JOAN BLONDELL

Joan Blondell was a popular Warner Bros. actress from the 1930s to the 1980s, often in movies with James Cagney. She was born "Rose Joan Blondell" in 1906, and under the name "Rosebud Blondell" she won the 1926 Miss Dallas pageant and placed fourth for Miss America in Atlantic City that same year. Placed under contract by Warners in 1930, she moved to Hollywood where studio boss Jack Warner wanted her to change her name to "Inez Holmes", but Blondell refused. She appeared in lots of Warner Bros movies of the 1930s, and she helped define what "pre-Code" means! She also was one of the very few sexy actresses who not only did not die young, but she also successfully transitioned to character roles, and she had significant character roles in all the decades from the 1940s through the late 1970s! Some of her movies include: Nightmare Alley, The Public Enemy, Footlight Parade, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Blue Veil (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this film), and Blonde Crazy. She passed away in 1979 at the age of 73.