
Acting
Esther Howard
Born — Died
1892-04-02 — 1965-03-08
Place of birth
Butte, Montana, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
60 titles
Esther Howard (April 4, 1892 – March 8, 1965) was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career. From 1940 to 1949, Howard was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. From 1937, Howard was a regular player in short-subjects produced at Columbia Pictures, where she was frequently cast opposite comedian Andy Clyde. Her last film was a Columbia comedy short, Caught on the Bounce (1952), in which she played Joe Besser's aunt. From Wikipedia.
Known for
6.9A 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch hunter who burned her, but runs afoul of her father when she discovers that her mischief might have found her true love.
I Married a Witch
1942
7.0A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
The Palm Beach Story
1942
7.0The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
Dead End
1937
6.2A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.
The Crooked Way
1949
6.6The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
Marie Antoinette
1938
7.2After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
Murder, My Sweet
1944
Film credits
1950s · 3 titles
7.1A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.
Caged
1950
6.9A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.
No Man of Her Own
1950
6.0As a wealthy retired surgeon nears the end of his life, he begins to distribute his wealth to those in need, stating that "all that I have belongs to God." His nephews bring him to court to determine his mental competence in the hopes of stopping him from disposing of all his money.
All That I Have
1951
1940s · 32 titles
6.9A 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch hunter who burned her, but runs afoul of her father when she discovers that her mischief might have found her true love.
I Married a Witch
1942
7.0A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
The Palm Beach Story
1942
6.2A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.
The Crooked Way
1949
7.2After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
Murder, My Sweet
1944
6.1When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the time while he is doing a story. Encouraged by the casino manager, she gets hooked on gambling, to the point where she "borrows" David's expense money to pursue her addiction. This finally breaks up their marriage, but David continues trying to help her.
The Lady Gambles
1949
7.1A magazine's staff, including bickering ex-lovers Linda and Carey, cover an Indiana wedding, which goes slightly wrong.
June Bride
1948
6.7While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Song of the Thin Man
1947
7.2The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
Detour
1945
7.4Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.
Sullivan's Travels
1941
5.4A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac.
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
1946
6.0Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.
The Virginian
1946
6.3Kit Madden is traveling to Hollywood, where her best-selling novel is to be filmed. Aboard the train, she encounters Marines Rusty and Dink, who don't know she is the author of the famous book, and who don't think much of the ideas it proposes. She and Rusty are greatly attracted, but she doesn't know how to deal with his disdain for the book's author.
Without Reservations
1946
6.7A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.
Born to Kill
1947
7.0Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan...
The Great McGinty
1940
7.1Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge.
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944
6.4A rough and tumble man of the sea falls for a meek librarian.
Adventure
1945
6.7An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.
Champion
1949
6.8A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember.
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944
6.5Larry Haines, a mediocre vaudeville entertainer, boards a train for Los Angeles. Aboard, he meets an attractive, blonde British agent carrying a coded message hidden in a brooch—and is being pursued by Nazi agents.
My Favorite Blonde
1942
7.5An unknowing orphan idolizes the horse thief/mail robber who has shot his father.
Jackass Mail
1942
8.0A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins to secretly write about their true life antics. The show becomes a big hit, but he begins to feel guilty about his charade when he falls in love with the family's pretty older daughter.
True to Life
1943
6.1A beautiful but unscrupulous female performer manipulates all the men in her life in order to achieve her aims.
The Great Flamarion
1945
6.4Zeb Smith is a gambler with a larcenous streak, but when an itinerant preacher takes a bullet meant for him, Zeb vows to fulfill the preacher's mission of building a church. Frustrated in his attempts to get donations, Zeb attempts to capture fugitive Doll Brown in order to obtain the reward. But he finds that there's more to Doll than meets the eye. When his old friend Bucky McLean shows up gunning for Doll, Zeb sees a chance to redeem them all... one way or another.
Hellfire
1949
7.0Newlyweds Eddie (Joe DeRita) and Betty (Christine McIntyre) barely moved into their new house before Betty's mother (Esther Howard), aunt (Patsy Moran) and brother (Charles Williams) show up and give every indication of becoming permanent free-loading guests. Dick (William Newell) gives Eddie a plan that will cause his unwanted guests to vacate the premises, by having Dick and his wife, Ruby (Dorothy Granger), move in as Eddie's relatives, and even bigger pests, thereby causing Betty's relatives to move out. The plan works and Eddie and Betty are pleased until Dick announces that he and Ruby have intentions of staying on.
Wedlock Deadlock
1947
6.2Stage actress Valerie Stanton is locked in a bitter feud with her producer and ex Gordon Dunning. When he attempts to blackmail her into remaining under contract with his company, Stanton, in a fit of passion, clubs Dunning with a statuette, killing him. Her gloves have prevented fingerprints but her perfect alibi quickly unravels as Captain Danbury begins investigating.
The Velvet Touch
1948
7.3Longshoreman Johnny Barnes is in love with Kitty Tracy, barmaid at her father's waterfront saloon, and he beats up Cassidy, a crooked politician who has been annoying her. Cassidy is murdered that night and Johnny is jailed for the crime. Kitty, her father Andy Tracy, and waterfront-priest Father Cameron believe Johnny is innocent but all evidence points to his guilt.
San Francisco Docks
1940
6.7Andy's annoying brother-in-law Gus gets him fired from his job, and then tag-a-longs on a vacation with Andy and his wife.
Boobs in the Woods
1940
5.4A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron's lost jewels.
The Falcon's Alibi
1946
5.7Fictionalized story of the 1869 adoption of women's suffrage in Wyoming Territory. In the new-founded railroad town of Laraville, Boss Jim Cork hopes to manipulate the sale of town lots to give him control, but Quaker schoolmarm Annie Morgan bags one of the key lots. Cork's lawyer Steve Lewis tries romancing Annie to get the lot back, finding her so overpoweringly liberated she leaves him dizzy. Still, Steve attains his nefarious object...almost...then has cause to deeply regret having aroused the sleeping giant of feminism!
The Lady from Cheyenne
1941
6.2During World War II Stan and Ollie find themselves as improbable bodyguards to an eccentric inventor and his strategically important new bomb.
The Big Noise
1944
9.0In this Warner Bros. short film, Alex visits his sister Belinda and her husband Fred. It looks like Alex is going to be around for a while, much to Fred's displeasure. Alex in is New York to look for a job and he sees an ad for a champagne salesman. He decides to crash a swank party given by railroad tycoon J.D. Swinnerton and his wife. Alex has his own zany way of getting an introduction to the man. Mayhem ensues when several of the guests come as Robin Hood and one of them is a jewel thief.
Alex in Wonderland
1940
6.9During World War II, Evie O'Connor, a secretary at Trojan Shirt Company, yearns for a tall, strong man to love her. When she slides an anonymous note into a shirt-pocket meant for a dashing man, oafish Edgar 'Wolf' Larson receives the shirt and disregards the letter. After hearing Evie's words, short and bumbling John McPherson writes back, claiming to be Wolf. But trouble arises when Evie asks to meet him in person.
A Letter for Evie
1946
1930s · 25 titles
7.0The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.
Dead End
1937
6.6The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
Marie Antoinette
1938
6.3Singer Rose Carlton, otherwise known as 'The San Francisco Doll', accidentally kills her controlling boyfriend when he tries to prevent her from leaving. To evade the police, Rose sets sail for Nome with captain Bull Bracket. When the ship takes on another passenger, reformer Annie Alden, Carlton's life is changed forever, and she sets out to honor a deeply personal debt.
Klondike Annie
1936
6.4A drunken newspaperman, Jerry Corbett, is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress, Joan Prentice, whose love sobers him up and encourages him to write a play, but he lapses back into dipsomania.
Merrily We Go to Hell
1932
6.6A diver saves his best friend's life but loses his own arm in doing so. Later, unable to find work because of his missing arm, he is forced to go to work for a criminal searching for lost treasures. Meanwhile his friend, who has since become a policeman, finds himself assigned to break up the crook's operation and bring in his gang--including the man who saved his life.
The Best Man Wins
1935
6.0A woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a murder they didn't commit.
Ladies of the Big House
1931
6.3Super-sleuth Philo Vance faces the zaniest case of his career when Gracie Allen "helps" him try to solve the murder of an escaped convict. As she attempts to clear the name of a friend accused of the killing, her wacky, scatterbrained ways constantly impede the investigation.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
6.5An east coast efficiency expert, who stakes his reputation on his ability to turn around a financially troubled Hollywood studio, receives some help from a former child star who now works as a stand-in for the studio.
Stand-In
1937
6.7An elevator operator invents a machine that he believes can help to defeat a corrupt politician in the city's upcoming mayoral election.
A Fool's Advice
1932
5.5A daughter and devious ex-wife complicate an executive's marriage to his secretary.
Second Hand Wife
1933
7.0A Florida-bound train is filled with romance and intrigue when one of the passengers disappears while carrying $11-million in unset jewels.
Florida Special
1936
6.2A day in the maternity ward from the lens of accepted morals and medical attitudes of 1932. The ward includes women from all walks of life and situations.
Life Begins
1932
6.6A married singer, pianist/composer team are struggling to hit it big in New York. Finally, they audition before a Broadway producer, but the producer only wants the singer, leaving the husband without a job and feeling a failure.
Broadway Serenade
1939
5.6An aggressive agent turns a hotel porter into an overnight sensation.
Stars Over Broadway
1935
7.5Judy Walker is a poor songwriter who, through mistaken identity, gets her songs played on the radio.
Rhythm in the Clouds
1937
4.6In New York City, Russian waiter Peter Stanislavsky becomes a national celebrity after he develops a 'system' for winning at contract bridge.
Grand Slam
1933
5.1A young Russian girl is forced into a life of prostitution in Czarist Russia, and she and a British journalist find their lives endangered when she reveals to him information regarding the social crimes rampant in her country.
The Yellow Ticket
1931
6.8A diplomat is blackmailed by crooked vice cops into helping them frame prostitutes.
The Vice Squad
1931
8.0Detective Hank Hyer investigates a blackmail case involving a candidate for mayor.
Partners in Crime
1937
8.0Joe McKnight temporarily leaves his fiancée, Nora Langdon, for an expedition in a South American jungle. Nora gets a position as librarian in the small town of Midberg, where she boards with the Smith family. Nora is befriended by her next-door neighbor Austin Brown, who, unknown to his wife, is engaged in a moneymaking scheme with James Wilson.
Scandal Street
1938
9.0In this romance, a slightly crooked and highly ambitious mayoral candidate convinces a woman to help him blackmail the incumbent by using a little baby as evidence in a paternity suit. The girl goes along with it until she learns that the mayor is innocent.
Straight from the Heart
1935
8.0In this musical comedy, two star-struck small town kids head for the Big Apple and become famous for their jitterbug act. Their fame doesn't last long, but they had fun anyway. Songs include: "Baltimore Bubble," "Gingham Gown," "Just a Bore," "Wasn't It You," "Kaneski Waltz" (Frank Skinner, Charles Henderson).
Swing, Sister, Swing
1938
5.8Daniel Pardway, starting with almost nothing after the great Chicago fire, builds the biggest department store in town. He wants to pass on the business to his three sons and daughter, but has to deal with their lack of interest or aptitude.
Sweepings
1933
6.7A wealthy woman funds an underwater expedition to explore for marine life, but what she doesn't know is that her "colleagues" have other intentions.
Below the Sea
1933
5.5Margot Rande, a basically decent woman, is led down the path to perdition by her bank robber husband.
Wicked
1931
