Evelyn Keyes

Infobox actor


caption = Evelyn Keyes in "99 River Street" (1953)
bgcolour =
name = Evelyn Keyes
birthname = Evelyn Louise Keyes
birthdate = birth date|1916|11|20
location = Port Arthur, Texas, United States
deathdate = death date and age|2008|07|4|1916|11|20
deathplace = Montecito, California, United States
othername =
yearsactive = 1938 - 1993
homepage =
academyawards =
emmyawards =
spouse = Barton Bainbridge (1938-1940)
Charles Vidor (1943-1945)
John Huston (1946-1950)
Artie Shaw (1957-1985)

Evelyn Keyes (November 20 1916 – July 4 2008) was an American film actress.cite news |work=Associated Press |title=Actress Evelyn Keyes dies at 91 in California |url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080712/ap_en_mo/obit_keyes_6 |first=Bob |last=Thomas |date=2008-07-12]

Film career

A chorus girl by age 18, Keyes was put under contract by Cecil B. DeMille. After a handful of B movies at Paramount Pictures, she landed her most notable role, that of Scarlett O'Hara's sister Suellen in "Gone with the Wind" (1939). Her 1949 role as Kathy Flannigan in "Mrs. Mike" pushed her to Hollywood stardom.cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Evelyn Keyes Finally Elevated to Stardom; Leading Lady Bridges Gap Between 'Good' and 'Great' by Her 'Mrs. Mike' |date=1949-10-02 |first=Hedda |last=Hopper |page=D1 |quote=Until "Mrs. Mike," Evelyn Keyes had always been considered a fine leading lady rather than a star in the true sense of the word. She seemed to have lacked that final push that bridges the gap between "good" and "great."] Keyes' last important film role was a small part as Tom Ewell's vacationing wife in "The Seven Year Itch" (1955), which starred Marilyn Monroe. Keyes officially retired in 1956, but continued to act.

Personal life

She was married to Barton Bainbridge from 1938 until his death in 1940. Later she married and divorced director Charles Vidor (1943–1945), actor/director John Huston (23 July 1946–February 1950), [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Evelyn Keyes married to film director John Huston |date=1946-07-24 |first=Hedda |last=Hopper |authorlink=Hedda Hopper |page=2 |quote=An impulsive proposal in a Beverly Hills cafe, a midnight airplane ride to Las Vegas and a 3:30 a.m. appearance before the parson provided the "shooting script" for the surprise marriage yesterday of Evelyn Keyes, film star, and John Huston...] [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Evelyn Keyes Separates From Director-Husband; Actress Cites Incompatibility as Cause of Split With Third Spouse, John Huston |date=1949-05-24 |page=2 |quote=Evelyn Keyes has separated from her third husband, Director John Huston, the blond actress said yesterday.] [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Mexican Divorce Ends Evelyn Keyes' Marriage |date=1950-02-11 |page=2] and bandleader Artie Shaw (1957–1985). [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Artie Shaw Plans to Wed Evelyn Keyes |date=1957-03-06 |page=2] Keyes said of her many relationships, "I was always interested in the man of the moment, and there were many such moments". While married to Huston, the couple adopted a Mexican child, Pablo, whom Huston had discovered while on the set of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre".

Her autobiography, "Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister: My Lively Life in and Out of Hollywood", was published in 1977. Keyes expressed her opinion that "Mrs. Mike" was her best film. She also wrote of the personal cost she paid by having an abortion just before "Gone with the Wind" was to begin filming. [cite news |work=The New York Times |title='Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister' |date=1977-07-28 |first=Aljean |last=Harmetz |page=57 |quote="Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister" is a strange sort of autobiography for a prim Southern girl to have written a sexual odyssey up and down the decades, in which Evelyn Keyes pauses only occasionally to mention a movie she has just started or just finished.] The experience left her unable to have children.In 2005, Keyes sued Artie Shaw's estate, claiming that she was entitled to one-half of Shaw's estate pursuant to a contract to make a will between them. In July 2006, a Ventura, California jury unanimously held that Keyes was entitled to almost one-half of Shaw's estate, or $1,420,000. [cite news |work=Los Angeles Business Journal |title=Bandleader's ex-wife keeps beat ... and half the estate |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17447219_ITM |quote=The famed jazz clarinetist and bandleader's eighth wife, Evelyn Keyes, was recently awarded $1.42 million by a Ventura jury. |date=2006-08-07]

She died of uterine cancer on July 4 2008 at her home in Montecito, California, near Santa Barbara. She had also suffered from Alzheimer's disease. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2403699/Evelyn-Keyes.html Evelyn Keyes - Telegraph ] ]

Filmography

*"The Buccaneer" (1938) as Madeleine
*"Dangerous to Know" (1938) (uncredited)
*"Men with Wings" (1938) (uncredited) Nurse
*"Sons of the Legion" (1938) as Linda Lee
*"Artists and Models Abroad" (1938) aka "Stranded in Paris" (UK) (uncredited)
*"Paris Honeymoon" (1939) (uncredited) as Village Girl
*"Sudden Money" (1939) as Mary Patterson
*"Union Pacific" (1939) as Mrs. Calvin
*"Gone with the Wind" (1939) as Suellen O'Hara
*"Slightly Honorable" (1940) as Miss Vlissingen
*"The Lady in Question" (1940) as Francois Morestan
*"Before I Hang" (1940) as Martha Garth
*"Beyond the Sacramento" (1940) aka "Power of Justice" (UK) as Lynn Perry
*"The Face Behind the Mask" (1941) aka "Behind the Mask" (UK) as Helen Williams
*"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941) as Bette Logan
*"Ladies in Retirement" (1941) as Lucy
*"The Adventures of Martin Eden" (1942) aka "High Seas" (USA reissue title) as Ruth Morley
*"Flight Lieutenant" (1942) as Susie Thompson
*"The Desperadoes" (1943) as Allison McLeod
*"Dangerous Blondes" (1943) as Jane Craig
*"There's Something About a Soldier" (1943) as Carol Harkness
*"Nine Girls" (1944) as Mary O'Ryan
*"Strange Affair" (1944) as Jacqueline Harrison
*"A Thousand and One Nights" (1945) aka "1001 Nights" as the Genie [cite news |work=Christian Science Monitor |title=Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes In New Technicolor Arabia |date=1945-07-13 |page=4 |quote=A traditional Arabian Nights romance, some modern spoofing comedy, and a bit of trick photography have been put together in a lavish Technicolor production to make "A Thousand and One Nights," the new feature at the State and Orpheum.]
*"Renegades (1946 film)|Renegades" aka "Kansan" (1946) as Hannah Brockway [cite news |work=The New York Times |title=SCREEN NEWS; Evelyn Keyes to Co-Star in Columbia's 'Kansan' |date=1945-05-19 |page=15]
*"The Thrill of Brazil" (1946) as Vicki Dean [cite news |work=Christian Science Monitor |title=Keenan Wynn, Evelyn Keyes In 'The Thrill of Brazil' |date=1946-09-27 |page=4 |quote=For those who like South American rhythms, enjoy vigorous Brazilian dancing, and the singing of Tito Guizar, "The Thrill of Brazil," a Columbia musical starring Keenan Wynn and Evelyn Keyes, at the State and Orpheum, is a fiesta.]
*"The Jolson Story" (1946) as Julie Benson (a character based on Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler) [cite news |work=The New York Times |title=EVELYN KEYES SET FOR JOLSON FILM; Named for Ruby Keeler Role After Score Are Tested |date=1945-11-19 |page=17 |quote=Columbia has confirmed the choice of Evelyn Keyes for the part of Ruby Keeler in "The Al Jolson Story," after having tested more than a score of candidates for the role.]
*"Johnny O'Clock" (1947) as Nancy Hobson
*"The Mating of Millie" (1948) as Millie McGonigle
*"Enchantment" (1948) as Grizel Dane
*"Mr. Soft Touch" (1949) aka "House of Settlement" (UK) as Jenny Jones
*"Mrs. Mike" (1949) as Kathy Flannigan
*"The Killer That Stalked New York" (1950) aka "Frightened City" (UK) (USA copyright title) as Sheila Bennet [cite news |work=The New York Times |title='Killer That Stalked New York,' About a Diamond Smuggler, Opens at Palace Theatre |date=1951-01-05 |first=Bosley |last=Crowther]
*"Smuggler's Island" (1951) as Vivian Craig
*"The Prowler" (1951) as Susan Gilvray
*"Iron Man" (1951) as Rose Warren [cite news |work=The New York Times |title=The Screen: Three Movies Arrive; 'Iron Man,' With Jeff Chandler at Loew's State--'This Is Korea' Also on Bill |date=1951-08-20]
*"One Big Affair" (1952) as Jean Harper
*"C'est arrivé à Paris" (1953) aka "It Happened in Paris" (USA) as Patricia Moran
*"Rough Shoot" (1953) aka "Shoot First" (USA) as Cecily Paine [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=McCrea, Evelyn Keyes Assist Spy Feature |date=1953-06-27 |first=Edwin |last=Schallert |page=A6 |quote="Shoot First," starring Joel McCrea and Evelyn Keyes at Globe, Uptown and Loyola Theaters, poses as a cloak and dagger picture, and was shot mostly in the countryside of England.]
*"99 River Street" (1953) aka "Crosstown" as Linda James [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Evelyn Keyes Tells Secrets of Beauty Learned in Paris |date=1953-08-30 |first=Lydia |last=Lane |page=C9 |quote=After two years in Europe Evelyn Keyes has been lured back to Hollywood to make "Cross-Town" for United Artists.]
*"Hell's Half Acre" (1954) as Donna Williams [cite news |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Evelyn Keyes Costars With Wendell Corey |date=1953-07-21 |first=Hedda |last=Hopper |page=A6 |quote=Evelyn Keyes' vacation is over. She's heading for Honolulu to costar with Wendell Corey in "Hell's Half Acre" for Republic.]
*"The Seven Year Itch" (1955) as Helen Sherman
*"Top of the World" (1955) as Virgie Rayne (Mrs. Gannon)
*"Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956) as The Flirt
*"Across 110th Street" (1972) cameo
*"A Return to Salem's Lot" (1987) as Mrs. Axel
*"Wicked Stepmother" (1989) as Witch Instructor

References

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/movies/12keyes.html Evelyn Keyes, Actress in 'Gone With the Wind' dies at 91]
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=37992&mod=bio New York Times Biography]
*imdb name|id=0450810|name=Evelyn Keyes

Persondata
NAME= Keyes, Evelyn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Keyes, Evelyn Louise
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1916-11-20
PLACE OF BIRTH= Port Arthur, Texas, United States
DATE OF DEATH= 2008-07-04
PLACE OF DEATH= Montecito, California, United States