Annie Ross

Acting

Annie Ross

Born 1930-07-26 · Mitcham, Surrey, England, UK

Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 1930 – 21 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Ross was born in Surrey, England, the daughter of Scottish vaudevillians John "Jack" Short and Mary Dalziel Short (née Allan). Her brother was Scottish entertainer and theatre producer and director Jimmy Logan. She first appeared on stage at age three. At the age of four, she travelled to New York by ship with her family; she later recalled that they "got the cheapest ticket, which was right in the bowels of the ship". Shortly after arriving in the city, she won a token contract with MGM through a children's radio contest run by Paul Whiteman. She subsequently moved with her aunt, Scottish-American singer and actress Ella Logan, to Los Angeles, and her mother, father and brother returned to Scotland. She did not see her parents again until fourteen years later. At the age of seven, she sang "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" in Our Gang Follies of 1938, and played Judy Garland's character's sister in Presenting Lily Mars (1943). Her adulthood film roles included Liza in the film Straight On till Morning (1972), Claire in Alfie Darling (1976), Diana Sharman in Funny Money (1983), Vera Webster in Superman III (1983), Mrs. Hazeltine in Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Rose Brooks in Witchery (1988), Loretta Cresswood in Pump Up the Volume (1990), Tess Trainer in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), and Lydia in Blue Sky (1994). She also appeared as Granny Ruth in the horror films Basket Case 2 (1990) and Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1991). She also had a bit part in Robert Altman's The Player in 1992. Ross also starred in Scottish Television's comedy-drama Charles Endell Esquire (1979). She provided the speaking voice for Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man (1973), and Ingrid Thulin's singing voice in Salon Kitty (1976). On stage, she appeared in Cranks (1955; London and New York City), The Threepenny Opera (1972), The Seven Deadly Sins (1973) at the Royal Opera House, Kennedy's Children (1975) at Arts Theatre, London, Side by Side by Sondheim, and in the Joe Papp production of The Pirates of Penzance (1982). Ross died in New York City on 21 July 2020 from emphysema and heart disease, four days before her 90th birthday. Description above from the Wikipedia article Annie Ross, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

The Wicker Man poster
7.3

Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.

The Wicker Man

1973

The Player poster
7.2

A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?

The Player

1992

Throw Momma from the Train poster
6.2

Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.

Throw Momma from the Train

1987

Short Cuts poster
7.2

Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather tells his son, Howard, about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.

Short Cuts

1993

Superman III poster
5.5

Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.

Superman III

1983

Salon Kitty poster
5.6

In Nazi Germany, Kitty runs a brothel where the soldiers come to 'relax'. Recording devices have been installed by a power-hungry official who plans to use the information to blackmail and usurp Hitler. One of the girls discovers the ploy and, with the madam's help, takes on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.

Salon Kitty

1976

Yanks poster
5.9

During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls. One relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times.

Yanks

1979

Pump Up the Volume poster
7.1

Mark Hunter, a lonely high school student, uses his shortwave radio to moonlight as the popular pirate DJ "Hard Harry." When his show gets blamed for a teen committing suicide, the students clash with high school faculty and the authorities.

Pump Up the Volume

1990

Straight On Till Morning poster
5.6

Brenda, a timid, withdrawn woman, meets Peter, a man she believes is finally the love of her life. However, little does Brenda know that Peter is a vicious serial killer.

Straight On Till Morning

1972

Blue Sky poster
6.1

Hank Marshall is a tough, square-jawed, straitlaced Army engineer and nuclear science expert, assigned to help conduct weapons testing in 1950s America. Hank has become a thorn in the side of the Army, though, for a couple of very different reasons. He is an outspoken opponent of atmospheric testing, though his superiors hold contrary views and want to squelch his concerns...and his reports. The other problem is his wife, Carly. She is voluptuous and volatile, wreaking havoc in his personal life and stirring up intrigue at each new Army base.

Blue Sky

1994

Presenting Lily Mars poster
6.5

Starstruck Indiana small-town girl Lily is pestering theatrical producer John Thornway for a role but he is reluctant.

Presenting Lily Mars

1943

Basket Case 3 poster
5.1

Duane recovers from his delusional breakdown to find his freakish basket-bound brother Belial will soon become a father. But not everything is joyous as the once tight knit brothers no longer seem to trust each other.

Basket Case 3

1992

Basket Case 2 poster
5.7

Duane and his basket-bound mutant brother are taken in by a secret home for wayward freaks.

Basket Case 2

1990

Witchcraft (Evil Encounters) poster
5.0

A student and her photographer boyfriend visit an island off of Massachusetts to research a hotel supposedly haunted by a witch.

Witchcraft (Evil Encounters)

1988

The Beast Must Die poster
5.5

Wealthy big game hunter Tom Newcliffe has tracked and killed practically every type of animal in the world. But one creature still evades him, the biggest game of all - a werewolf.

The Beast Must Die

1974

Alfie Darling poster
4.5

Alfie meets his romantic match when the modern-day Casanova falls in love with a career woman. Alfie soon realises that Abby, a magazine editor, is just as romantically ruthless as he is.

Alfie Darling

1975

Cinderella's Feller poster
7.0

The story of Cinderella with a children's cast.

Cinderella's Feller

1940

Musical Movieland poster
6.7

A group of tourists is given a tour of a movie studio lot. They see the various permanent sets that are used for different types of movies, and they appear to watch the filming of several productions in progress. Musical numbers from several previous Warner Bros. Technicolor shorts are edited into this short to create the illusion.

Musical Movieland

1944

Funny Money poster
7.0

In Las Vegas young Barty Nicholls inadvertently steals a fortune from the Mob and is slashed to death by a limping hood. Later his girlfriend Cass arrives in London with a stack of stolen credit cards looking for Ben Turtle, famed as a credit card king who she needs as a partner in her credit card swindles. Thrown out of a West End hotel for stealing cards, the pair are soon muscled back in by two heavy Minders to sexually perform at a Mob party in front of Mr. Big. Ben and Cass check out with suit cases of Mafia cash then the real funny money begins to flow and the chase is on.

Funny Money

1982

Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer poster
7.0

This documentary explores the life of jazz singer Anita O'Day. As a child, Anita had a tonsillectomy, during which her uvula was accidentally removed. The surgery prevents her from singing vibrato and holding long notes, but lends to her much-revered percussive style. Anita overcomes her vocal hurdle, as well as many others -- including poverty, heroin addiction and jail time for a drug arrest -- to become one of the most prolific and respected jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Initial release: 30 April 2007

Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer

2007

Our Gang Follies of 1938 poster
6.4

Alfalfa gives up being "King of the Crooners" to sing opera, but a nightmare of being under the thumb of an evil producer sends him back to his roots.

Our Gang Follies of 1938

1937

One Pair of Eyes - No, But Seriously poster
NR

Marty Feldman, for many years a successful comedy writer before turning to performing, explores humour through the people who create it, comparing their traditions, motivations and anxieties with his own. Among the people Marty talks to are Peter Sellers, Eric Morecambe, Peter Brough and Archie Andrews, Dudley Moore and Barry Took.

One Pair of Eyes - No, But Seriously

1969

Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes poster
7.0

Told in Count Basie's own words, this biography sheds light on both the professional and the private life of the world-famous bandleader and pianist who became a jazz icon for his generation.

Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes

2020

The Ring of Truth poster
NR

Set in the Necropolis graveyard, Glasgow. A comic and magical tale about the meaning of life and a hunt for a missing diamond ring. An ex-B movie starlet and her daughter search for the ring, lost many years ago whilst the mother was making love with a travelling salesman. Their antics are observed by a small boy who is spending the day with his Grandfather, the custodian of the graveyard. As the story unfolds, the day at the graveyard moves from comedy and tragedy to magic, fantasy and resurrection

The Ring of Truth

1996