Gertrude Michael

Acting

Gertrude Michael

Born — Died

1911-06-01 — 1964-12-31

Place of birth

Talladega, Alabama, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

63 titles

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…

Known for

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

Four Star Playhouse poster
6.8

Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.

Four Star Playhouse

1952

Sea Hunt poster
6.7

Sea Hunt is an American adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges as ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson, and was produced by Ivan Tors.

Sea Hunt

1958

The 20th Century Fox Hour poster
6.0

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.

The 20th Century Fox Hour

1955

Cavalcade of America poster
4.6

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with DuPont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.

Cavalcade of America

1952

The Case of the Dangerous Robin poster
NR

The Case of the Dangerous Robin is an American crime drama series which aired in syndication from October 1960, to July 1961. The series stars Rick Jason. It was produced by Ziv Television Productions, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol.

The Case of the Dangerous Robin

1960

Film credits

1950s · 5 titles

1940s · 14 titles

Flamingo Road poster
7.0

A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town society.

Flamingo Road

1949

Club Havana poster
5.9

A number of different characters unfolding love, hate, and death problems during an evening in a fashionable Latin nightclub.

Club Havana

1945

I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby poster
7.0

In I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby, Broderick Crawford plays a sentimental gangster who abducts songwriter Johnny Downs and forces him to write a love ballad. It is Crawford's hope that the song will reach out and touch his long-lost childhood sweetheart. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby was based on James Edward Grant's short story Trouble in B Flat; echoes of the basic premise later resurfaced in the 1957 "A" picture The Girl Can't Help It.

I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby

1940

Allotment Wives poster
6.7

Unscrupulous women marry servicemen for their pay.

Allotment Wives

1945

Faces in the Fog poster
4.3

Tom and Cora Elliott love their active social life so much that they neglect their daughter Mary and son Les. Fred Mason, Tom's neighbor and the doctor at the defense plant employing Tom, worries about the effect that Tom and Cora's drinking and socializing have on the children....

Faces in the Fog

1944

Parole Fixer poster
5.0

This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice system in order to get undeserving convicts parole from prisons. The point is made when FBI agents are assigned to track down "Big Boy" Bradmore, who after getting an undeserved parole, via the efforts of a shyster lawyer, promptly murders an FBI agent.

Parole Fixer

1940

Where Are Your Children? poster
7.0

Judy Wilson (Gale Storm), feeling neglected because both of her parents are working in defense plants, meets and falls in love with Danny Chester (Jackie Cooper), who enlists in the Navy and is sent to San Diego for training. She accepts an invitation to go on a ride to San Diego with her friends Herb (Neyle Morrow), Opal (Evelyn Eaton)and Jerry (Jimmy Zahner) but doesn't know the car has been stolen.

Where Are Your Children?

1943

Slightly Tempted poster
8.0

A con man tries to sell phony stocks to unwary investors.

Slightly Tempted

1940

The Farmer's Daughter poster
5.3

Broadway producer Nicksie North and press agent Scoop Trimble find an investor for their next show who insists that they cast his ex-girlfriend, Clarice Sheldon, in the lead role and rehearse out of town. The crew set up on a family farm, and all is well until the leading man falls for the farmer's daughter, Patience Bingham.

The Farmer's Daughter

1940

No artwork available
8.0

What would you do in this house of fear... if you knew that your husband killed your former flame?

Three's a Crowd

1945

Prisoner of Japan poster
5.0

An American astronomer living on a Pacific island attempts to thwart the Japanese during WWII.

Prisoner of Japan

1942

Pound Foolish poster
8.0

An expose of attempts by wealthy people to avoid payment of customs duties. Part of the MGM "Crime Does Not Pay" series.

Pound Foolish

1940

Women in Bondage poster
6.8

Women in Bondage is a 1943 World War II film about conditions for women under Hitler's regime. The plot involves two women imprisoned for speaking out against the government. It was directed by Steve Sekely and starred Gail Patrick and Nancy Kelly.

Women in Bondage

1943

No artwork available
9.0

A reworking of a familiar theme, the story finds scheming steel tycoon James J. MacGlennon (Tully Marshall) and his high-minded lawyer son Jonathan (Alan Baxter) simultaneously ending up behind bars. While incarcerated, Jonathan tries to mend his larcenous father's ways, thereby drawing closer to his not-so-bad dad.

Behind Prison Walls

1943

1930s · 34 titles

Cleopatra poster
6.1

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

Cleopatra

1934

I'm No Angel poster
6.4

Bold performer Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent financial need, she agrees to a risky new number: she'll put her head into the lion's mouth! With this attraction, the circus makes it to New York and Tira can pursue her dearest occupation — flirting with rich men and accepting expensive presents.

I'm No Angel

1933

Murder on the Blackboard poster
6.3

There are plenty of guilty secrets at the school where Hildegarde Withers teaches. When she finds the body of the pretty music teacher, she calls in her old friend Inspector Piper, who promptly arrests the obvious suspect. Clues multiply and everyone looks suspicious as Piper and Miss Withers continue their battle of the sexes.

Murder on the Blackboard

1934

Mr. Dodd Takes the Air poster
5.4

A country bumpkin becomes a singing sensation on the radio.

Mr. Dodd Takes the Air

1937

Wayward poster
6.3

Story of a mother's antagonism to her son's wife. Based on the novel "Wild Beauty" by Mateel Howe Farnham.

Wayward

1932

Murder at the Vanities poster
5.7

Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack is offering to let him see the show from an unusual viewpoint after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered woman and Bill immediately suspects Eric of the crime.

Murder at the Vanities

1934

Ann Vickers poster
5.8

After a love affair ending in an abortion, a young prison reformer submerges herself in her work. She then falls for a controversial and married judge and scandal looms again.

Ann Vickers

1933

The Last Outpost poster
6.2

During WW1, the destinies of British officers Michael Andrews and John Stevenson seem intertwined on the battle front as much as on a more personal level.

The Last Outpost

1935

Sophie Lang Goes West poster
8.0

Reformed jewel-thief Sophie Lang, tired of being questioned by the New York City police every time a jewel disappears, decides to head for California only to get into more trouble.

Sophie Lang Goes West

1937

Woman Trap poster
8.0

A gangland murder is the motivating factor of this fast-moving crime drama. George Murphy stars as reporter Kent Shevlin, whose investigation of the murder leads to a tenure as a temporary FBI agent.

Woman Trap

1936

George White's Scandals poster
5.4

Reporter Miss Lee is looking for a story and approaches George White as he's assembling the latest edition of his famous revue. As it turns out, she has lots of backstage gossip to choose from

George White's Scandals

1934

The Notorious Sophie Lang poster
6.7

After an extended stay in England, Sophie Lang returns to America. She is beautiful, sophisticated--and a notorious jewel thief. A New York police detective who's been trying to nail her finally comes up with what seems a foolproof scheme--to catch her off guard by having her fall for a handsome and suave jewel thief who happens to be in the U.S. traveling under an assumed name.

The Notorious Sophie Lang

1934

Sailor Be Good poster
8.0

A Navy boxer (Jack Oakie) meets a dance-hall hostess (Vivienne Osborne) who tries to sober him up for a fight.

Sailor Be Good

1933

Four Hours to Kill! poster
5.7

A detective who has "four hours to kill" before delivering his prisoner, an escaped killer, spends the time in the lobby of a Broadway theater where a musical is playing. The film focuses on the relationship between the two men, and also between various characters in the theater audience, staff and cast.

Four Hours to Kill!

1935

The Return of Sophie Lang poster
6.8

In order to give up her life of crime and go straight, renowned jewel thief Sophie Lang fakes her own death and retires to London. She soon finds a job as a companion to a wealthy old lady who is also a jewel collector. One day her employer decides to take an ocean trip to the US, taking Sophie with her. She also takes along a $200,000 diamond, which she locks up in the ship's safe. Of course, the diamond is soon stolen from the safe. A reporter also happens to be aboard the ship, and he has had his suspicions about who Sophie really is. Sophie has to find the real thief and recover the jewel before the ship docks in New York, because an investigation could reveal her true identity.

The Return of Sophie Lang

1936

Night of Terror poster
5.2

The heirs to a family fortune are required to attend a seance at the spooky old family mansion. However, throughout the night members of the family are being killed off one by one.

Night of Terror

1933

Till We Meet Again poster
5.2

In London, August 1914, Austrian star Elsa Duranyi (Gertrude Michael) and English matinee idol Alan Barclay (Herbert Marshall) are in love and plan an immediate marriage. But the War comes and Elsa mysteriously disappears. Alan's ease in speaking German results in his appointment to the British Intelligence and, to aid his use as a spy, they announce he was killed in action. He takes the name and personality of "shell-shocked" Hans Teller, a German prisoner, and is sent into Germany on an exchange of prisoners.

Till We Meet Again

1936

It Happened in New York poster
NR

A New York City cab driver in need of $200 picks up a movie star in his cab, and schemes to get the money from her.

It Happened in New York

1935

No artwork available
2.0

English-language version or remake of the German film, TRUXA (1937).

Star of the Circus

1938

Second Wife poster
7.0

Kenneth discovers that his son by his first wife is ill in a remote Swiss village, and is forced to leave Wife Number Two alone during childbirth.

Second Wife

1936

I Believed in You poster
7.0

An aspiring writer and her boyfriend, a professional agitator head off to the Big Apple in search of good fortune. Unfortunately, the agitator soon finds himself in trouble with the cops. Meanwhile the writer attempts to become a Greenwich Village Bohemian type. She and her new friends are all starving for their art until a kindly gent offers them financial assistant. They refuse on principle. Tragedy pays a call when the writer learns that her boyfriend has been untrue.

I Believed in You

1934

Father Brown, Detective poster
6.5

After notorious jewel thief Flambeau meets Evelyn Fischer during a raid on a casino, he falls deeply in love with her. Later Flambeau sends notes to both Leopold Fischer, who unknown to him is Evelyn's uncle, and Father Brown, in which he vows he will steal from them the ten diamonds that comprise the "Flying Star." Flambeau intends to give these diamonds to Evelyn. Father Brown, whose gold cross contains some of the Flying Star diamonds, is determined to meet Flambeau before he is arrested, to reform and redeem his soul.

Father Brown, Detective

1934

The Witching Hour poster
6.5

Jack Brookfield, a gambler with clairvoyant and hypnotic powers, is able to win at cards through his unique gift. But when he inadvertently hypnotizes young Clay Thorne, Thorne kills an enemy of Brookfield's while under a trance. No one believes Brookfield's protestations that Thorne is innocent of any murderous intent, so Brookfield teams up with retired lawyer Martin Prentice in hopes of saving the young man from the gallows.

The Witching Hour

1934

Make Way for a Lady poster
5.5

An imaginative teenager decides to play matchmaker for her widowed father. Director David Burton's 1936 comedy stars Herbert Marshall, Anne Shirley, Gertrude Michael, Margot Grahame, Clara Blandick, Frank Coghlan Jr., Willie Best and Maxine Jennings.

Make Way for a Lady

1936

No artwork available
10.0

A group of private detectives working for a jeweler pursue a gang of thieves in Argentina.

Just like a Woman

1939

Unashamed poster
7.2

A debutante's (Helen Twelvetrees) brother (Robert Young) stands trial for killing her no-good lover.

Unashamed

1932

Bolero poster
6.4

The complicated relationship between an ambitious, ruthless nightclub dancer and the woman he loves.

Bolero

1934

A Bedtime Story poster
5.7

Parisian playboy plays father to an abandoned baby who interferes with his womanising.

A Bedtime Story

1933

Cradle Song poster
10.0

In a deeply cloistered convent, nun Dorothea Wieck raises a foundling to be Evelyn Venable. But at 17, what if, guided by a kindly doctor, she sees the world and finds love?

Cradle Song

1933

Hidden Power poster
10.0

Dr. Garfield gets so involved in his research for an antitoxin for severe burns that he completely neglects his wife, Virginian, and their young son, Steve. Virginia divorces him and takes the son with her. Their paths cross again in a life-or-death situation.

Hidden Power

1939

Hold That Girl poster
9.0

"That girl" is newspaper sob-sister Tony Bellamy (Claire Trevor), whose nose for news gets her into one jam after another, especially when she poses as an exotic dancer to get the goods on a gangster.

Hold That Girl

1934

Menace poster
6.4

A psychotic man stalks three innocent people whom he believes are responsible for his brother's death.

Menace

1934

Search for Beauty poster
5.5

Three con artists dupe two Olympians into serving as editors of a new health and beauty magazine which is only a front for salacious stories and pictures.

Search for Beauty

1934

Forgotten Faces poster
5.5

Harry Ashton is a superstitious gambling house owner, who relies on sprigs of heliotrope as his good luck charm. One day, Harry catches his wife, Cleo with another man. Harry shoots him and takes his 18 month old daughter, Sally to best friend, Sgt. Donovan to find her a good home. Harry turns himself in and gets life in prison. 17 years pass, Cleo is on the brinks of losing her job as a burlesque dancer. Cleo decides to blackmail the McBrides (Sally's devoted adoptive parents). Harry discovers this and promises his warden that while on parole he will protect Sally. Harry trades places with the McBride's butler. While working, Harry discovers a letter addressed to the McBrides from Cleo asking to meet with her. Harry meets with Cleo instead and they begin to fight...

Forgotten Faces

1936

Series credits

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

Four Star Playhouse poster
6.8

Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.

Four Star Playhouse

1952

Sea Hunt poster
6.7

Sea Hunt is an American adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges as ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson, and was produced by Ivan Tors.

Sea Hunt

1958

The 20th Century Fox Hour poster
6.0

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.

The 20th Century Fox Hour

1955

Cavalcade of America poster
4.6

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with DuPont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.

Cavalcade of America

1952

The Case of the Dangerous Robin poster
NR

The Case of the Dangerous Robin is an American crime drama series which aired in syndication from October 1960, to July 1961. The series stars Rick Jason. It was produced by Ziv Television Productions, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol.

The Case of the Dangerous Robin

1960

Hallmark Hall of Fame poster
8.8

Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars poster
7.2

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

1951

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars poster
7.2

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

1951