Joan Leslie

Acting

Joan Leslie

Born 1925-01-26 · Detroit, Michigan, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress, dancer, and vaudevillian who, during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as High Sierra, Sergeant York, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel was born on January 26, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan, the youngest child of John and Agnes Brodel. At 15, Leslie had her first significant role as the crippled girl in High Sierra (1941), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. The same year she played in Sergeant York as York's fiancée. Leslie had a supporting role in The Male Animal (1942) as Olivia de Havilland's younger sister. In Yankee Doodle Dandy (also 1942) she portrayed George M. Cohan's girlfriend/wife. By now, Leslie had become a star whose on-screen image was described as "sweet innocence without seeming too sugary." Leslie was in four motion pictures released during 1943: The Hard Way, starring Ida Lupino and Dennis Morgan; The Sky's the Limit (1943), starring with Fred Astaire; the wartime film This Is the Army (1943) with Ronald Reagan; and finally Thank Your Lucky Stars. During World War II, she was a regular volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen, where she danced with servicemen and signed hundreds of autographs. She was featured with Robert Hutton, among many others, in the Warner Bros. film Hollywood Canteen (1944). In 1946 Leslie's career took a dive when she took Warner Brothers to court in order to get released from her contract based on moral and religious grounds because of the parts they kept giving her. She wanted more serious and mature roles. In 1947, the Catholic Theatre Guild gave Leslie an award because of her "consistent refusal to use her talents and art in film productions of objectionable character." As a result of this, Jack Warner used his influence to blacklist her from other major Hollywood studios. From this point on Leslie had a more irregular film career. In 1947, she signed a two-picture contract with the poverty row studio Eagle-Lion Films. The first one was Repeat Performance (1947), a film noir. The other was Northwest Stampede (1948) in which she performed with James Craig. In 1952, she signed a short-term deal with Republic Pictures. One of the films she made for Republic was Flight Nurse (1953). Her last film was The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956). However, she continued making sporadic appearances in television shows while her children were at school. She retired from acting in 1991, after appearing in the TV film Fire in the Dark. Leslie died on October 12, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. She was 90. Her survivors include her two children and one sister, Betty. On October 8, 1960, Joan Leslie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. In 1999, she was one of the 250 actresses nominated for the American Film Institute's selection of the 25 greatest female screen legends to have debuted before 1950. On August 12, 2006, she received a Golden Boot Award for her contributions to Western television shows and movies.

Acting credits

Foreign Correspondent poster
7.0

American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.

Foreign Correspondent

1940

Sergeant York: Of God and Country poster
NR

Behind the scenes documentary on the making of Sergeant York.

Sergeant York: Of God and Country

2006

High Sierra poster
7.1

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

High Sierra

1941

Sergeant York poster
7.2

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Sergeant York

1941

Repeat Performance poster
6.1

On New Year's Eve 1946, Sheila Page kills her husband Barney. She wishes that she could relive 1946 and avoid the mistakes that she made throughout the year. Her wish comes true but cheating fate proves more difficult than she anticipated.

Repeat Performance

1947

Camille poster
7.0

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.

Camille

1936

Northwest Stampede poster
3.3

In this romantic western, the real stars are a mustang and a police dog. The human aspect of the story centers on a rodeo rider whose late father bequeathed him a ranch in Calgary, Canada. The rider really tries to settle down to ranching, but finds himself pining for the rodeo. His forewoman, also a former rodeo performer, thinks her employer is shirking his duties and needs to forget about broncos, and bull-riding and settle down. Meanwhile, the fellow also longs to catch the white stallion running wild. The dog helps out.

Northwest Stampede

1948

Fire in the Dark poster
9.0

A 75-year old widow struggles with being a burden to those she loves. Though determined not to rely on her children, she is forced to move in with her daughter after a serious fall, and the family learns to face the future with dignity and hope.

Fire in the Dark

1991

The Sky's the Limit poster
6.3

Flying Tiger Fred Atwell sneaks away from his famous squadron's personal appearance tour and goes incognito for several days of leave. He quickly falls for photographer Joan Manion, pursuing her in the guise of a carefree drifter.

The Sky's the Limit

1943

Yankee Doodle Dandy poster
7.0

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942

Hollywood Canteen poster
7.3

Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entertainment for servicemen on their way overseas. Club founders Bette Davis and John Garfield give talks on the history of the place.

Hollywood Canteen

1944

Susan and God poster
6.5

A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group.

Susan and God

1940

Love Affair poster
7.0

A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed their mind.

Love Affair

1939

Man in the Saddle poster
6.6

A small rancher is being harassed by his mighty and powerful neighbor. When the neighbor even hires gunmen to intimidate him he has to defend himself and his property by means of violence.

Man in the Saddle

1951

Born to Be Bad poster
6.0

Christabel Caine has the face of angel and the heart of a swamp rat. She'll step on anyone to get what she wants, including her own family. A master of manipulation, she covertly breaks off the engagement of her trusting cousin, Donna, to her fabulously wealthy beau, Curtis Carey. Once married to Curtis herself, Christabel continues her affair with novelist Nick Bradley, who knows she's evil, but loves her anyway.

Born to Be Bad

1950

The Great Mr. Nobody poster
6.0

A publicity man promotes his newspaper, but finds his boss always steals the credit.

The Great Mr. Nobody

1941

The Revolt of Mamie Stover poster
6.5

In the early ’40s, a San Francisco prostitute is run out of town just as World War II has begun to intensify. She settles down in Hawaii, hoping to start a new life.

The Revolt of Mamie Stover

1956

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History poster
8.0

The history of Hollywood musical movies, from the very beginning until the 21st century, hosted by Shirley Jones.

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History

2008

Woman They Almost Lynched poster
6.6

Led by its female mayor, a neutral town on the Arkansas-Missouri border during the Civil War attempts to stay peaceful. A newcomer looking for her brother is pulled into the town’s violence.

Woman They Almost Lynched

1953

The Hard Way poster
6.5

Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.

The Hard Way

1943

Nancy Drew... Reporter poster
6.0

While participating in a contest at a local newspaper in which school children are asked to submit a news story, local attorney Carson Drew's daughter Nancy intercepts a real story assignment. She "covers" the inquest of the death of a woman who was poisoned. Nancy doesn't think the young woman accused of the crime is guilty and corrals her neighbor Ted into searching for a vital piece of evidence and stumbles onto the identity of the real killer.

Nancy Drew... Reporter

1939

Thank Your Lucky Stars poster
6.2

An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

1943

This Is the Army poster
5.7

In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War, he becomes a producer. In WW II his son Johnny Jones, who was before his fathers assistant, gets the order to stage a knew all-soldier show, called THIS IS THE ARMY. But in his pesonal life he has problems, because he refuses to marry his fiancée until the war is over.

This Is the Army

1943

The Male Animal poster
4.5

The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, the football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the homecoming weekend. He takes Ellen out dancing after the football rally, causing Tommy to worry that he will lose her to Joe.

The Male Animal

1942