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person_profile-Bonita Granville

Bonita Granville Died at age: 65

Actor | Producer

Date of Birth:

Feb 02, 1923

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Oct 11, 1988

Biography of

Bonita Granville

    Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.

    In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series.

    After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities.

    Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties.

    Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).

Photos of

Bonita Granville

Photos ( 5 Photos

Filmography of

Bonita Granville

Found 56 Movies in total

... 1982

The Legend of the Lone Ranger

Woman (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1981

The Velvet Alley

Mrs. Kirkley ( Actor )

... 1959

The Lone Ranger

Welcome Kilgore ( Actor )

... 1956

Guilty of Treason

Stephanie Varna ( Actor )

... 1950

Strike It Rich

Julie Ann Brady ( Actor )

... 1948

The Guilty

Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell ( Actor )

... 1947

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy

Kay Wilson ( Actor )

... 1946

Suspense

Ronnie ( Actor )

... 1946

The Truth About Murder

Christine Allen ( Actor )

... 1946

Breakfast in Hollywood

Dorothy Larson ( Actor )

... 1946

Senorita from the West

Jeannie Blake ( Actor )

... 1945

The Beautiful Cheat

Alice ( Actor )

... 1945

Youth Runs Wild

Toddy Jones ( Actor )

... 1944

Song of the Open Road

Bonnie ( Actor )

... 1944

Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble

Kay Wilson ( Actor )

... 1944

Hitler's Children

Anna Miller ( Actor )

... 1943

Seven Miles from Alcatraz

Anne Porter ( Actor )

... 1942

Now, Voyager

June Vale ( Actor )

... 1942

The Glass Key

Opal 'Snip' Madvig ( Actor )

... 1942

Syncopation

Kit Latimer ( Actor )

... 1942

H.M. Pulham, Esq.

Mary Pulham ( Actor )

... 1941

Down in San Diego

Betty Haines ( Actor )

... 1941

The People Vs. Dr. Kildare

Frances Marlowe ( Actor )

... 1941

The Wild Man of Borneo

Francine 'Frankie' Diamond ( Actor )

... 1941

Gallant Sons

Kate Pendleton ( Actor )

... 1940

Escape

Ursula ( Actor )

... 1940

Third Finger, Left Hand

Vicky Sherwood ( Actor )

... 1940

Those Were the Days!

Martha Scroggs ( Actor )

... 1940

The Mortal Storm

Elsa ( Actor )

... 1940

Forty Little Mothers

Doris ( Actor )

... 1940

... 1939

Angels Wash Their Faces

Peggy Finnegan ( Actor )

... 1939

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter

Nancy Drew ( Actor )

... 1939

Nancy Drew... Reporter

Nancy Drew ( Actor )

... 1939

Nancy Drew… Detective

Nancy Drew ( Actor )

... 1938

Hard to Get

Connie Richards ( Actor )

... 1938

My Bill

Gwen Colbrook ( Actor )

... 1938

White Banners

Sally Ward ( Actor )

... 1938

The Beloved Brat

Roberta Morgan ( Actor )

... 1938

Merrily We Live

Marian Kilbourne ( Actor )

... 1938

It's Love I'm After

Gracie Kane ( Actor )

... 1937

Call It a Day

Ann Hilton ( Actor )

... 1937

Quality Street

Isabella ( Actor )

... 1937

Maid of Salem

Ann ( Actor )

... 1937

The Plough and the Stars

Mollser Gogan ( Actor )

... 1936

The Garden of Allah

Convent Girl (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1936

These Three

Mary Tilford ( Actor )

... 1936

Song of the Saddle

Jen as a Child ( Actor )

... 1936

Ah, Wilderness!

Mildred Miller ( Actor )

... 1935

The Life of Vergie Winters

Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1934

Little Women

Amy's Classmate (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1933

Cradle Song

Carmen (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1933

Cavalcade

Young Fanny ( Actor )

... 1933

Silver Dollar

Liddy (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1932

Westward Passage

Little Olivia Allen (age 9) ( Actor )

... 1932