Ann Rutherford

Acting

Ann Rutherford

Born 1917-11-02 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Ann Rutherford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The daughter of a former Metropolitan Opera singer, John Rutherford, and her actress mother, Lillian Mansfield, Ann was destined for show business. Not long after her birth, her family moved to California, where she made her stage debut in 1925. Ann appeared in many plays and on radio for the next nine years before making her first screen appearance in Waterfront Lady (1935). Ann's talent was readily apparent, and she was signed to three films in 1935: Waterfront Lady (1935), Melody Trail (1935), and The Fighting Marines (1935). By now, she was a leading lady in the fabled Westerns with two legends, John Wayne and Gene Autry. By the time Ann was 17, she inked a deal with MGM, where she would gain the status of superstar for her portrayal of Polly Benedict in the popular Andy Hardy series with Mickey Rooney. Ann's first role as Polly was in 1938, in You're Only Young Once (1937). Three more Hardy films were produced that same year: Out West with the Hardys (1938), Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), and Judge Hardy's Children (1938). Ann found time to play in other productions, too. One that is still loved today is the Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol (1938), in which she played the sweet role of the Spirit of Christmas Past. In 1939, Ann played the role of Annie Hawks in Of Human Hearts (1938) in addition to three more Andy Hardy films. But that year also saw Ann land a role in the most popular film in film history. She played Careen O'Hara, Scarlett's little sister, in Gone with the Wind (1939). Plenty of fans of the Andy Hardy series went to see it just for Ann. The film was unquestionably a super hit. Ann then resumed making other movies. While working for MGM, Ann, along with the other stars, was under the watchful eye of movie mogul Louis B. Mayer. The bottom line was profit, and Mayer kept performers' salaries minimized as much as possible. Most tried to get raises and failed. Even Mickey Rooney was decidedly underpaid during his glory years at MGM. But not Ann Rutherford. When she asked for a raise, she took out her bankbook and, showing him the amount it contained, told Mayer she had promised her mother a new house. Ann got her raise. In 1942 at the age of 22, Ann appeared in her last Andy Hardy film, Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942). She then left MGM and freelanced her talent. Ann was still in demand. In 1943, she appeared in Happy Land (1943), but it was a little later in her career when she appeared in two big hits. In 1947, she played Gertrude Griswold in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Donna Elena in Adventures of Don Juan in 1948. After that, Ann appeared in several TV programs and didn't return to the silver screen until 1972, in They Only Kill Their Masters (1972). Her last role came in 1976 in the dismal Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), whereupon she retired. Ann was approached to play the older Rose in 1998's mega hit Titanic (1997) but turned it down. She happily enjoyed her retirement being constantly deluged with fan mail and granting several interviews and appearances. Ann Rutherford died at her Beverly Hills home on June 11, 2012 with her close friend Anne Jeffreys by her side. She was 94 years old.

Acting credits

Gone with the Wind poster
7.9

The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

Gone with the Wind

1939

Pride and Prejudice poster
6.9

In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.

Pride and Prejudice

1940

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood poster
4.4

A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

1976

A Christmas Carol poster
7.0

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

A Christmas Carol

1938

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind poster
8.2

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

1988

Adventures of Don Juan poster
6.8

Spanish Lothario Don Juan, the legendary lover and adventurer returns to Spain following a scandal and comes to the aid of his queen, who is under threat from sinister forces.

Adventures of Don Juan

1948

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards poster
6.3

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
6.8

Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947

Whistling in Brooklyn poster
7.0

Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself.

Whistling in Brooklyn

1943

They Only Kill Their Masters poster
5.1

An enigmatic young woman has been murdered in a small California coast town. The investigation by the local sheriff uncovers a complex web of relationships centering on the victim; the scattered trail of evidence ranges from a mysterious photograph to the victim's own dog. During the investigation, the sheriff meets and becomes romantically involved with a woman whose connection to the murder is ambiguous.

They Only Kill Their Masters

1972

Of Human Hearts poster
6.0

This is a story about family relationships, set in the time before and during the American Civil War. Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm. It is a rich story about striving for excellence, the tension of father-son rebellion, and the love of a mother that can never die.

Of Human Hearts

1938

Hollywood: Style Center of the World poster
5.8

An MGM short promoting the studio's impact on fashion through film through their chief of costume design, Adrian; in rural America, a mother and daughter are shopping and observe a designer dress worn by Joan Crawford in a recent movie.

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

1940

Happy Land poster
7.1

An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.

Happy Land

1943

Murder in the Music Hall poster
5.3

An orchestra leader turns sleuth to clear his ice-skating girlfriend for murder.

Murder in the Music Hall

1946

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage poster
7.0

Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983

These Glamour Girls poster
5.9

A drunken college student invites a dance hostess to the big college dance and then forgets he asked her. When she shows up at school, he tries to get rid of her, but she won't leave. Instead, she stays and shows up both him and his classmates' snooty dates.

These Glamour Girls

1939

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year poster
7.5

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

2009

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante poster
5.7

Judge Hardy takes his family to New York City, where Andy quickly falls in love with a socialite. He finds the high society life too expensive, and eventually decides that he liked it better back home.

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante

1940

Bermuda Mystery poster
8.0

A private eye and a niece investigate when six World War I veterans start dying in the same week.

Bermuda Mystery

1944

Keeping Company poster
6.7

Wholesome comedy about newlyweds (and the bride's understanding--but sometimes interfering--parents) discovering married life isn't always bliss.

Keeping Company

1940

The Devil Is Driving poster
6.5

In the fine tradition of And Sudden Death, Columbia's The Devil is Driving tabulates the dangers of drunken driving in an exciting, unabashedly melodramatic fashion. In his first true portrayal of a "little creep," Elisha Cook Jr. stars as Tony, the spoiled-rotten son of the wealthy and influential Mr. Stevens.

The Devil Is Driving

1937

Out West with the Hardys poster
6.7

Judge Hardy goes to his friend's Arizona ranch to help her in a legal dispute, and he takes his family with him.

Out West with the Hardys

1938

The Lawless Nineties poster
5.5

Federal Agents Tipton and Bridger have been sent to Wyoming where the vote on statehood is imminent. Plummer and his gang are out to make sure the vote fails. When Plummer's men kill Bridger, Tipton fights on. He sends fake telegrams that trap some of Plummer's men. Then he organizes the ranchers and on election day they descend on the town barricaded by Plummer's gang.

The Lawless Nineties

1936

Badlands of Dakota poster
6.0

In the Dakotas during the days of the Great Gold Boom, brothers Jim and Bob Holliday are bumping heads over the affections of pretty Anne Grayson. While all this is going on, Wild Bill Hickok does his best to neutralize the local criminal element-and to fend off the romantic overtures of boisterous Calamity Jane.

Badlands of Dakota

1941