the ABC medical drama series Ben Casey as Martha Morrison in the two-part episode "A Cardinal Act of Mercy".
36.
Glenda Farrell won the Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding performance in a supporting role by an actress.
37.
Glenda Farrell briefly retired in 1968 but soon decided to return to acting.
38.
Glenda Farrell was appearing in Forty Carats at the Morosco Theatre until ill health forced her to leave the play a few months later.
39.
In 1920, Glenda Farrell was hired to do a dance routine at a Navy benefit ball in San Diego.
40.
Glenda Farrell was engaged to Jack Durant of the comedy duo "Mitchell and Durant" in 1931 but never married him.
41.
Glenda Farrell later dated screenwriter Robert Riskin and actor Jack Randall.
42.
In 1941, Glenda Farrell married Dr Henry Ross, a Major and Army flight surgeon.
43.
The couple met during a performance of the play Separate Rooms after Glenda Farrell sprained her ankle and was treated backstage by Ross.
44.
In 1971, Glenda Farrell died from lung cancer, age 66, at her home in New York City and was interred in the West Point Cemetery in West Point, New York.
45.
On February 8,1960, Glenda Farrell received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures at 6524 Hollywood Boulevard.
46.
Glenda Farrell was widely imitated, and lived long enough to see her imitators imitated.