Charlotte Greenwood
Birthday: 1890-06-25
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Synopsis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Frances Charlotte Greenwood (25 June 1890 - 28 December 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and eventually starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing around six feet tall, she was best known for her long legs and high kicks. She earned the unique praise of being, in her words, the "...only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye."
In 1913, Oliver Morosco cast her as Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo late in the run of L. Frank Baum and Louis F. Gottschalk's The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (better known in its novelization as Tik-Tok of Oz), then commissioned a successful star vehicle titled So Long Letty, which is the role that made her a star.
She starred with such luminaries as Charles Ruggles, Betty Grable, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, and Carmen Miranda. Most of Greenwood's best work was done on the stage, and was lauded by such critics as James Agate, Alexander Woollcott and Claudia Cassidy. One of her most successful roles was that of Juno in Cole Porter's Out of This World in which she introduced the Porter classic "I Sleep Easier Now."
Although the role was written with her in mind, film commitments prevented her from playing "Aunt Eller" in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway hit Oklahoma! (1943). She got her chance in the 1955 film version, just prior to retiring in 1956.
Charlotte Greenwood died in Los Angeles, California of undisclosed causes, aged 87.
She was married twice, first, unsuccessfully to actor Cyril Ring, brother of actress Blanche Ring, and secondly and happily to composer Martin Broones.
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Acting
The Opposite Sex
as Lucy
Former radio singer Kay learns from her gossipy friends that her husband, Steve, has had an affair with chorus girl Crystal. Devastated, Kay tries to ignore the information, but when Crystal performs one of her musical numbers at a charity benefit, she breaks down and goes to Reno to file for divorce. However, when she hears that gold-digging Crystal is making Steve unhappy, Kay resolves to get her husband back. The Opposite Sex is a remake of the 1939 comedy The Women.
Oklahoma!
as Aunt Eller
In the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the twentieth century, two young cowboys vie with a violent ranch hand and a traveling peddler for the hearts of the women they love.
Dangerous When Wet
as Ma Higgins
The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day, traveling health-tonic salesman, Windy Weebe, comes to town and suggests they could swim the English Channel. Sponsored by "Liquapep" and coached by Windy, the family arrive in Europe. There it is decided that daughter Katie is the only one strong enough to enter the contest. But while she should be focused on the difficult and risky task ahead, Katie is pursed by dashing Frenchman, André Lanet... This comedic musical is well remembered for the scene when Katie dreams she is swimming with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry!
The Great Dan Patch
as Aunt Netty
David Palmer, a young chemist, returns to his father's Indiana farm, to marry a local school teacher, Ruth Treadwell. David meets again his father's horse-trainer, Ben Lathrop, whose daughter, Cissy, has left high school to help her father. Palmer marries and becomes wealthy through an invention, and is able to indulge his socially-ambitious wife. His father dies and Palmer returns to Indiana, where his interest in harness-racing is rekindled, as is his interest in Cissy Lathrop.
Driftwood
as Mathilda
An orphan helps a doctor fight an epidemic in a small western town, in one of Allan Dwan’s closely observed studies in Americana.
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Home in Indiana
as Penelope 'Penny' Bolt
'Sparke' Thorton, a lad with a penchant for trouble, is sent to live with his Uncle and Aunt Bolt in Indiana after his Aunt Henrietta Bolt dies. Though he's not happy about the arrangement at first, his love of horses and his affection for a young filly that he plans to race make life bearable. He also finds romance with tomboyish 'Char' Bruce who shares his love for horses.
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The Gang's All Here
as Mrs. Peyton Potter
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
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Moon Over Miami
as Aunt Susan 'Sue' Latimer
After losing nearly all of an inheritance to taxes, sisters Kay and Barbara Latimer, waitresses at a drive-in restaurant in Texas, scheme to find rich husbands. With the aid of their aunt Susan, the sisters take the last of their money and head to a well-known Miami resort where they soon meet two wealthy young men, Phil and Jeff, who begin a fierce rivalry for Kay, not realizing that Barbara has fallen in love with one of them.
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The Perfect Snob
as Martha Mason
When a small town veterinarian discovers that his just-graduated daughter is a gold-digging elitist, he devises a plan to help her rediscover old-fashioned family values.
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Tall, Dark and Handsome
as Winnie Sage
Robin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.
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Down Argentine Way
as Binnie Crawford
The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their families—takes a backseat to the spectacular location shooting and parade of extravagant musical numbers, which include the larger-than-life Carmen Miranda singing the hit “South American Way” and a showstopping dance routine by the always amazing Nicholas Brothers.
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Palmy Days
as Helen Martin
Musical comedy antics in an art deco bakery (motto: "Glorifying the American Doughnut") where Eddie Cantor, the overworked assistant to a phony psychic, is mistaken for an efficiency expert and placed in charge. Complications ensue when the psychic and his gang attempt to rob the payroll.
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Flying High
as Pansy Potts
An inventor and his lanky girlfriend set an altitude record in his winged contraption.
