Song:I Can't Say No
Album:Oklahoma! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Gloria Grahame was an Oscar winning actress mainly known for femme fatale roles. As far as I can tell, her performance as Ado Annie in the 1955 film Oklahoma! was her only musical and the only time she sang on film. She was born Gloria Grahame Hallward Nov. 28, 1923 in Los Angeles. Her mom was British actress and acting teacher Jean Grahame. MGM head Louis B. Mayer saw her on Broadway and signed her in 1944. Her most significant early role was as Violet in the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life. But MGM soured on Gloria and sold her contract to RKO in 1947. She had immediate success in the 1947 film Crossfire starring with Robert Young and Robert Mitchum. Gloria was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She married director Nicholas Ray in 1948 and this led to starring in his 1950 film In A Lonely Place with Humphrey Bogart. It's a great film and well worth seeing but it was a box office flop. But it did lead to a small role in the 1952 film The Bad and the Beautiful and for that Gloria won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She was also great in Fritz Lang's 1953 film The Big Heat. So her casting in the 1955 musical Oklahoma! seemed a little odd when we're used to seeing her as a femme fatale in film noir. I Can't Say No is her big song in the film. She did OK. I think she was criticized more for the casting than her performance. Her career went into decline after that. For one thing, it seems she was addicted to plastic surgery and it started to affect her appearance. Nicholas Ray divorced her in 1952 after he caught her in bed with his 13 year old son Tony Ray. They married in 1960 and the scandal killed Gloria's career. Her career came to a screeching halt and she returned in the 70s mostly to B movies and on the stage. Gloria was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974. It went into remission but resurfaced in 1980. She refused treatment and moved to England to work on the stage. When she got sick, a doctor accidentally punctured her bowel during a surgical procedure. Her children took her back to the US. But it was too late and she died on Oct. 5, 1981 at age 57. Here's Gloria Grahame performing I Can't Say No in the 1955 film Oklahoma!
Wow.., what a life. A thirteen old boy? Then she later married him? Now that's a scandal right there in any day and age, let alone in the 60's.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't know about that until I saw it on her Wikipedia page. But some of her films are worth seeing. I saw The Big Heat a couple of weeks ago for the first time. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteYour right .., sounds like she was miscast for the part in Oklahoma!. Sounds like Film Noir was more her calling.
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