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Acting
Gertrude Michael
Also known as: Lillian Gertrude Michael, Beck Michael
Biography
Gertrude Michael (June 1, 1911, Talladega, Alabama – December 31, 1964, Beverly Hills, California) was an American film, stage and television actress. Born as Lillian Gertrude Michael in Talladega, Alabama, she reportedly graduated from high school at the age of 14. She became a radio singer on the radio. She attended the University of Alabama and Converse College, Cincinnati. Her childhood home in Talladega, Alabama was destroyed by fire in 2007. In 1929 in Cincinnati she made her stage debut in a stock company. She subsequently appeared on Broadway in Rachel Crothers' Caught Wet (1931). She entered the movies playing Richard Arlen's finaceé in Wayward (1932), but her best-remembered role is probably as Rita Ross in Murder at the Vanities (1934), one of the last pre-Code films, in which she sang an ode to marijuana (Sweet Marijuana). She had an affair with writer Paul Cain (aka Peter Ruric).After they broke up, Cain wrote the role of the alcoholic lover (based on Michael) in his only novel published during his lifetime, Fast One. Gertrude Michael died, aged 53, from undisclosed causes, in Beverly Hills, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gertrude Michael,licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 1, 1911
Day of Death
December 31, 1964
Age at Death
53 years old
Place of Birth
Talladega, Alabama, USA
Popularity Score
0.7
Filmography
The Continental Twist
Letitia Clunker
1961Movie
The Case of the Dangerous Robin
Kay Salisbury
1960TV
Sea Hunt
1958TV
Perry Mason
Helen Rucker
1957TV
Women's Prison
Chief Matron Sturgess
1955Movie
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955TV
No Escape
Olga Valerie Lewis
1953Movie
Bugles in the Afternoon
May
1952Movie
Cavalcade of America
Major Pauline Cushman
1952TV
Four Star Playhouse
Fanny
1952TV
Darling, How Could You!
Mrs. Rossiter
1951Movie
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951TV
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
The Duchess
1951TV
Caged
Georgia Harrison
1950Movie
Flamingo Road
Millie
1949Movie
Allotment Wives
Gladys Smith
1945Movie
Three's a Crowd
Sophie Whipple
1945Movie
Club Havana
Hetty - Powder Room Attendant
1945Movie
Faces in the Fog
Nora Brooks
1944Movie
Women in Bondage
District Director Schneider
1943Movie
Where Are Your Children?
Nell Wilson
1943Movie
Behind Prison Walls
Elinor Cantwell
1943Movie
Prisoner of Japan
Toni Chase
1942Movie
Slightly Tempted
Duchess
1940Movie
Parole Fixer
Collette Menthe
1940Movie
The Farmer's Daughter
Clarice Sheldon
1940Movie
I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
Magda Delys
1940Movie
Pound Foolish
Mrs. Irene Reynolds
1940Movie
Hidden Power
Virginia Garfield
1939Movie
Just like a Woman
Ann Heston
1939Movie
Star of the Circus
Yester
1938Movie
Sophie Lang Goes West
Sophie Lang
1937Movie
Mr. Dodd Takes the Air
Jessica Stafford
1937Movie
Second Wife
Virginia Howard
1936Movie
Make Way for a Lady
Miss Eleanor Emerson
1936Movie
Till We Meet Again
Elsa Duranyi
1936Movie
The Return of Sophie Lang
Sophie Lang
1936Movie
Woman Trap
Barbara 'Buff' Andrews
1936Movie
Forgotten Faces
Cleo / Harry's wife
1936Movie
The Last Outpost
Rosemary Haydon
1935Movie
Four Hours to Kill!
Mrs. Sylvia Temple
1935Movie
It Happened in New York
Vania Nardi
1935Movie
Cleopatra
Calpurnia
1934Movie
Murder at the Vanities
Rita Ross
1934Movie
Murder on the Blackboard
Jane Davis
1934Movie
Bolero
Lady D'Argon
1934Movie
The Witching Hour
Margaret Price
1934Movie
Father Brown, Detective
Evelyn Fischer
1934Movie
Search for Beauty
Jean Strange
1934Movie
Menace
Helen Chalmers
1934Movie
George White's Scandals
Miss Lee
1934Movie
Hold That Girl
Dorothy Lamont
1934Movie
The Notorious Sophie Lang
Sophie Lang
1934Movie
I Believed in You
Pamela Banks
1934Movie
I'm No Angel
Alicia Hatton
1933Movie
Ann Vickers
Mona Dolphin
1933Movie
Night of Terror
Sarah Rinehart
1933Movie
Cradle Song
Marcella
1933Movie
A Bedtime Story
Louise
1933Movie
Sailor Be Good
Kay Whitney
1933Movie
Unashamed
Marjorie
1932Movie
Wayward
Mary Morton
1932Movie