Bonnie Bannon (June 23, 1913 – February 14, 1989), born Pauline Frances Bannon, was an American actress, dancer, and model in the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life and education

Pauline Frances Bannon was born in

Tulare County, California Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great La ...

, the daughter of Walter Andrew Bannon and Juanita Alma Strong Bannon. Her father sold agricultural supplies. She graduated from

Fresno High School Fresno High School is a four-year secondary school located in Fresno, California. It is part of the Fresno Unified School District. Fresno High is the oldest high school in the Fresno metropolitan area and one of the few International Baccalaurea ...

in 1932; she was active in school theatrical productions. Her great-grandfather Charles P. Converse was a noted lumberman in California.

Career

Bannon won a screen test and a contract with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

after entering a local beauty contest in 1933. She appeared ''

Gold Diggers of 1933 ''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is an American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starr ...

'' and ''

Advice to the Lovelorn ''Advice to the Lovelorn'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Lee Tracy, Sally Blane, Paul Harvey and Sterling Holloway. The film was released on December 1, 1933, by United Artists. It is bas ...

'' (1933) soon after, followed by ''

Broadway Melody of 1936 ''Broadway Melody of 1936'' is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the sit ...

'', ''

The Great Ziegfeld ''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical film, musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Lui ...

'' (1936), '' One in a Million'' (1936), and ''

The Flying Deuces ''The Flying Deuces'', also known as ''Flying Aces'', is a 1939 buddy comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion. It is a partial remake of their short film '' Beau Hunks'' (1931). Plot During their ...

'' (1939). She became a Goldwyn Girl, along with

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

. Bannon was mostly seen in small roles, often as chorus girls, in films in the 1940s, including ''

Lillian Russell Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922) was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, praised for her beaut ...

'' (1940), ''

Sis Hopkins Sis Hopkins may refer to: * Sis Hopkins (1919 film), a comedy film * Sis Hopkins (1941 film), an American comedy film {{dab ...

'' (1941), ''

The Great American Broadcast ''The Great American Broadcast'' is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Jack Oakie, Alice Faye and John Payne. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Plot Impoverished roommates Rix Martin a ...

'' (1941), ''Dance Hall'' (1941), ''

Week-End in Havana ''Week-End in Havana'' is a 1941 American Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang and starring Alice Faye, John Payne and Carmen Miranda. The film was produced and distributed by Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox. It was the second of ...

'' (1941), ''

Tales of Manhattan ''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film ...

'' (1942), '' The Black Swan'' (1942), ''

Sweet Rosie O'Grady ''Sweet Rosie O'Grady'' is a 1943 Technicolor musical film about an American singer who attempts to better herself by marrying an English duke, but is harassed by a reporter. Directed by Irving Cummings, it stars Betty Grable and Robert Young ( ...

'' (1943), ''

Four Jills in a Jeep ''Four Jills in a Jeep'' is a 1944 American comedy-drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair as themselves, reenacting their USO tour of Europe and North Africa durin ...

'' (1944), '' Pin Up Girl'' (1944), '' In the Meantime Darling'' (1944), ''The Late George Apley'' (1947), ''

Carnival in Costa Rica ''Carnival in Costa Rica'' is a 1947 American musical film directed by Gregory Ratoff and written by Samuel Hoffenstein, John Larkin (screenwriter), John Larkin, and Elizabeth Reinhardt. It was released in Technicolor by Twentieth Century-Fox. ...

'' (1947), '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), ''

Adam's Rib ''Adam's Rib'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor from a screenplay written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in ...

'' (1949), and ''

The Damned Don't Cry ''The Damned Don't Cry'' is a 1950 American film noir crime-drama directed by Vincent Sherman and featuring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Steve Cochran. It tells of a woman's involvement with an organized crime boss and his subordinates. The ...

'' (1950). "Working in motion pictures is hard work and I loved having fun too much to struggle for stardom," she recalled in a 1960 interview.

Personal life

Bannon married four times. Her first husband was film director Charles Faye; they married in 1934 and divorced in 1936. His sister was actress

Alice Faye Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as '' On the Avenue'' (1937) and ''Alexander's Ragtime ...

. In 1937 she was rumored to be engaged to marry director

Busby Berkeley Berkeley William Enos, (November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) known professionally as Busby Berkeley, was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geo ...

. Her second husband was band leader Orlando A. "Slim" Martin; they married in 1938, and divorced in 1941. In 1945, she was rumored to be engaged to marry war correspondent Philip Andrews. Her third husband was club owner Samuel D. Miller; they divorced in 1949. She married her fourth husband, lumberman William B. Jones, in 1951. She had a son, Frederick Thomas Martin. She died in 1989, at the age of 75, in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bannon, Bonnie 1913 births 1989 deaths Actresses from Fresno, California 20th-century American actresses