Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent." Dvorak was the daughter and only child of silent film actress Anna Lehr and director Edwin McKim. While in New York, she attended St. Catherine's Convent. After moving to California, she attended Page School for Girls in Hollywood. She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films. Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him. In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl. Her friend, actress Karen Morley, introduced her to billionaire movie producer Howard Hughes, who groomed her as a dramatic actress. She was a success in such pre-Code films as Scarface (1932) as Paul Muni's sister; in Three on a Match (1932) with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell as the doomed, unstable Vivian; in The Crowd Roars (1932) with James Cagney; and in Sky Devils (1932) opposite Spencer Tracy. Known for her style and elegance, she was a popular leading lady for Warner Bros. during the 1930s, and appeared in numerous contemporary romances and melodramas. At age 19, Dvorak eloped with Leslie Fenton, her English co-star from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and they married on March 17, 1932. They left for a year-long honeymoon in spite of her contractual obligations to the studio, which led to a period of litigation and pay disputes during which she discovered she was making the same amount of money as the boy who played her son in Three on a Match. She completed her contract on permanent suspension, then worked as a freelancer. Although she worked regularly, the quality of her scripts declined sharply. She appeared as secretary Della Street to Donald Woods' Perry Mason in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). With her then-husband, Leslie Fenton, Dvorak traveled to England where she supported the war effort by working as an ambulance driver and acted in several British films. She appeared as a saloon singer in Abilene Town with Randolph Scott and Edgar Buchanan, released in 1946. The following year she adeptly handled comedy by giving an assured performance in Out of the Blue (1947). In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute. Dvorak's marriage to Fenton ended in divorce in 1946. In 1947, she married Igor Dega, a Russian dancer who danced with her briefly in The Bachelor's Daughters. The marriage ended two years later. Dvorak retired from the screen in 1951, when she married her third and last husband, Nicholas Wade, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. She had no children.

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	0.002
Birthday	1911-08-02
Place of Birth	New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As	Anna McKim, Ann McKim, Baby Anna Lehr, Anna Lehr,

Scarface

Estrellados

Abilene Town

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

Madam Satan

Gangs of New York

'G' Men

The Secret of Convict Lake

Flame of Barbary Coast

Blind Alley

Three on a Match

The Long Night

I Was an American Spy

Girls of the Road

Love Is a Racket

Heat Lightning

This Was Paris

Our Very Own

Gentlemen Are Born

Murder in the Clouds

The Crowd Roars

Thanks a Million

Politics

Merrily We Live

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

Bright Lights

The Walls of Jericho

The March of Time

The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Friends of Mr. Sweeney

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

College Coach

Sweet Music

Sky Devils

Crooner

Midnight Alibi

Housewife

Stronger Than Desire

Side Streets

Stranger in Town

A Life of Her Own

This Modern Age

Massacre

Midnight Court

Racing Lady

Manhattan Merry-Go-Round

Dr. Socrates

The Bachelor's Daughters

I Sell Anything

The Woman Racket

Ramona

The Man Hater

Son of India

She's No Lady

Lord Byron of Broadway

Good News

The Return of Jesse James

Roast-Beef and Movies

We Who Are About to Die

Masquerade in Mexico

It's a Great Life

Free and Easy

Out of the Blue

Squadron Leader X

Way Out West

Our Blushing Brides

So This Is College

Devil-May-Care

Breakdowns of 1936

Cafe Hostess

Hello Pop

Chasing Rainbows

Manhattan Serenade

The Devil's Cabaret

The Guardsman

The Song Writers' Revue

The Way to Love

A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio

Escape to Danger