Biography

Gloria Grahame Hallward, an acting pupil of her mother (stage actress and teacher Jean Grahame), acted professionally while still in high school. In 1944 Louis B. Mayer saw her on Broadway and gave her an MGM contract under the name Gloria Grahame. Her debut in the title role of Blonde Fever (1944) was auspicious, but her first public recognition came on loan-out in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Although her talent and sex appeal were of star quality, she did not fit the star pattern at MGM, who sold her contract to RKO in 1947. Here the same problem resurfaced; her best film in these years was made on loan-out, In a Lonely Place (1950). Soon after, she left RKO. The 1950s, her best period, brought her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and typecast her as shady, inimitably sultry ladies in seven well-known film-noir classics.

Rumors of being difficult to work with on the set of Oklahoma! (1955) helped sideline her film career from 1956 onward. She also suffered from marital and child-custody troubles. Eight years after divorce from Nicholas Ray, who was 12 years her senior (and reportedly had discovered her in bed with his 13 year old son), and after a subsequent marriage to Cy Howard ended in divorce, in 1960 she married her former stepson Anthony Ray (who was almost 14 years younger than she was.) This led former husbands Nicholas Ray and Cy Howard to sue Grahame; each man seeking custody of his respective child, putting gossip columnists and scandal sheets into overdrive. Grahame herself underwent electroconvulsive therapy after the ensuing stress caused a nervous breakdown. Surprisingly, however, Grahame and Anthony "Tony" Ray proved a happy couple. The union would be Grahame's longest marriage, lasting almost 14 years (10 years longer than her previous union with Ray's father); the couple had two children, Anthony Jr. and James.

In 1960, Grahame resumed stage acting, combined with TV work and, from 1970, some mostly inferior films. She was described as a serious, skillful actress; spontaneous, honest, and strong-willed; imaginative and curious; incredibly sexy but insecure about her looks (prompting plastic surgery on her famous lips); loving appreciative male company; "a bit loony". In 1975, she was treated for breast cancer. Five years later, she was diagnosed with cancer again, although it is unclear if this was a new cancer or a metastasis of her breast cancer. Grahame eventually moved to England in 1978. Her busiest period of British and American stage work ended abruptly in 1981 when she collapsed from cancer symptoms during a rehearsal. She wished to remain in Liverpool with her partner, Peter Turner (almost 30 years her junior), but after Turner notified her children of her health condition and impending death, two of her children flew to England to retrieve her, insisting she return to the United States. She died a few hours later that same day of stomach cancer and peritonitis at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan on October 5, 1981 at age 57.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rod Crawford/Robert Sieger

Gloria Grahame Hallward was born in Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward (known as Michael Hallward), an English architect, and Jean MacDougall, a Scottish actress and acting coach, whose stage name was Jean Grahame (her mother's maiden name). Descended from royalty -- King Edward III through her father's side -- she was bred for acting at an early age. She quit Hollywood High School just short of graduation to join a touring show called "Good Night Ladies". Later she appeared in a couple of Broadway plays, where she was spotted by MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer in 1944. He was impressed enough to offer her a contract with MGM at $250 a week.

Grahame's first role was that of Sally Murfin in Blonde Fever (1944), but it was a few years later that her role as Violet in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) set her apart from other actresses. She played the part of the local temptress who sets her sights on James Stewart, and was done for Columbia while she was on loan out from MGM. Although extremely talented and sexy, MGM felt she didn't fit its rigid star pattern and sold her contract to RKO. After appearances in such films as It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) and Song of the Thin Man (1947), she hit pay-dirt as Ginny Tremaine in Crossfire (1947) for RKO. This was the film that would shoot her into super-stardom. She was nominated for an Academy Award but lost out to Celeste Holm for Gentleman's Agreement (1947).

After another stellar performance in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Grahame was nominated for yet another Oscar in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), in which she played Rosemary Bartlow, the ill-fated wife of a novelist turned screenwriter, opposite Dick Powell. Her performance was absolutely outstanding, and this time she took home the Oscar. The film itself won four additional awards, making it the year's most honored movie. That same year saw her star in Macao (1952) and Sudden Fear (1952), both very well received. The 1950s was a wonderful decade for Grahame, as she appeared in several more hits, including the epic musical Oklahoma! (1955), although she reportedly did not get along with her co-stars and her behavior was such that her film career began slowing down. She made Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), her last film until Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966).

She suffered through another paucity of roles until she landed a part in The Todd Killings (1971). Grahame was not idle during this period, however. She went back to stage work and did guest appearances on TV. She ultimately made it back to the screen, but the films were not particularly well received (or up to her previous standards). Her last two films were Melvin and Howard (1980) and The Nesting (1981). She was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 1975. Three years later, she moved to England, where she kept busy working.

In 1980, however, she was re-diagnosed with a different type of cancer. She refused treatment and wanted to stay in England to remain with her almost three decades younger partner, Peter Turner, and his family in Liverpool. However, after Turner informed her children of her impending death, two of these flew to England to retrieve her. She died several hours the same day, October 5, 1981, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, from stomach cancer and peritonitis at the age of 57. She was, without a doubt, one of the finest actresses ever to grace the screen.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger