Mary Astor

Mary Astor (May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress.

Career continues

Fortunately, the scandal caused no harm to Astor's career, which was actually renewed because of the custody fight and the huge level of publicity generated; Dodsworth was released to rave revues, and the public's acceptance assured the studios that she was still a viable commercial property.

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In 1937, she returned to the stage in well received productions of Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30, The Astonished Heart, and Still Life, at the Biltmore Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. She also began doing regular performances on radio. And some of her best movies were still to come, including The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) starring Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll; John Ford's The Hurricane (1937) starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall; and Brigham Young - Frontiersman (1940) starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell.

Related Topics:
1937 - Noel Coward - Radio - The Prisoner of Zenda - 1937 - Ronald Colman - Madeleine Carroll - John Ford - The Hurricane - Dorothy Lamour - Jon Hall - Brigham Young - Frontiersman - 1940 - Tyrone Power - Linda Darnell

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Astor is probably most-famous for her role as Brigid O'Shaunessy, the scheming temptress who murders Sam Spade's partner, in John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941) opposite Humphrey Bogart, with Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet.

Related Topics:
John Huston - The Maltese Falcon - 1941 - Humphrey Bogart - Peter Lorre - Sydney Greenstreet

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Another noteworthy performance was her role as Sandra Kovack, the selfish, self-centered, concert pianist, who willingly gives up her child, in The Great Lie (1941) starring Bette Davis and George Brent.

Related Topics:
The Great Lie - 1941 - Bette Davis - George Brent

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Davis wanted Astor cast in the role after watching her screen test and seeing her play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. She then recruited Astor to collaborate with her on rewriting the script, which Davis felt was mediocre and needed work to make it more interesting. Astor further followed Davis's advise and sported a brazen bobbed hairdo for the role. The soundtrack of the movie during the scenes where she plays the concerto, with violent hand movements on the piano keys, was actually recorded with Max Rabinovitch playing.

Related Topics:
Screen test - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 - Max Rabinovitch

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She let Davis be boss and run the show, with no objection, and they became good friends. Davis deliberately stepped back to allow Astor to shine in her key scenes. As a result of her performance, Astor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Great Lie.

Related Topics:
Academy Award - Best Supporting Actress

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Astor was not propelled into the upper echelon of movie stars by these successes. She always declined offers of starring in her own right. Not wanting the responsibility of top billing and having to "carry the picture," she preferred the security of being a featured player.

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She was reunited with Bogie and Sydney Greenstreet in John Huston's Across the Pacific (1942), and she also played the Princess Centimillia in The Palm Beach Story (1942), starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, and Rudy Vallee.

Related Topics:
Across the Pacific - 1942 - The Palm Beach Story - Claudette Colbert - Joel McCrea - Rudy Vallee

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In February 1943, Otto Langhanke died in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital as a result of a heart attack complicated by influenza. His wife and daughter were both at his bedside.

Related Topics:
1943 - Cedars of Lebanon Hospital

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That same year, Astor signed a seven-year contract with MGM, which turned out to be a regrettable mistake. She was kept busy playing what she considered mediocre mother roles. After Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), starring Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien, the studio allowed her to make her Broadway debut in Many Happy Returns (1945). The play was a miserable failure, but Astor received good reviews.

Related Topics:
Meet Me In St. Louis - 1944 - Judy Garland - Margaret O'Brien - Broadway - 1945

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On loan to 20th Century Fox, she played a wealthy widow in Claudia and David (1946) starring Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young. She also was loaned to Paramount to play Fritzi Haller in Desert Fury (1947) starring John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster, and Wendell Corey. It was another mother role, but she played the tough owner of a saloon and casino in a small mining town.

Related Topics:
Claudia and David - 1946 - Dorothy McGuire - Robert Young - Desert Fury - 1947 - John Hodiak - Lizabeth Scott - Burt Lancaster - Wendell Corey

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Before Helen Langhanke died of a heart ailment in January 1947, Astor said she sat in the hospital room with her mother, who was delirious and did not know her, and listened quietly as Helen told her all about terrible, selfish Lucile. After her death, Astor said she spent countless hours copying her mother's diary so she could read it and was surprised to learn how much she was hated.

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Back at MGM, Astor went on being cast in undistinguished, colorless mother roles. One exception was when she played a prostitute in the film noir Act of Violence (1948). The last straw came when she was cast as Marmee March in Little Women (1949), starring June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, and Janet Leigh. Astor found no redemption in playing what she considered another humdrum mother and became despondent. The studio wanted to renew her contract, promising to give her better roles, but she declined the offer.

Related Topics:
Film noir - Act of Violence - 1948 - Little Women - 1949 - June Allyson - Peter Lawford - Margaret O'Brien - Elizabeth Taylor - Janet Leigh

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