Miriam Hopkins

Miriam Hopkins
in Becky Sharp (1935)
Born	Ellen Miriam Hopkins October 18, 1902(1902-10-18) Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died	October 9, 1972 (aged 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Years active	1928–1969
Spouse(s)	Brandon Peters (1926–1931) Austin Parker (1931–1932) Anatole Litvak (1937–1939) Raymond B. Brock (1945–1951)

Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American actress known for her versatility in a wide variety of roles.

She was born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in Bainbridge, a town in the state's southwest near the Alabama border. She attended a finishing school in Vermont and later Syracuse University in New York.

Career

At the age of 20, she became a chorus girl in New York City. In 1930, she signed with Paramount Pictures, and made her official film debut in Fast and Loose. Her first great success was in Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise (1932), where she proved her charm and wit as a beautiful and jealous pickpocket. During the remainder of the decade, she appeared in such films as The Smiling Lieutenant and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both 1931), Design for Living (1933), Becky Sharp (1935), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, Barbary Coast (1935), These Three (1936) (the first of four films with director William Wyler) and The Old Maid (1939). Hopkins rejected the role of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934),^[1] The role went to Claudette Colbert and resulted in an Academy Award.

Hopkins had well-publicized fights with her arch-enemy Bette Davis (Davis was having an affair with Hopkins' husband at the time, Anatole Litvak), when they co-starred in their two films The Old Maid (1939) and Old Acquaintance (1943).^[2] Davis admitted to enjoying very much a scene in Old Acquaintance in which she shakes Hopkins hard. There were even press photos taken with both divas in boxing rings with gloves up and director Vincent Sherman between the two.

After Old Acquaintance, she did not work again in films until The Heiress (1949), where she played the lead character's aunt. In Mitchell Leisen's 1951's screwball comedy The Mating Season, she gave a comic performance as Gene Tierney's character's mother. She also acted in The Children's Hour, which is a remake of her film These Three (1936). In the remake, she played the aunt to Shirley MacLaine, while MacLaine took Hopkins' original role.

Hopkins auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, having one advantage none of the other candidates had: she was a native Georgian; however she did not get the part, which went to Vivien Leigh.

She was a television pioneer, performing in teleplays in three decades, spanning the late 1940s through the late 1960s, in such programs as The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949), Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1951), Lux Video Theatre (1951-1955), and even an episode of The Flying Nun in 1969.

Though she is best remembered for her film work, she has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 1701 Vine Street, and one for television at 1708 Vine Street.

Private life

Hopkins was married and divorced four times: first to actor Brandon Peters, second to aviator Austin Parker, third to the director Anatole Litvak, and fourth to war correspondent Raymond B. Brock. In 1932, Hopkins adopted a son, Michael Hopkins.

Hopkins died in New York, New York from a heart attack nine days before her 70th birthday.

Filmography

Features:

• Fast and Loose (1930)
• The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
• 24 Hours (1931)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
• Two Kinds of Women (1932)
• Dancers in the Dark (1932)
• World and the Flesh (1932)
• Trouble in Paradise (1932)
• The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
• The Stranger's Return (1933)
• Design for Living (1933)
• All of Me (1934)
• She Loves Me Not (1934)
• The Richest Girl in the World (1934)
• Becky Sharp (1935)
• Barbary Coast (1935)
• Splendor (1935)
• These Three (1936)
• Men Are Not Gods (1936)
• The Woman I Love (1937)
• Woman Chases Man (1937)
• Wise Girl (1937)
• The Old Maid (1939)
• Virginia City (1940)
• Lady with Red Hair (1940)
• A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
• Old Acquaintance (1943)
• The Heiress (1949)
• The Mating Season (1951)
• The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1952)
• Carrie (1952)
• The Children's Hour (1961)
• Fanny Hill (1964)
• The Chase (1966)
• Savage Intruder (1969)

Short Subjects:

• The Home Girl (1928)
• Hollywood on Parade No. B-1 (1933)

References

1. ^ Wiley, Mason; Damien Bona (1987). Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. Ballantine Books. pp. 54. ISBN 0-345-34453-7. 
2. ^ Soares, Andre (December 3, 2006). "Miriam Hopkins Biography in the Works". Alternative Film Guide. http://www.altfg.com/blog/actors/miriam-hopkins/. 

External links

• Miriam Hopkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Miriam Hopkins at the Internet Broadway Database
• Miriam Hopkins at Find a Grave
• Photographs of Miriam Hopkins
• Miriam Hopkins Interview with Biographer Allan Ellenberger