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Kathryn Grayson is a Actor American born on 9 february 1922 at Winston-Salem (USA)

Kathryn Grayson

Kathryn Grayson
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Birth name Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick
Nationality USA
Birth 9 february 1922 at Winston-Salem (USA)
Death 17 february 2010 (at 88 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Kathryn Grayson (February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and soprano.

From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals. After several supporting roles, she was a lead performer in such films as Thousands Cheer (1943), Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, and Show Boat (1951) and Kiss Me Kate (1953), both with Howard Keel.

When film musical production declined, she worked in theatre, appearing in Camelot (1962–1964). Later in the decade she performed in several operas, including La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Orpheus in the Underworld and La traviata.

Biography

1940
En 1940, un chasseur de talents de la MGM a apercu Grayson jouer dans un festival d'été de musique. La MGM espérait trouver un remplaçant à Deanna Durbin, qui avait quitté le studio MGM pour débuter sa carrière à Universal Pictures. Pendant les 18 mois qui suivirent, Grayson pris des cours de chant, de théâtre, de diction, d’alimentation et même d’exercice. Enfin, en moins d'un an, Grayson a finalement eu son premier test (screen test).
Cependant, les dirigeants difficiles du studio n'étaient pas satisfaits et elle dû donc suivre plus de six mois de cours supplémentaires jusqu'à ce qu'elle fasse sa première apparition, en 1941, dans un rôle de secrétaire privee d'Andy Hardy (un personnage de fiction interprété par l'acteur américain Mickey Rooney dans une série de films de la Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer entre 1937 et 1946). Dans ce film, elle participe à trois attrayants numéros musicaux.

En 1943, Grayson apparaît dans le film La Parade aux étoiles (Thousands Cheer) (à l’origine intitulé Private Miss Jones), avec Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, Eleanor Powell, June Allyson et plusieurs autres artistes. Le film étant conçu et destiné à stimuler les troupes américaines et leurs familles. Grayson a joué le rôle de la fille charmante et chantante d'un commandant de l'armée navale. Il avait été annoncé en 1942 que Grayson apparaîtrait dans "An American Symphony" avec Judy Garland.Étant donne l'état de santé de Garland, celle-ci fut remplacée par June Allyson, et la direction rebaptisa le film "Two Sisters from Boston" et il fut publié en 1946.


1950
En 1950, Grayson s'associe à Mario Lanza qui interprète un chanteur d'opéra dans le film The Toast of New Orleans, et interprète la chanson qui sera nominée aux Oscars, Be My Love ([vidéo] A1 ). Pendant le tournage de la scène de Madame Butterfly dans le film, Lanza a continué à tenter de seduire Grayson, Grayson a déclaré encore pire en raison du fait que Lanza mangeait constamment de l'ail juste avant sa prestation avec elle. À chaque fois que Lanza tentait de l'embrasser, elle le frappait avec son gant rempli de laiton.



Pour la première du film The Toast of New Orleans, elle est invitée à une vente aux enchères des costumes du dit film.
Elle a interprété une chanteuse d'opéra avec une laryngite , aux côtés de David Niven, qui a joué son rôle de médecin et amoureux. C'était aussi son premier rôle chantant chez MGM. Les performances musicales de Grayson apparaissent dans le film, mais sous la forme d'enregistrements.

Grayson a de nouveau fait équipe avec Howard Keel dans la comédie musicale Lovely to Look at de 1952 Technicolor, un remake du film de Fred Astaire de 1935 "Roberta".
Elle a quitté le studio de Warner Brothers en janvier 1953, avec la stipulation qu'elle retournait à MGM pour un autre film. Elle est revenue co-star pour la troisième fois avec Howard Keel dans son rôle du co-interprete le plus acclamé, dans Kiss me Kate, sorti en novembre 1953. le film a été prodigieusement produit en 1953, filmé en 3D, avec des chansons de Cole Porter, chorégraphie de Hermes Pan, et direction musicale par Andre Previn


Warner Bros
En tant qu'actrice prêtée à Warner Bros, sa première sortie musicale fut «The Desert Song», en mai 1953, aux côtés de l'acteur et chanteur Gordon MacRae. On lui a demandé de jouer La Bohème au Central City OperaHouse à Central City, au Colorado a la saison estivale de 1953.

Par la suite, elle a joué le rôle principal dans
So This Is Love(1953)(film biographique de la célebre chanteuse d'opéra Grace Moore.
Grayson est apparu à la télévision de temps a autres et fut invitée dans la série CBS, General Electric Theater vers la fin des années 50. Dans les années 1980, Grayson a joué dans plusieurs épisodes en tant que personnage récurrent "Ideal Molloy" dans "Murder, She Wrote".



Vie personnelle
Grayson fut mariée deux fois, d'abord avec l'acteur John Shelton, puis avec l'acteur et chanteur Johnnie Johnston.

John Shelton:
Dans les années 1940, Shelton et Grayson se sont enfuis à Las Vegas, où ils se sont mariés le 11 juillet 1941. Les deux s'étaient courtisés durant 18 mois, après s'avoir rencontrés en faisant des tests d'écran pour le cinema (screen tests). En juillet 1942, Shelton quitta sa maison de Brentwood pour emménager dans son propre appartement. Cela se produisit après un mois de réconciliation alors qu'un juge de la cour avait rejeté leur demande en divorce. Grayson a alors accusé Shelton de cruauté mentale. Ils ont ainsi pu divorcer le 17 juin 1946.

Johnnie Johnston:
Grayson a épousé le chanteur et acteur Johnston le 22 août 1947 à Carmel, en Californie. Le 7 octobre 1948, sa fille unique de Grayson, Patricia "Patty Kate" Kathryn Johnston fut née. Sa fille, Patricia, a épousé Robert Towers et eurent deux enfants, dont Jordan Towers, devenu le chanteur principal du groupe SomeKindaWonderful.

Grayson et Johnston se sont séparés le 15 novembre 1950. Le 3 octobre 1951, Grayson a obtenu le divorce de Johnston pour cruauté mentale.

Esther Williams, la co-vedette de Johnston dans le film This Time for Keeps, affirmait dans son autobiographie de 1999 que, tout en réalisant le film, Johnston lisait des lettres intimes de Grayson aux jeunes filles de son fan club, y compris les [détails graphiques et croustillants] de son amoureux au lit."

Selon sa secrétaire, Sally Shermann de 31 ans, Grayson est décédée chez elle, la nuit, durant son sommeil à Los Angeles le 17 février 2010, à l'âge de 88 ans

Best films

Anchors Aweigh (1945)
(Actress)

Usually with

Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
(15 films)
Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
(7 films)
Ann Miller
Ann Miller
(8 films)
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
(8 films)
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse
(8 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Kathryn Grayson (26 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

It Happened in Brooklyn, 1h44
Directed by Richard Whorf
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Musical films
Actors Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Kathryn Grayson, Jimmy Durante, Gloria Grahame, Aubrey Mather
Roles Anne Fielding
Rating64% 3.2455453.2455453.2455453.2455453.245545
A post-World War II feel-good movie, It Happened in Brooklyn begins in England at the end of the war. Danny Miller (Sinatra) is with a group of GIs awaiting transportation home to the US. On his last night there, he meets Jamie Shellgrove (Lawford), who is a very shy young man whose father feels should be taken under someone's wing. After observing Miller come to his son's aid at the piano, he asks Danny to speak with his son, to give him "some words of encouragement". In order to look good in front of the nurse (Gloria Grahame), he agrees, even going so far as to saying what would really fix Jamie up would be for him to come to Brooklyn. As he rushes out to catch his transport to the docks for the voyage home, Danny discovers that Jamie is really the heir to a duke. Upon Danny's return to Brooklyn, the film revolves around characters realizing their dreams of escaping working-class drudgery: in Sinatra's case to become a singer/musician rather than a shipping clerk, in Lawford's case to break out of his extreme shyness to gain a wife and a career as a songwriter, and in Grayson's case to break out of her schoolteaching job to star in the opera (although this last is not shown coming to pass, but she presumably lives happily ever after as she is brought to England as the fiancée of the Lawford character, who is heir to a dukedom). The film's tagline was "Happy songs! Happy stars! Happy romance!". Lawford dances while singing a song, a performance that was particularly well received by both critics and public, outshining future fellow Rat Pack member Sinatra. One highlight of the film is seeing and hearing Sinatra and Grayson singing "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's 1787 opera Don Giovanni.
Till the Clouds Roll By, 2h12
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Busby Berkeley, Richard Whorf, Henry Koster
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Musical
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Van Heflin, Robert Walker
Roles Magnolia Hawks / Kathryn Grayson
Rating62% 3.147343.147343.147343.147343.14734
La véritable histoire du célèbre compositeur Jerome Kern. Lors de la première représentation de la comédie musicale "Show Boat" à Broadway, le légendaire compositeur Jerome Kern se remémore avec émotion ses débuts et les différentes étapes de sa prestigieuse carrière...
Ziegfeld Follies, 1h50
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Norman Taurog, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Merrill Pye, George Sidney, Charles Walters
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson
Roles Kathryn Grayson
Rating63% 3.1975953.1975953.1975953.1975953.197595
Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell), au paradis, veut faire revivre ses grands spectacles de music-hall. S'ensuit, sortie de son esprit, une série de sketches musicaux ou humoristiques mettant en scène diverses vedettes.
Anchors Aweigh, 2h23
Directed by George Sidney
Origin USA
Genres War, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Dean Stockwell, Pamela Britton, José Iturbi
Roles Susan Abbott
Rating69% 3.4977353.4977353.4977353.4977353.497735
Joe Brady and Clarence Doolittle are Navy sailors who have a four-day leave in Hollywood. Joe has his heart set on spending time with his girl, the unseen Lola. Clarence, the shy choir boy turned sailor, asks Joe to teach him how to get girls. Donald, a little boy who wants to join the navy, is found wandering around the boulevard by a cop, who takes him to the police station. Clarence and Joe end up being picked up by the cops to help convince Donald to go home. After the two sailors wait at home and entertain Donald, Donald's Aunt Susie arrives. Clarence is smitten with her from the beginning. Susan goes on to tell them that she has been trying to find work in music, and longs to perform with José Iturbi. Trying to make Susan impressed with Clarence, Joe tells her that Clarence is a personal friend of Iturbi, and that he has arranged an audition for Susan with him. That night, they go out to a cafe, where Clarence meets a girl from Brooklyn, and they hit it off. The next day, Joe visits Donald's school, and tells the kids the story of how he got his medal, and how he brought happiness to a lonesome king (played by Jerry Mouse of Tom and Jerry), and joy to the forest animals of the kingdom.
Thousands Cheer, 2h5
Directed by George Sidney
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Musical theatre, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Military humor in film, Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor, John Boles, Ben Blue, Frances Rafferty
Roles Kathryn Jones
Rating62% 3.1000453.1000453.1000453.1000453.100045
The film is essentially a two-part program. The first half consists of a romantic comedy storyline involving an aerialist, played by Gene Kelly, who is drafted into the US Army but really wants to join the air force. During training, he falls in love with Kathryn (played by Kathryn Grayson), the daughter of his commanding officer, who has similarly put her singing career on hold in order to serve by providing entertainment for the troops. Unusually for this type of a film (and for this era of Hollywood), the character Kathryn has only recently met her father for the first time since she was a baby, her parents having divorced. A related subplot has Kathryn conniving to get her parents (played by John Boles and Mary Astor) to reconcile. During the first part of the film, Grayson sings several numbers and Kelly performs one of his most famous routines, dancing with a mop as a partner.
Seven Sweethearts, 1h38
Directed by Frank Borzage
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films based on plays
Actors Kathryn Grayson, Marsha Hunt, Van Heflin, Cecilia Parker, Frances Rafferty, Peggy Moran
Roles Billie Van Maaster
Rating63% 3.1967153.1967153.1967153.1967153.196715
Mr. Van Maaster (S.Z. Sakall) is a hotelier in Little Delft, Michigan. By family tradition, the oldest of his seven daughters must marry first. But Regina (Marsha Hunt) wants to go to New York, to become an actress. The youngest, Billie (Kathryn Grayson), has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who ends up with the first husband Henry Taggart (Van Heflin).
The Vanishing Virginian, 1h35
Directed by Frank Borzage
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Actors Frank Morgan, Kathryn Grayson, Spring Byington, Rita Quigley, Elizabeth Patterson, Juanita Quigley
Roles Rebecca Yancey
Rating67% 3.3876453.3876453.3876453.3876453.387645
Based on the true story of turn-of-the-century Robert Yancey, lawyer and ever-popular politician in Virginia. The film starts with the statement, "This is the story of a vanishing era when simple men so loved their country, their families and their friends that America became a better place in which to live. Such a man was Cap'n Bob Yancey."
Rio Rita
Rio Rita (1942)
, 1h31
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Buddy films
Actors Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson, John Carroll, Tom Conway, Patricia Dane
Roles Rita Winslow
Rating59% 2.999822.999822.999822.999822.99982
Nazi spies have infiltrated the Hotel Vista del Rio, a resort on the Mexican border. They plan to use a radio broadcast by a famous guest, Ricardo Montera (John Carroll), to transmit coded messages to their cohorts. Doc (Bud Abbott) and Wishy (Lou Costello) are stowaways in Montera's car, who steal a basket of "apples" that turn out being miniature radios used by the spies. Rita Winslow (Kathryn Grayson), the hotel's owner and childhood sweetheart of Montera, hire Doc and Wishy as house detectives, who discover the Nazi codebook and give it to Montera. They are then kidnapped by the spies, and left in a room with a bomb set to explode, but manage to escape while Wishy plants the bomb in the pocket of one of the culprits. Meanwhile, the broadcast has already begun and Montera, refusing to participate in treason, fights the spies until the Texas Rangers arrive. The spies' escape by car is thwarted when the planted bomb finally explodes.
Andy Hardy's Private Secretary, 1h41
Directed by George B. Seitz
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, June Preisser, Fay Holden, Ann Rutherford, Sara Haden
Roles Kathryn Land
Rating66% 3.3392853.3392853.3392853.3392853.339285
A week from the end of high school, Andy (Mickey Rooney) is keenly anticipating his graduation, but is putting more effort into running the various student committees - most of which he chairs - than studying for his examinations. His father, honorable judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) learns that Andy has been giving money for tuition to a fellow student, a girl named Kathryn Land (Kathryn Grayson). Judge Hardy also learns that Kathryn's father is poor.