Анн Хардинг: Американдық актрисаның өмірі мен мансабы

American actress
the Australian economist

Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. Harding was a regular on Broadway and on tour 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. 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 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 across the Hudson River to New York City. Due to her father's opposition to her career choice, she adopted the stage name Ann Harding. After initial work as a script reader, Harding began to win roles on Broadway and in small semiprofessional theaters, primarily in Pennsylvania. Around the late 1920s she moved to California to begin working in motion pictures, which were just beginning to include sound. Her work in plays had given her notable diction and stage presence, and she was quickly tapped for leading lady roles. 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 in 1937, she worked only sporadically, with three notable roles coming in 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, where she would die in 1981, and she was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills.

Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas to George G. Gatley, a career army officer, and Elizabeth "Bessie" Walton (Crabb) Gatley. After travelling often during her early life because of her father's military career, she grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, graduated from East Orange High School, and attended Bryn Mawr College. 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; 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. 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. First under contract to Pathé, which was subsequently absorbed by RKO Pictures, Harding was promoted as the studio's 'answer' to Metro Goldwyn Mayer's superstar Norma Shearer. She co starred with Ronald Colman, Laurence Olivier, 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." In Harding's second film, Her Private Affair, she portrayed a wife of questionable morality, and the film was a 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, 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 in 1937. She returned to the big screen in 1942 to make 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 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"). Werner Janssen, the conductor. Harding and Janssen married in 1937 and divorced in 1963, with Harding claiming that her husband had controlled her throughout their marriage, keeping her from her friends and isolating her from the world. By this marriage, Harding had two stepchildren, Alice and Werner Jr. Among Harding's romances was the novelist and screenwriter 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. Harding campaigned for the reelection of President Herbert Hoover in 1932.

On September 1, 1981, Harding died at the age of 79 in Sherman Oaks, California. She was survived by a daughter, named Jane Otto, and four grandchildren. Harding was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Holiday in 1931. For her contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Harding has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one in the Motion Pictures section at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard and one in the Television section at 6850 Hollywood Boulevard. The ceremony for both stars was held on February 8, 1960. As of October 7, 2023, there is a plaque memorializing Ann Harding inside Hedgerow Theatre.

Year Film Role Notes1929 Paris Bound Mary HuttonHer Private Affair Vera Kessler Co starred Harry BannisterCondemned Madame Vidal US reissue title: Condemned to Devil's Island, Co starred Ronald Colman1930 Holiday Linda Seton Nominated – Academy Award for Best ActressThe Girl of the Golden West Minnie1931 East Lynne Lady Isabella The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar Devotion Shirley Mortimerco star Leslie Howard1932 Prestige Therese Du Flos Verlaine Westward Passage Olivia Van Tyne Allen Ottendorf Co starred Laurence Olivier The Conquerors Caroline Ogden Standish US reissue title: Pioneer Builders The Animal Kingdom Daisy Sage UK Title: The Woman in His House, Co starred Leslie Howard1933 When Ladies Meet Claire Woodruff Co starred Myrna Loy Double Harness Joan Colby Co starred William Powell The Right to Romance Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Simmons Co starred Robert Young1934 Gallant Lady Sally Wyndham The Life of Vergie Winters Vergie Winters aka Virginia Wood The Fountain Julie von Marwitz The Hollywood Gad About Herself Short subject1935 Biography of a Bachelor Girl Marion Forsythe Enchanted April Mrs. Lotty Wilkins The Flame Within Doctor Mary White Peter Ibbetson Mary, Duchess of Towers Co starred Gary Cooper1936 The Lady Consents Anne Talbot The Witness Chair Paula Young 1937 Love from a Stranger Carol Howard US title: A Night of Terror, Co starred Basil Rathbone 1942 Eyes in the Night Norma Lawry Starred Edward Arnold1943 Mission to Moscow Mrs. Marjorie Davies The North Star Sophia Pavlova US recut version: Armored Attack1944 Nine Girls Gracie Thornton Janie Lucille Conway1945 Those Endearing Young Charms Mrs. Brandt (Captain)1946 Janie Gets Married Lucille Conway1947 It Happened on 5th Avenue Mary O'Connor Christmas Eve Aunt Matilda Reed US reissue title: Sinner's Holiday1950 The Magnificent Yankee Fanny Bowditch Holmes Co starred Louis Calhern Two Weeks with Love Katherine Robinson 1951 The Unknown Man Stella Mason US title: The Bradley Mason Story1956 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Helen Hopkins Starred Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones I've Lived Before Miss Jane Stone Strange Intruder Mary Carmichael

Year Title Role Notes1955 Crossroads Hulda Lund 1 episode Studio 57 Martha Halstead 1 episode 1956 Front Row Center Grammie 1 episode 1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson Naomi 1 episode, "Ruth and Naomi" 1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Sarah Hale Season 7 Episode 12: "A Jury of Her Peers"1963 The Defenders Helen Bernard 1 episode Burke's Law Annabelle Rogers 1 episode 1964 Dr. Kildare Mae Priest 1 episode 1965 Ben Casey Edith Sommers 1 episode