Ann Blyth Biography

Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. For her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce, Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Life and career

Blyth was born August 16, 1928 in Mount Kisco, New York, to Harry and Nan Lynch Blyth. After her parents separated, she, her mother, and sister moved to a walk-up apartment on East 31st Street in New York City, where her mother took in ironing. Blyth attended St. Patrick's School in Manhattan.

Blyth performed on children's radio shows in New York for six years. Her first acting role was on Broadway in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine (from 1941 until 1942). She played the part of Paul Lukas's daughter, Babette. The play ran for 378 performances, and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. After the New York run, the play went on tour, and while in Los Angeles, Blyth was offered a contract with Universal Studios.

Blyth began her acting career initially as "Anne Blyth," but changed the spelling of her first name back to "Ann" at the beginning of her film career. She made her film debut in 1944, teamed with Donald O'Connor in the teen-age musical Chip Off the Old Block. In musical films such as Babes on Swing Street, and Bowery to Broadway (both 1944), she played the part of the sweet and demure teenager.

On loan to Warner Brothers Blyth was cast "against type" as Veda Pierce, the scheming, ungrateful daughter of Joan Crawford in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce. Her dramatic portrayal won her outstanding reviews, and she received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Blyth was only 16 when she made the Michael Curtiz film. (Crawford won the Best Actress award for that film.)

After Mildred Pierce, Blyth sustained a broken back while tobogganing in Snow Valley, and was not able to fully capitalize on the film's success, although she was still able to make a few movies. She played the part of Regina Hubbard in Another Part of the Forest (a 1948 prequel to The Little Foxes), and achieved success playing a mermaid in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. Her other films include: Our Very Own (with Farley Granger), The Great Caruso (with Mario Lanza), One Minute to Zero (with Robert Mitchum), The World in His Arms (with Gregory Peck), Rose Marie, The Student Prince, Kismet, The Buster Keaton Story, and her final film role, The Helen Morgan Story (with Paul Newman). Even though her voice was more like the original Helen Morgan, her vocals were dubbed by Gogi Grant. That soundtrack was much more successful than the film itself.

From the late 1950s into the 1970s, Blyth worked in musical theater and summer stock, starring in the shows The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Show Boat. and also on television, including co-starring opposite James Donald in the 1960 adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel. She guest-starred on October 8, 1958, on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, the episode in which the 1959 Ford vehicles were introduced to the public. In "The Jenny Tannen Story", the second-season finale of the long-running western Wagon Train, broadcast on June 24, 1959, she played the dual role of a mother and daughter.

She appeared as Martha in Suspected in December 1959 in the CBS anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. Blyth also became the spokesperson for Hostess Cupcakes. Her last television appearances were in episodes of Quincy, M.E. in 1983 and Murder, She Wrote in 1985. In 1985, Blyth retired from acting and singing.

For her contributions to the film industry, Blyth has a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6733 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

In 1953, Blyth married obstetrician James McNulty, brother of singer Dennis Day, who had introduced them. The bridesmaids were actresses Joan Leslie, Jane Withers, and Betty Lynn. After her marriage, Blyth cut back somewhat to focus on raising their five children, Timothy Patrick (born June 10, 1954); Maureen Ann (born December 14, 1955); Kathleen Mary (born December 23, 1957); Terence Grady (born December 9, 1960); and Eileen Alana (born April 10, 1963). In 1973, she and McNulty, both devout Catholics, were accorded the honorific rank of Lady and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre in a ceremony presided over by Terence Cardinal Cooke. McNulty died on May 13, 2007, in La Jolla, California.

In the December 1952 edition of Motion Picture and Television Magazine, Ann Blyth stated in an interview that she was a Republican who had endorsed Dwight D. Eisenhower for president, the month before the 1952 presidential election.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1944	Chip Off the Old Block	Glory Marlow III
	The Merry Monahans	Sheila DeRoyce
	Babes on Swing Street	Carol Curtis
	Bowery to Broadway	Bessie Jo Kirby
1945	Mildred Pierce	Veda Pierce Forrester	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nomination
1946	Swell Guy	Marian Tyler
1947	Brute Force	Ruth
	Killer McCoy	Sheila Carrson
1948	A Woman's Vengeance	Doris Mead	Alternative title: The Gioconda Smile
	Another Part of the Forest	Regina Hubbard
	Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid	Lenore the Mermaid
1949	Red Canyon	Lucy Bostel
	Top o' the Morning	Conn McNaughton
	Once More, My Darling	Marita Connell
	Free for All	Ann Abbott
1950	Our Very Own	Gail Macaulay
1951	Katie Did It	Katherine Standish
	The Great Caruso	Dorothy Benjamin
	Thunder on the Hill	Valerie Carns	Alternative title: Bonaventure
	The Golden Horde	Princess Shalimar	Alternative title: The Golden Horde of Genghis Khan
	I'll Never Forget You	Helen Pettigrew/Martha Forsyth	Alternative titles: The House in the Square (USA) Man of Two Worlds
1952	Sally and Saint Anne	Sally O'Moyne
	One Minute to Zero	Mrs. Landa Day
	The World in His Arms	Countess Marina Selanova
1953	All the Brothers Were Valiant	Priscilla "Pris" Holt
1954	Rose Marie	Rose Marie Lemaitre
	The Student Prince	Kathie Ruder
1955	The King's Thief	Lady Mary
	Kismet	Marsinah
1956	Slander	Connie
1957	The Buster Keaton Story	Gloria Brent
	The Helen Morgan Story	Helen Morgan	Alternative titles are Both Ends of the Candle and Why Was I Born? Vocals dubbed by Gogi Grant

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Lux Video Theatre		Episode: "A Place in the Sun"
1958-1963	The Christophers		2 episodes
1959	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Martha	Episode: "Suspected"
1959-1963	Wagon Train	Various roles	5 episodes
1960	The Citadel	Christine	Television movie
1962	The Dick Powell Show	Lizzie Hogan	Episode: "Savage Sunday"
1963	Saints and Sinners	Edith Berlitz	Episode: "The Year Joan Crawford Won the Oscar"
1964	The Twilight Zone	Pamela Morris/Constance Taylor	Episode: "Queen of the Nile"
1964-1965	Burke's Law	Deidre DeMara Valerie	2 episodes
1965	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Lady Mei	Episode: "Jungle of Fear"
1969	The Name of the Game	Kay Martin	Episode: "Swingers Only"
1975	Switch	Miriam Estabrook	Episode: "Mistresses, Murder and Millions"
1979-1983	Quincy, M.E.	Velma Whitehead Dorothy Blake	2 episodes
1985	Murder, She Wrote	Francesca Lodge	Episode: "Reflections of the Mind"

Radio appearances

Year	Program	Episode/source
1948	Lux Radio Theatre	A Woman's Vengeance
1952	Family Theater	The Presentation
1952	Lux Radio Theatre	Top o' the Morning
1953	Family Theater	The Finding in the Temple

Award nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film
1946	Academy Award	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Mildred Pierce
1958	Laurel Awards		Top Female Musical Performance	The Helen Morgan Story