Renee Gadd (1908–2003) was an Argentine-born British

film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

. She acted mostly in British films.

Early life

Gadd was born on a ranch in

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 301,572 inhabitants according to the . It is the ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

in 1908 to

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

s from

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. Her father Talbot Gadd was a railway executive who abandoned the family, after which they moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1913. Gadd lived with her aunt and began to study dancing, working as a

chorus girl A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms ...

in Brighton by the age of fourteen. In 1924, she was cast in a production of ''Hassan'' by the powerful

theatrical agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or spo ...

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, af ...

, after which she appeared in several musical comedies, then straight plays after becoming a member of a Shakespearian company at

Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...

. She enjoyed a series of successful

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

roles. During this same period she acted, and had an affair, with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

Film career

In 1931 Gadd signed a contract with

British International Pictures Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

and spent two years making films for them. Finding the various comedy films she was cast in uninspiring she behaved uncooperatively until she was released from her contract. In 1932 while working on the crime film ''

White Face ''White Face'' (also known as ''Edgar Wallace's White Face the Fiend'') is a 1932 British crime film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Hugh Williams, Gordon Harker and Renee Gadd. The film is based on a play by Edgar Wallace. Plot A ...

'' she began a tempestuous affair with her co-star

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Ant ...

. When her contract with British International expired in 1934 she followed Williams who had gone to Hollywood, but found he had a new lover. She appeared opposite him in the 1935 film ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'', but returned to Britain the following year. Her career began to tail off and she appeared mostly in

quota quickies Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * In ...

and small roles in minor productions for the remainder of her career. Her final appearance was in the 1950

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

film ''

The Blue Lamp ''The Blue Lamp'' is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley. The title refers to the blue lamps that ...

''.Sweet p.91-92

Partial filmography

* '' Money for Nothing'' (1932) - Maid * ''

Josser Joins the Navy ''Josser Joins the Navy'' is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Norman Lee and starring Ernie Lotinga, Cyril McLaglen and Jack Hobbs. It was made at Elstree Studios by British International Pictures.Wood p.72 It was part of a series of fil ...

'' (1932) - Polly * ''

Aren't We All? ''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale. At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...

'' (1932) - Kitty Lake * '' The Bad Companions'' (1932) - Josie * ''

'' (1932) - Janice Harman * ''

The Maid of the Mountains ''The Maid of the Mountains'', called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham an ...

'' (1932) - Vittoria * '' His Wife's Mother'' (1932) - Tony * '' Happy'' (1933) - Pauline * '' Skipper of the Osprey'' (1933, Short) - Maggie Cringle * '' Letting in the Sunshine'' (1933) - Jane * '' Uncertain Lady'' (1934) - Myra Spaulding * '' The Love Captive'' (1934) - Valerie Loft * ''

'' (1935) - Janet * '' The Crimson Circle'' (1936) - Millie Macroy * '' Where's Sally?'' (1936) - Sally * '' Tomorrow We Live'' (1936) - Patricia Gordon * '' The Man in the Mirror'' (1936) - Miss Blake * '' The Man Who Made Diamonds'' (1937) - Marianne * '' Clothes and the Woman'' (1937) - Schoolmistress * '' Brief Ecstasy'' (1937) - Marjorie * '' Under a Cloud'' (1937) - Judy St. John * '' Meet Mr. Penny'' (1938) - Mrs. Brown * '' Murder in Soho'' (1939) - Woman in Police Station * ''

Unpublished Story ''Unpublished Story'' is a 1942 British black-and-white war film directed by Harold French and starring Richard Greene and Valerie Hobson. It was produced and co-written by Anthony Havelock-Allan. The film served as a propaganda film during Wo ...

'' (1942) - Miss Hartley * '' They Came to a City'' (1944) - Mrs. Stritton * ''

Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie ...

'' (1945) - Mrs. Craig (segment "Linking Story") * '' Frieda'' (1946) - Mrs. Freeman * ''

Good-Time Girl ''Good-Time Girl'' is a 1948 British film noir-crime drama film directed by David MacDonald. A homeless girl is asked to explain her bad behaviour in the juvenile court, and says she’s run away from home because she’s unhappy there. They exp ...

'' (1948) - Mrs. Parsons * ''

'' (1950) - Woman Driver (uncredited)

References

Bibliography

* Sweet, Matthew. ''Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema''. Faber and Faber, 2005.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gadd, Renee 1908 births 2003 deaths British film actresses People from Buenos Aires British stage actresses Argentine emigrants to the United Kingdom British expatriate actresses in the United States