Leona Roberts

Acting

Leona Roberts

Born 1879-07-25 · Mills Township, Bond County, Illinois, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leona Roberts (July 26, 1879 – January 29, 1954) was an American stage and film actress. Leona Roberts was born as Leona Celinda Doty in a small village in Illinois. She made her debut on Broadway in 1926 and appeared there in about 40 productions between 1926 and 1945, mostly in supporting roles. Roberts started her film career in 1926 in Poor Mrs. Jones, produced by the United States Department of Agriculture, where she starred in the leading role. She went to Hollywood in 1937 and played in over 40 films, mostly in motherly supporting roles. She was probably best-known for her portrayal of "society gossip" Mrs. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939), together with Harry Davenport, who played Dr. Meade. Roberts also appeared with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938) as the house servant Mrs. Gogarty, as well in Of Human Hearts (1938) with James Stewart and The Blue Bird (1940) with Shirley Temple. In 1941, she returned to Broadway, where she worked until the mid-1940s. Subsequently, Roberts worked again in Hollywood and made a few last films there, including a small part in The Loves of Carmen (1948). She made her last film in 1949.

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

Bringing Up Baby poster
7.5

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

Bringing Up Baby

1938

Boomerang! poster
7.1

When a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner in a quiet Connecticut town, the citizens are horrified and demand action from the police. All of the witnesses identify John Waldron, a nervous out-of-towner, as the killer. District Attorney Henry Harvey is then put on the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove Waldron's innocence.

Boomerang!

1947

The Blue Bird poster
5.8

Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're accompanied by the anthropomorphized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, and Bread, among other entities.

The Blue Bird

1940

Bachelor Mother poster
7.2

Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling. Outraged at Polly's unmotherly conduct, David Merlin becomes determined to keep the single woman and "her" baby together.

Bachelor Mother

1939

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

The Spellbinder poster
6.3

Jed Marlowe is a brilliant, scheming, unscrupulous criminal lawyer whose specialty is defending criminal he knows is guilty but gets them off through loop-holes or bribery. Then his daughter, misled by her father’s courtroom performance, but unaware of his back-room tactics, marries the killer her father has just unjustly save from the electric chair. What’s a poor father to do?

The Spellbinder

1939

The Affairs of Annabel poster
5.4

Wonder Pictures has been striking out at the box office lately, causing the seedy PR man to involve main star Annabel in ever outrageous stunts for publicity.

The Affairs of Annabel

1938

A Man Betrayed poster
5.5

A bucolic lawyer takes on big-city corruption, setting out to prove that an above-suspicion politician is actually a crook - all while falling in love with the politician's daughter.

A Man Betrayed

1941

Super-Sleuth poster
5.6

A movie actor playing a detective gets carried away with his role and starts trying to solve real-life crimes.

Super-Sleuth

1937

Swanee River poster
7.0

Swanee River is a 1940 American biopic about Stephen Foster, a songwriter from Pittsburgh who falls in love with the South, marries a Southern girl, then is accused of sympathizing when the Civil War breaks out. Typical of 20th Century Fox biopics of the time, the film is more fictional than factual biography.

Swanee River

1939

Crime Ring poster
5.8

Fake fortunetellers win the confidence of clients and then get them to part with their money by buying mining stocks which are worthless.

Crime Ring

1938

Week-End in Havana poster
7.0

A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast. He obtains waivers from all of the passengers with the exception of Nan Spencer, a department store salesgirl who wants her vacation now, not later. Jay is instructed to take Nan to Havana, set her up in the best hotel, and keep her entertained. She visits a nightclub where the star attraction is Rosita Rivas and meets Rosita's worthless manager, Monte Blanca, who makes a play for her. Trouble also comes in the form of Jay's fiancée, Terry McCracken, when a romance develops between Nan and Jay.

Week-End in Havana

1941

Sued for Libel poster
6.3

A New York City newspaper is sued for libel after reporting the wrong verdict in a murder trial.

Sued for Libel

1939

Having Wonderful Time poster
4.9

Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.

Having Wonderful Time

1938

They Made Her a Spy poster
6.8

When her brother is killed by sabotage, Irene Eaton (Sally Eilers) joins the secret service and goes undercover to unroot the culprits.

They Made Her a Spy

1939

Fight for Your Lady poster
5.6

Wrestling trainer puts himself in charge of a singer's love life when the singer is jilted by a rich girl.

Fight for Your Lady

1937

Condemned Women poster
7.3

A shoplifter gets sentenced to a women's prison.

Condemned Women

1938

Border Cafe poster
7.0

The spoiled, hard-partying son of a senator runs away from home after being reprimanded by his father, finds himself down-on-his luck in a tiny western town, and is rehabilitated through the friendship and wisdom of a kind and patient rancher.

Border Cafe

1937

Golden Gloves poster
6.0

An amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster.

Golden Gloves

1940

Crashing Hollywood poster
6.0

A true-to-life gangster movie stirs up an all out mob assault on Hollywood.

Crashing Hollywood

1938

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk poster
5.3

A man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The law is not content with his explanation, however.

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

1940

Abe Lincoln in Illinois poster
6.9

Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln from his departure from Kentucky until his election as President of the United States.

Abe Lincoln in Illinois

1940

Queen of the Mob poster
6.2

Ma Webster and her boys rob a bank on Christmas Eve; G-men stop them with Tommy guns.

Queen of the Mob

1940