Birth name Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke NationalityUSA Birth 3 may 1906 at Quincy (USA) Death 25 september 1987 (at 81 years) at Woodland Hills (USA) Awards Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Best remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s. She eventually transitioned to talkies, but nearly saw her career destroyed due to public scandal in the mid-1930s. She was sued for support by her parents and was later branded an adulterous wife by her ex-husband in a custody fight over her daughter. Overcoming these stumbling blocks in her private life, Astor went on to greater success on screen, eventually winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Great Lie (1941). She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player through most of the 1940s and continued to work in film, on television, and on stage until her retirement in 1964. Astor was the author of five novels. Her autobiography was a bestseller, as was her later book, A Life on Film, which was specifically about her career. Director Lindsay Anderson wrote of her in 1990: "that when two or three who love the cinema are gathered together, the name of Mary Astor always comes up, and everybody agrees that she was an actress of special attraction, whose qualities of depth and reality always seemed to illuminate the parts she played.
Biography
Célèbre pour son rôle de Brigid O'Shaughnessy dans Le Faucon maltais (1941) avec Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor commence adolescente sa longue carrière dans le cinéma muet au début des années 1920.
Elle finit par s’adapter avec succès au cinéma parlant, mais sa carrière est entachée d'un scandale au milieu des années 1930. Elle est poursuivie en justice par ses parents puis marquée par le sceau infamant de l’adultère par son ex-mari dans la lutte qu’ils mènent pour la garde de leur fille. Des extraits de son journal intime paraissent dans les journaux. Surmontant ses obstacles, elle connaîtra encore la fortune à l'écran, jusqu’à remporter l’Oscar de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle pour son interprétation de Sandra Kovak dans Le Grand Mensonge (1941). Le réalisateur Lindsay Anderson dit à son propos : «...quand deux ou trois cinéphiles se croisent, le nom de Mary Astor finit toujours par être évoqué, et tout le monde s’accorde sur l'attrait qu'elle produit, dont la profondeur et la réalité semblent toujours mettre en valeur les rôles qu'elle joua. » Elle poursuit sa carrière, au cinéma, à la télévision et au théâtre jusqu'aux années 1960. Elle se retire en 1964.
Elle est également l’auteur de cinq romans. Son autobiographie fut un best-seller, tout comme son dernier livre, A Life on Film, qui traitait uniquement de sa carrière.
Enfance
Elle est née Lucile de Vasconcellos Langhanke à Quincy (Illinois) le 3 mai 1906, la seule enfant de Otto Ludwig Langhanke (2 octobre 1871-3 février 1943) et Helen Marie de Vasconcellos (19 avril 1881-18 janvier 1947).
, 2h13 Directed byRobert Aldrich OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Horror, Crime ThemesChildren's films ActorsBette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Mary Astor Roles Jewel Mayhew Rating74% In 1927, young belle Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis) and her married lover, John Mayhew (Bruce Dern), plan to elope during a party at the Hollis family's antebellum mansion in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. However, after Charlotte's father intimidates him, telling him that John's wife had visited the day before and revealed the affair, John pretends he no longer loves Charlotte and tells her they must part.
, 2h17 Directed byDelmer Daves, Robert Totten OriginUSA GenresDrama ThemesFilms about writers ActorsJames Franciscus, Suzanne Pleshette, Geneviève Page, Eva Gabor, Mary Astor, Lee Bowman Roles Irene Perry Rating60% Based on the 1962 novel of the same name, Youngblood Hawke is about a Kentucky truck driver, (James Franciscus), who moves to New York City with dreams of becoming a hot-shot writer. Almost immediately he meets editor Jeanne Green, (Suzanne Pleshette). She sees great promise in Hawke's writing and falls for the handsome Kentuckian while helping him put together his first book deal. His first novel is moderately successful, but is soon transformed into a Broadway play by a has-been stage actress. Jeanne discovers that Youngblood has an effect on a great many women, so she takes a new job at a new publishing company. Soon after, Hawke's second novel is heralded and he becomes the toast of the town. He then has an affair with a married socialite. His third novel bombs and is also panned by critics. Hawke's financial state declines and he has to move back to Kentucky. While in Kentucky working on his next book, he contracts pneumonia just before realizing that Jeanne was his true ideal woman.
, 1h34 Directed byGerd Oswald OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime, Romance ThemesMedical-themed films, Films about psychiatry ActorsRobert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready Roles Mrs. Corliss Rating66% Bud Corliss (Robert Wagner) is an ambitious student who is wooing Dorothy Kingship (Joanne Woodward) purely for her father's mining fortune. When he discovers that Dorothy is pregnant with his child, he realizes she is quite likely to be disinherited by her wealthy family. He assures Dorothy that he'll take care of her, yet he hesitates when Dorothy insists on marrying. Bud then murders Dorothy and stages it in a way that it appears to be a suicide. He then reaches out to her sister Ellen (Virginia Leith) with the hopes of marrying her in order to ingratiate himself with her father. After a couple of months Ellen finds evidence to question the suicide verdict, and then discovers that Bud knew Dorothy. Ellen struggles to avenge her sister and save her own life.
, 1h38 Directed byHenry Koster OriginUSA GenresDrama ActorsRobert Taylor, Burl Ives, Mary Astor, Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Coburn, Richard Erdman Roles Mrs. George Salt Rating60% Although he is scheduled to wed his boss George Salt's niece that weekend, Amalgamated World Metals vice chairman Cliff Barton is sent to London to conduct a business deal that will enrich the firm. Salt considers him a protege and intends to turn over control of the company to Barton someday, insisting to him that business always comes first.
, 1h36 Directed byJohn Cromwell, Richard Thorpe OriginUSA GenresAdventure ThemesMonde imaginaire, Politique, Théâtre, L'usurpation d'identité, Political films, Films based on plays, Escroquerie, Films about royalty ActorsStewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, James Mason, Louis Calhern, Robert Douglas, Jane Greer Rating68% Rodolphe Rassendyll, un touriste anglais, arrive à Strelsau, capitale d'un pays imaginaire d'Europe Centrale, la Ruritanie. Il y rencontre un lointain cousin dont il est le parfait sosie, le prince héritier Rodolphe V. Celui-ci doit être couronné Roi le lendemain, mais à l'issue de la soirée que les deux parents éloignés passent ensemble, le futur souverain ne peut être ranimé : il a bu un vin drogué par une complice de son demi-frère, Michael de Strelsau, lequel escompte se proclamer Régent du Royaume, en l'absence à la Cérémonie du Couronnement de Rodolphe V, puis faire assassiner ce dernier pour accéder ainsi au Trône. Mais deux fidèles du prince légitime, le Colonel Zapt et Fritz von Tarlenheim, font accepter par Rassendyll qu'il joue le rôle de souverain au couronnement, grâce à cette providentielle ressemblance. Les choses se compliquent lorsque Rodolphe V, toujours endormi, est enlevé le même jour par le mercenaire Rupert de Hentzau ; en outre, Rassendyll tombe amoureux de la Princesse Flavia, promise en mariage au prince héritier.
, 2h1 Directed byMervyn LeRoy OriginUSA GenresDrama, Comedy-drama, Romance ThemesFilms about writers, Films about families, Political films, Children's films ActorsElizabeth Taylor, June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Peter Lawford Roles Marmee Rating72% In the small town of Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War, the March sisters — Meg (Janet Leigh), Jo (June Allyson), Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) and Beth (Margaret O'Brien) — live with their mother in a state of genteel poverty, their father having lost the family's fortune to an unscrupulous businessman several years earlier. While Mr. March (Leon Ames) serves in the Union Army, Mrs. March (Mary Astor), affectionately referred to as "Marmee" by her daughters, holds the family together and teaches the girls the importance of giving to those less fortunate than themselves, especially during the upcoming Christmas season. Though the spoiled and vain Amy often bemoans the family's lack of material wealth and social status, Jo, an aspiring writer, keeps everyone entertained with her stories and plays, while the youngest March, the shy and sensitive Beth, accompanies Jo's productions on an out-of-tune piano.
, 1h52 Directed byMervyn LeRoy OriginUSA GenresDrama ActorsClark Gable, Wendell Corey, Alexis Smith, Audrey Totter, Frank Morgan, Mary Astor Roles Ada Rating67% Casino owner Charley Enley Kyng (Clark Gable) is advised by his physician to slow down, after being diagnosed with a heart disease. Charley supports his own family as well as his wife's sister, Alice (Audrey Totter) and her husband, Robbin (Wendell Corey). Charley quits drinking and smoking and vows to spend more time with his wife and son.
, 1h22 Directed byFred Zinnemann, John Sturges OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Noir, Crime ActorsVan Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Bruce Bennett, Volkert Kraeft, Elsa Lanchester Roles Pat Rating74% Frank Enley (Van Heflin), returns home from World War II after surviving a German POW camp where the rest of his comrades had been murdered by guards during an escape attempt. The "war hero" is respected and praised for his fine character and good works in the California town of Santa Lisa, where he, his young wife and baby had settled after moving from the East. What his wife doesn't know is that Frank relocated them to get away from Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan), once his best friend, who also lived through the ordeal, though he was left with a crippled leg. In exchange for food, Frank had alerted the Nazi camp commander to their escape plans, thinking wrongly that the men would not be punished, and Joe is now determined finally to exact justice on Frank, whose location he has learned from a newspaper story commending him for his civic endeavors.