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Anne Baxter (1923 - 1985)
Anne Baxter was born May 7, 1923 in Michigan City,
Indiana.
The daughter of notorious architect Frank Lloyd Wright,
Anne began dreaming of an acting career at the age
of 13 when her family moved to New York City. After
starring in a few small plays Anne’s love for theater
prompted her to head west to Hollywood to try to start
a career. But the young Baxter was turned down repeatedly
due to her age. After returning home to NYC, Baxter
continued building her resume via Broadway productions.
Four years later, a “much older” Baxter made her way
once again to Hollywood in hopes of a different outcome
her second time around… and it was.
At only 17, Anne Baxter’s screen test landed her
a seven-year contract and her first film, “20 Mule
Team”(1940), with MGM. The same year Anne would
star in Fox’s “The Great Profile” as Mary Maxwell.
The following year she starred in “Swamp Water”(1941),
but the less than spectacular film had the buzz
about the young starlet slowly beginning to fade.
Determined to resurrect her name, Anne gave a stellar
performance as Lucy Morgan in 1942’s “The Magnificent
Ambersons” which prompted her to receive top billing
for her following film, 1943’s “The North Star”.
Though popular with the public, her 1944’s “Sunday
Dinner for a Soldier” was weakly received by the
critics. Nevertheless it seems her decision to star
in the film wasn’t all together terrible when she
latter married her co-star, John Hodiak, in 1947.
After giving birth to her first child, Anne would
soon divorce John in 1953, and go on to remarry
twice more. Her second marriage resulted in two
children. Her last marriage was to David Klee. They
remained together until his death in 1978.
With her beauty and grace remaining constant both
on and off-screen, Baxter is described as “one of
the women who shine[s] with special brilliance from
midnight to five o'clock in the morning of the soul”
(critic Andrew Sarisse). In 1946 Anne did shine,
winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
as Sophie MacDonald in “The Razor’s Edge”. It wasn’t
until four years later that she would land another
prolific role as Eve Harrington in 1950’s "All About Eve".
Though the performance garnered her an Oscar nomination,
she was beat out by Judy Holliday for her performance
in “Born Yesterday”. Several years later Anne landed
the role as Egyptian Queen Nefretiti in Cecil B
DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments”, starring opposite
Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner.
Deciding to free-lance her talents thereafter,
Baxter was seen less frequently on the silver screen
until 1959’s “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”. She
then starred in 1960’s “Cimarron” and 1962’s “Walk
on the Wild Side”, taking a four-year hiatus from
the movie business. Instead, those four years were
spent dappling into television and stage roles.
Anne landed recurrent roles in the television series
“East of Eden” and “Hotel”. Her final project cast
her as Irene Adler in “Sherlock Holmes and the Masks
of Death” in 1984. Anne Baxter would die the next
year on December 12, 1985 of a brain aneurysm.
Other notable credits include:
CHARLEY'S AUNT (1941)
THE PIED PIPER (1942)
CRASH DIVE (1943)
FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (1943)
GUEST IN THE HOUSE (1944)
BLAZE OF NOON (1947)
THE WALLS OF JERICHO (1948)
FULL HOUSE (1952)
BEDEVILLED (1955)
THE SPOILERS (1955)
CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW (1957)
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (1962)
THE FAMILY JEWELS (1965)...
Anne Baxter's television credits include:
THE CHALLENGERS (1970)
MARCUS WELBY MD (pilot) (1969)
THE LATE LIZ (1971)
THE MONEYCHANGERS (1976)
EAST OF EDEN (1981)
HOTEL (series) (1983)
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