Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was one of the first actresses to gain fame in the new medium of " talking pictures," and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her work in ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

.'' Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley and was the daughter of a prominent United States Army officer. She was raised primarily in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

and graduated from East Orange High School. Having gained her initial acting experience in school drama classes, she decided on a career as an actress and moved to New York City. Because her father opposed her career choice, she used the stage name Ann Harding. After initial work as a script reader, Harding began to win roles on Broadway and in regional theaters, primarily in Pennsylvania. She moved to California to begin working in movies, which were just then beginning to include sound. Her work in plays had given her notable diction and stage presence, and she became a leading lady. By the late 1930s, she was becoming stereotyped as the beautiful, innocent, self-sacrificing woman, and film work became harder for her to obtain. After marrying conductor

Werner Janssen Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen;Eyes in the Night'' (1942), '' It Happened on Fifth Avenue'' (1947) and '' The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'' (1956). She worked occasionally in television between 1955 and 1965, and she appeared in two plays in the early 1960s, returning to the stage after an absence of over 30 years, including the lead in '' The Corn is Green'' in 1964 at the Studio Theater in Buffalo, New York. After her 1965 retirement, she resided in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

. She died there in 1981 and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park -- Hollywood Hills.

Early years

Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas to

George G. Gatley George Grant Gatley (September 10, 1868—January 8, 1931) was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of brigadier general, and his World War I commands included the 30th and 42nd Infantry Divisions. Early life Georg ...

, a career army officer, and Elizabeth "Bessie" Walton (Crabb) Gatley. After travelling often during her early life because of her father's career, she grew up in

, graduated from East Orange High School, and attended Bryn Mawr College. Her father "violently opposed her profession," so Harding changed her name when she began her acting career.

Career

Harding's initial employment in the entertainment industry was as a

script reader Script coverage is a filmmaking term for the analysis and grading of screenplays, often within the "script development" department of a production company. While coverage may remain entirely oral, it usually takes the form of a written report, gui ...

. She began acting and made her Broadway debut in ''Like a King'' in 1921. Three years later she found her "home theater" in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, after being directed by Hedgerow Theatre founder Jasper Deeter in ''The Master Builder.'' Over the years she returned to Hedgerow to reprise several of her roles. She soon became a leading lady; like other leading actresses of the day, she kept in shape by using the services of Sylvia of Hollywood. She was a prominent actress in Pittsburgh theatre for a time, performing with the Sharp Company and later starting the Nixon Players with

Harry Bannister Harry Bannister (September 29, 1889 – February 26, 1961) was an American stage, film and television actor, and theater producer and director. Biography Born in Holland, Michigan, Bannister began acting in movies and on Broadway in the 1920s ...

. In 1929, she made her film debut in '' Paris Bound'', opposite Fredric March. In 1931, she purchased the Hedgerow Theatre building from Deeter for $5,000 and donated it to the company. Leslie Howard-Ann Harding in The Animal Kingdom

Leslie Howard-Ann Harding in The Animal Kingdom

First under contract to

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

, which was subsequently absorbed by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, Harding was promoted as the studio's 'answer' to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's superstar Norma Shearer. She co-starred with

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

, Myrna Loy, Herbert Marshall, Leslie Howard, Richard Dix, and Gary Cooper, and was often on loan to other studios, such as MGM and Paramount. At RKO, Harding, along with Helen Twelvetrees and Constance Bennett, comprised a trio who specialized in the "women's pictures" genre. Harding's performances were often heralded by the critics, who cited her diction and stage experience as assets to the then-new medium of " talking pictures." Harding's second film was ''Her Private Affair,'' in which she portrayed a wife of questionable morality. The film was an enormous commercial success. During this period, she was generally considered to be one of cinema's most beautiful actresses, with her waist-length blonde hair being one of her most noted physical attributes. Films during her peak include '' The Animal Kingdom,'' '' Peter Ibbetson,'' '' When Ladies Meet,'' ''

The Flame Within ''The Flame Within'' is Stream of Passion's second studio album released on May 27, 2009, by Napalm Records. It is the follow-up to their debut album, '' Embrace the Storm''. It is the first album with guitarists Eric Hazebroek and Stephan Sc ...

,'' and '' Biography of a Bachelor Girl.'' Harding, however, eventually became stereotyped as the innocent, self-sacrificing young woman. Following lukewarm responses by both critics and the public to several of her later 1930s films, she eventually stopped making movies after she married the conductor

Werner Janssen Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen;Eyes in the Night'' and to take secondary roles in other films. She played "Mary," the estranged wife of Charlie Ruggles, in the Christmas film '' It Happened on Fifth Avenue'' in 1947. In 1956, she again starred with Fredric March, this time in '' The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.'' The 1960s marked Harding's return to Broadway after an absence of decades—having last appeared in 1927. In 1962, she starred in ''General Seeger,'' directed by and co-starring George C. Scott, and in 1964 she appeared in ''Abraham Cochrane'' ("her last New York stage appearance"). Both productions had brief runs, with the former play lasting a mere three performances (including previews). Harding made her final acting performance in 1965 in an episode of television's '' Ben Casey'' before retiring.

Personal life

Harding was married twice, her husbands being: *

, an actor. They married in 1926 and divorced in 1932 in Reno, Nevada. A ''New York Times'' article (May 8, 1932) about the divorce stated that the actress still loved her husband and only agreed to a divorce to help Bannister's stymied career. "The proceedings were among the most unusual in the history of Nevada's liberal divorce laws," the newspaper reported. "Only through dissolution of their marriage could he escape, they said, from being overshadowed by Miss Harding's rise to stardom." The divorce also resulted in what was described as "a bitter court fight ... over custody of their daughter", Jane Harding (1928-2005, Mrs. Alfred P. Otto). According to an interview with Harding's biographer, Scott O'Brien, Jane Harding said, "I had a terrible childhood. I hated my nurse. I never saw Mother. She was always busy." *

Werner Janssen Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen;Gene Fowler. In the early 1960s, Harding began living with Grace Kaye, an adult companion, later known as Grace Kaye Harding. Ann Harding referred to Kaye as her daughter.

Death

On September 1, 1981, Harding died at the age of 79 in

. After cremation, her urn was placed in the Court of Remembrance wall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California. She was survived by a daughter and four grandchildren.

Recognition

Harding was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''

'' in 1931. For her contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Harding has two stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

— one in the Motion Pictures section 6201 Hollywood Boulevard and one in the Television section at 6850 Hollywood Boulevard.

Broadway stage credits

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* *
Photographs of Ann Harding

General Seeger
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Ann 1902 births 1981 deaths Actresses from San Antonio American film actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Bryn Mawr College alumni Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) RKO Pictures contract players Actors from East Orange, New Jersey East Orange High School alumni People from San Antonio 20th-century American actresses