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Anita Louise

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Anita Louise
Louise in 1931
Born
Anita Louise Fremault

(1915-01-09)January 9, 1915
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 25, 1970(1970-04-25) (aged 55)
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Other namesAnita Fremault
OccupationActress
Years active1922–1970
Spouses
(m. 1940; died 1960)
Henry Berger
(m. 1962)
Children2

Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), and The Little Princess (1939). She was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star.

Life and career

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Louise was born on January 9, 1915, in New York City,[1] the daughter of Louis and Ann Fremault.[2] She attended the Professional Children's School.[3] She made her acting debut on Broadway at the age of seven, in Peter Ibbetson.[4] Louise appeared in the 1922 film Down to the Sea in Ships.[5] She made her first credited screen debut at the age of nine in the film The Sixth Commandment (1924). In 1929, Louise dropped her surname, billing herself only by first and second names.

In the same 1937 St. Louis Star-Times interview referenced above, she is quoted as saying: "When I was nine...Mother and I walked out of the Bristol Hotel in Vienna and I was lifted off my feet by a man, who ran a few steps and threw me, bodily, into a waiting automobile...two hotel attaches came to the rescue...The hotel manager warned my mother that thirty children had been seized and hurried across the Italian frontier where they were sold...later to become white slaves when old enough."

As her stature in Hollywood grew, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star. Her reputation was enhanced by her role as Hollywood society hostess, with her parties attended by the elite of Hollywood and widely and regularly reported in the news media.[citation needed]

Louise in Call It a Day (1937)

Among her film successes were Madame Du Barry (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Sisters (1938), and The Little Princess (1939).

By the 1940s, she was reduced to mostly secondary roles, and her film career started to slow. Some of her films during this time are Casanova Brown (1944), Nine Girls (1944), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), Blondie's Big Moment (1947), and Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947). Her last appearance in movies was in the 1952 war film Retreat, Hell!

Reduced to minor roles, she acted infrequently until the advent of television in the 1950s provided her with further opportunities. She played Nell McLaughlin in the television series My Friend Flicka from 1956 to 1957, with co-stars Johnny Washbrook, Gene Evans, and Frank Ferguson.[6] She was substitute host of The Loretta Young Show (1953) when Loretta Young was recuperating from surgery.[citation needed] In 1957, she was host of Theater Time on ABC-TV.[6]: 1068  Other shows which she hosted included The United States Steel Hour (1962) and Playhouse 90 (1957). Her last television appearance was in a 1970 episode of the Mod Squad.

Personal life and death

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Louise's husband, film producer Buddy Adler, whom she married on May 18, 1940,[4] died in 1960.[1] They had two children. She married Henry Berger in 1962. Louise died of a stroke on April 25, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. She was buried next to Adler at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[7] She was 55 years old.

Louise has a star at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of her contribution to films.[8]

A Republican, she supported Dwight Eisenhower's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.[9]

Filmography

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Film

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Louise in The Little Princess (1939)
Anita Louise in The Gorilla (1939)
Louise with Roger Pryor in Glamour for Sale (1940)
Year Title Role Notes
1922 Down to the Sea in Ships Uncredited
1924 The Sixth Commandment Lost film
Lend Me Your Husband
1925 The Street of Forgotten Men Flower Girl Uncredited
Incomplete film, missing reel 2
1926 The Untamed Lady Lost film
1927 The Music Master Lost film
Memories Short subject
1928 4 Devils Louise Lost film
A Woman of Affairs Diana as a Child Uncredited
1929 The Spirit of Youth Toodles Ewing
Square Shoulders Mary Jane Williams
Wonder of Women Lottie Lost film
The Marriage Playground Blanca Wheater
1930 The Florodora Girl Vibart Child
What a Man Marion Kilbourne
Just Like Heaven Mimi Martell
The Third Alarm Milly Morton
1931 The Great Meadow Betty Hall
Millie Constance 'Connie' Maitland
Everything's Rosie Rosie Droop
The Woman Between Helen Weston
Heaven On Earth Towhead
1932 The Phantom of Crestwood Esther Wren
1933 Our Betters Elizabeth 'Bessie' Saunders
1934 The Most Precious Thing in Life Patty O'Day
Are We Civilized? Norma Bockner
Madame DuBarry Marie Antoinette
Cross Streets Clara Grattan
I Give My Love Lorna March
Judge Priest Ellie May Gillespie
The Firebird Mariette Pointer
Bachelor of Arts Mimi Smith
1935 Lady Tubbs Wynne Howard
Here's to Romance Lydia Lubov
A Midsummer Night's Dream Titania, Queen of the Fairies
Personal Maid's Secret Diana Abercrombie
1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur Annette Pasteur
Brides Are Like That Hazel Robinson
Anthony Adverse Maria
1937 Green Light Phyllis Dexter
Call It a Day Joan Collett, the maid
The Go Getter Margaret Ricks
That Certain Woman Florence 'Flip' Carson Merrick
First Lady Emmy Page
Tovarich Helene Dupont
1938 My Bill Muriel Colbrook
Marie Antoinette Princesse de Lamballe
The Sisters Helen Elliot Johnson
Going Places Ellen Parker
1939 The Little Princess Rose Hamilton
The Gorilla Norma Denby
These Glamour Girls Daphne 'Daph' Graves
Hero for a Day Sylvia Higgins
Main Street Lawyer Honey Boggs
Reno Mrs. Joanne Ryder
1940 Wagons Westward Phyllis O'Conover
Glamour for Sale Ann Powell
The Villain Still Pursued Her Mary Wilson
1941 The Phantom Submarine Madeline Neilson
Two in a Taxi Bonnie
Harmon of Michigan Peggy Adams
1943 Dangerous Blondes Julie Taylor
1944 Nine Girls Paula Canfield
Casanova Brown Madge Ferris
1945 Love Letters Helen Wentworth
1946 The Fighting Guardsman Amelie de Montrevel
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest Lady Catherine Maitland
The Devil's Mask Janet Mitchell
Personality Kid Laura Howard
Shadowed Carol Johnson
1947 Blondie's Big Moment Miss Gary
Bulldog Drummond at Bay Doris Hamilton
1952 Retreat, Hell! Ruth Hansen

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1950 Stars Over Hollywood Episode: "Landing at Daybreak"
1952 Footlights Theater 1 episodes
1952–1955 The Ford Television Theatre Mother / Marie McCoy / Mrs. Lindsey 3 episodes
1953 Your Favorite Story Julia Episode: "The Magician"
1955 Lux Video Theatre Beatrice Page Episode: "Forever Female"
1956 My Friend Flicka Nell McLaughlin 39 episodes
1956 Ethel Barrymore Theatre Episode: "Dear Miss Lovelace"
1957 The Millionaire Nancy Wellington Episode: "The Nancy Wellington Story"
1957 Playhouse 90 Mabel Seymour Greer Episode: "The Greer Case"
1957 Letter to Loretta Laura Episode: "Power Play"
1962 The United States Steel Hour Mrs. McCabe Episode: "Far from the Shade Tree"
1969 Mannix Althea Greene Episode: "Missing: Sun and Sky"
1970 The Mod Squad Grace Cochran Episode: "Call Back Yesterday", (final appearance)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Anita Louise". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  2. ^ Brundidge, Harry T. (March 5, 1937). "Hollywood's Most Beautiful Actress". St. Louis Star-Times. p. 16. Retrieved July 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Adams, Marjory (May 23, 1946). "Movie Question Box". The Boston Globe. p. 20. Retrieved July 23, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Anita Louise In Coloroto". New York Daily News. November 2, 1941. p. 39C. Retrieved July 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 438–439. ISBN 978-1-5578-3551-2. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. p. 730. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  7. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2. McFarland & Company (2016) ISBN 0786479922
  8. ^ "Anita Louise". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine. November 1952. Page 34.
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