Bonita Granville
| Bonita Granville | |
|---|---|
from the trailer for the film
The Beloved Brat (1938) |
|
| Born |
February 2, 1923 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | October 11, 1988 (aged 65) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1932–1981 |
| Spouse(s) | Jack Wrather (1947–1984; his death) |
| Children | Molly Wrather (step-daughter) Jack Wrather III (1944–1973) (stepson) Linda Wrather Christopher Wrather |
Bonita Granville (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988) was an American film actress and television producer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1936 for her performance in These Three.
She was born on February 2, 1923 in New York City, the daughter of Rosina (née Timponi 1892-1984) and Bernard "Bunny" Granville. Both of her parents were stage performers.
She made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage (1933), and appeared that same year in a credited but nearly wordless supporting role as the young dancer Fanny Bridges in Cavalcade, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Over the next couple of years, she played uncredited supporting roles in such films as Little Women (1933) and Anne of Green Gables (1934). She next played the role of Mary Tilford in the 1936 film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's 1934 stage play The Children's Hour. Renamed These Three, the film told the story of three adults (played by Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea) who find their lives almost destroyed by the malicious lies of an evil attention-seeking child. For her role as that child, Granville was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, then the youngest person to be nominated for that award. Despite this success, and although she continued to work, the next few years brought her few opportunities to build her career.
In 1938, she starred as the saucy mischievous daughter in the multi-Academy Awards nominated hit comedy film Merrily We Live and as girl detective Nancy Drew in the hit film Nancy Drew: Detective. The Nancy Drew film success led to Granville reprising the role in three sequels from 1938 to 1939, including Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939).
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