Loretta Young


Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film The Farmer's Daughter, and received her second Academy Award nomination for her role in Come to the Stable. Young moved to the relatively new medium of television, where she had a dramatic anthology series, The Loretta Young Show, from 1953 to 1961. The series earned three Emmy Awards, and was re-run successfully on daytime TV and later in syndication. In the 1980s, Young returned to the small screen and won a Golden Globe for her role in Christmas Eve in 1986.

Early life

She was born Gretchen Young in Salt Lake City, Utah, the daughter of Gladys and John Earle Young. At confirmation, she took the name Michaela. When she was two years old, her parents separated, and when she was three, her mother moved the family to Hollywood. She and her sisters Polly Ann and Elizabeth Jane all worked as child actresses, but of the three, Gretchen was the most successful.
Young's first role was at the age of two or three in the silent film Sweet Kitty Bellairs. During her high-school years she was educated at Ramona Convent Secondary School. She was signed to a contract by John McCormick, husband and manager of actress Colleen Moore, who saw the young girl's potential. Moore gave her the name Loretta, explaining that it was the name of her favorite doll.

Career

Film

Young was billed as Gretchen Young in the silent film Sirens of the Sea. She was first billed as Loretta Young in 1928, in The Whip Woman. That same year, she co-starred with Lon Chaney in the MGM film Laugh, Clown, Laugh. The next year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars.
In 1930, when she was 17, she eloped with 26-year-old actor Grant Withers; they were married in Yuma, Arizona. The marriage was annulled the next year, just as their second movie together was released.
In 1934 she co-starred with Cary Grant in Born to Be Bad and in 1935 was billed with Clark Gable and Jack Oakie in the film version of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, directed by William Wellman.
During World War II, Young made Ladies Courageous, the fictionalized story of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. It depicted a unit of female pilots who flew bomber planes from the factories to their final destinations. Young made as many as eight movies a year. In 1947, she won an Oscar for her performance in The Farmer's Daughter. That same year, she co-starred with Cary Grant and David Niven in The Bishop's Wife, a perennial favorite. In 1949, she received another Academy Award nomination for Come to the Stable. In 1953, she appeared in her last theatrical film, It Happens Every Thursday, a Universal comedy about a New York couple who move to California to take over a struggling weekly newspaper; her co-star was John Forsythe.

Television

Young hosted and starred in the well-received half-hour anthology television series Letter to Loretta, which was originally broadcast from 1953 to 1961. She earned three Emmy awards for the program. Her trademark was a dramatic entrance through a living room door in various high-fashion evening gowns. She returned at the program's conclusion to offer a brief passage from the Bible or a famous quote that reflected upon the evening's story. The program ran in prime time on NBC for eight years, the longest-running primetime network program hosted by a woman up to that time.
The program was based on the premise that each drama was in answer to a question asked in her fan mail. The title was changed to The Loretta Young Show during the first season, and the "letter" concept was dropped at the end of the second season. Towards the end of the second season, Young was hospitalized as a result of overwork, which required a number of guest hosts and guest stars; her first appearance in the 1955–1956 season was for the Christmas show. From then on, Young appeared in only about half of each season's shows as an actress, and served as the program's host for the remainder.
Minus Young's introductions and conclusions, the series was re-run as the Loretta Young Theatre in daytime by NBC from 1960 to 1964. It also appeared in syndication into the early 1970s before being withdrawn.
In the 1962–1963 television season, Young appeared as Christine Massey, a freelance magazine writer and the mother of seven children, in The New Loretta Young Show, on CBS. It fared poorly in the ratings on Monday evenings against ABC's Ben Casey. It was dropped after one season of 26 episodes.
In the 1990s, selected episodes from Young's personal collection, with the opening and closing segments intact, were released on home video and frequently shown on cable television.

Awards

In 1988, Young received the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who through their endurance and the excellence of their work helped expand the role of women in the entertainment industry.
Young has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for her work in television, at 6135 Hollywood Boulevard, and the other for her work in motion pictures, at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2011, a Golden Palm Star on the Walk of Stars, in Palm Springs, California, was dedicated to her.

Personal life

Young was married three times and had three children. Her first marriage was to actor Grant Withers in 1930. The marriage was annulled the following year. From September 1933 to June 1934, she had a well publicized affair with actor Spencer Tracy, her co-star in Man's Castle. In 1940, Young married producer Tom Lewis. They had two sons: Peter Lewis ; and Christopher Lewis, a film director. Young and Lewis divorced bitterly in the mid-1960s.
Young had an affair with actor Glenn Ford in the early 1970s.
In 1993, Young married for the third and final time, to the fashion designer Jean Louis. Their marriage lasted until his death in April 1997. Young was godmother to Marlo Thomas.
A smoker since the age of eight, a then underweight Young quit the habit in the mid-1980s, successfully gaining 10 pounds.

Judy Lewis

Young and Clark Gable were the romantic leads of the 1935 Twentieth Century Pictures film The Call of the Wild. Young was then 22 years old; Gable was 34 and married to Maria “Ria” Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham. During filming, Young became pregnant by Gable.
Young did not want to damage her career or Gable's. She knew that if Twentieth Century Pictures found out about the pregnancy, they would pressure her to have an abortion; Young, a devout Catholic, considered abortion a mortal sin. Young, her sisters, and her mother came up with a plan to hide the pregnancy and then pass off the child as adopted. When Young’s pregnancy began to advance, she went on a "vacation" to England. After returning to California, she gave an interview from her bed, covered in blankets; at that time, she stated that her long movie absence was due to a condition she had had since childhood. Young gave birth to a daughter, Judith, on November 6, 1935, in Venice, California. Young named Judith after St. Jude because he was the patron saint of difficult situations. Weeks after her birth, Judith was placed in an orphanage. Judith would spend the next 19 months in various "hideaways and orphanages" before being re-united with her mother; Young then claimed that she had adopted Judith. After Young married Tom Lewis, Judith took Lewis's last name.
Few in Hollywood were fooled by the ruse. Judith Lewis bore a strong resemblance to Gable, and her true parentage was widely rumored in entertainment circles. When Lewis was 31 years old, she confronted Young about her parentage; Young privately admitted that she was Lewis's birth mother, stating that Lewis was "a walking mortal sin". Young refused to confirm or comment publicly on the rumors until 1999, when Joan Wester Anderson wrote Young's authorized biography. In interviews with Anderson for the book, Young stated that Lewis was her biological child and the product of a brief affair with Gable. Young would not allow the book to be published until after her death.
In 2015, Linda Lewis, the wife of Young's son, Christopher, stated publicly that in 1998, a then-85-year-old Young had told Lewis that Gable had raped her. According to Linda Lewis, Young added that no consensual intimate contact had occurred between Gable and herself. Young had never disclosed the rape to anyone. According to Lewis, Young shared this information only after learning of the concept of date rape from watching Larry King Live; she had previously believed it was a woman's job to fend off men's amorous advances and had perceived her inability to thwart Gable's attack as a moral failing on her part. Linda Lewis said that the family remained silent about Young's rape claim until after both Young and Judy Lewis had died.

Politics

Young was a life-long Republican. In 1952, she appeared in radio, print, and magazine ads in support of Dwight D. Eisenhower in his campaign for US president. She attended his inauguration in 1953 along with Anita Louise, Louella Parsons, Jane Russell, Dick Powell, June Allyson, and Lou Costello, among others. She was a vocal supporter of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan in their presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1980, respectively. Young was also an active member of the Hollywood Republican Committee, with her close friends Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, William Holden, George Murphy, Fred Astaire, and John Wayne.

Later life

From the time of Young's retirement in the 1960s until not long before her death, she devoted herself to volunteer work for charities and churches with her friends of many years: Jane Wyman, Irene Dunne, and Rosalind Russell. She was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California. Young, a devout Catholic, also worked with various Catholic charities after her acting career. Young briefly came out of retirement to star in two television films: Christmas Eve and Lady in the Corner. She won a Golden Globe Award for the former and was nominated for the latter.
In 1972, a jury in Los Angeles awarded Young $550,000 in a lawsuit against NBC for breach of contract. Filed in 1966, the suit contended that NBC had allowed foreign television outlets to re-run old episodes of The Loretta Young Show without excluding, as agreed by the parties, the opening segment in which Young made her entrance. Young testified that her image had been damaged by portraying her in "outdated gowns". She had sought damages of $1.9 million.

Death

Young died of ovarian cancer on August 12, 2000, at the home of her maternal half-sister, Georgiana Montalbán in Santa Monica, California. She was interred in the family plot in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Her ashes were buried in the grave of her mother, Gladys Belzer.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1916Sweet Kitty BellairsunknownLost; uncredited
1917The Primrose RingFairyLost; uncredited
1917Sirens of the SeaChildAs Gretchen Young
1919The Only WayChild on operating table
1921White and UnmarriedChildUncredited
1921The SheikArab childExtant; uncredited
1927Naughty But NiceBit partExtant; uncredited
1927Her Wild OatBit by ping pong tableExtant; uncredited
1927Orchids and ErmineunknownExtant; uncredited
1928The Whip WomanThe GirlLost
1928Laugh, Clown, LaughSimonettaExtant; made at MGM
1928The Magnificent FlirtDenise LaverneLost; made at Paramount Pictures
1928The Head ManCarol WattsLost
1928Scarlet SeasMargaret BarbourExtant. Picture elements discovered at Cineteca Italiana, Milan
1929Seven Footprints to SatanOne of Satan's victimsExtant; uncredited
1929The SquallIrmaExtant, in Library of Congress
1929The Girl in the Glass CageGladys CosgroveLost
1929Fast LifePatricia Mason StrattonLost
1929The Careless AgeMurielLost
1929The Forward PassPatricia CarlyleLost
1929The Show of Shows"Meet My Sister" numberExtant, in Library of Congress
1930Loose AnklesAnn Harper BerryExtant, in Library of Congress
1930The Man from Blankley'sMargery SeatonLost
1930Show Girl in HollywoodExtant, in Library of Congress; uncredited
1930The Second Floor MysteryMarion FergusonExtant, in Library of Congress
1930Road to ParadiseMary Brennan/Margaret WaringExtant, in Library of Congress
1930Warner Bros. Jubilee DinnerHerselfShort subject
1930KismetMarsinahLost
1930War NurseNurseExtant; made at MGM; uncredited
1930The Truth About YouthPhyllis EricsonExtant, in Library of Congress
1930The Devil to Pay!Dorothy HopeExtant; produced by Samuel Goldwyn; released by United Artists
1931How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 8: "The Brassie"HerselfShort subject
1931Beau IdealIsobel BrandonExtant; made at RKO
1931The Right of WayRosalie EvanturalExtant, in Library of Congress
1931The Stolen JoolsHerselfShort subject
1931Three Girls LostNorene McMannExtant
1931Too Young to MarryElaine BumpsteadExtant, in Library of Congress
1931Big Business GirlClaie "Mac" McIntyreExtant, in Library of Congress
1931I Like Your NerveDiane ForsytheExtant, in Library of Congress
1931The Ruling VoiceGloria BannisterExtant, in Library of Congress
1931Platinum BlondeGallagher
1932Taxi!Sue Riley NolanExtant, in Library of Congress
1932The Hatchet ManSun Toya SanExtant, in Library of Congress; original title The Honorable Mr. Wong
1932Play-GirlBuster "Bus" Green DennisExtant, in Library of Congress
1932Week-End MarriageLola Davis HayesExtant, in Library of Congress
1932Life BeginsGrace SuttonExtant, in Library of Congress
1932They Call It SinMarion CullenExtant, in Library of Congress
1933Employees' EntranceMadeleine Walters WestExtant, in Library of Congress
1933Grand SlamMarcia StanislavskyExtant, in Library of Congress
1933Zoo in BudapestEveExtant
1933The Life of Jimmy DolanPeggyExtant, in Library of Congress
1933Heroes for SaleRuth Loring HolmesExtant, in Library of Congress
1933Midnight MaryMary Martin
1933She Had to Say YesFlorence "Flo" DennyExtant, in Library of Congress
1933The Devil's in LoveMargot LesesneExtant
1933Man's CastleTrinaExtant
1934The House of RothschildJulie Rothschild
1934Born to Be BadLetty Strong
1934Bulldog Drummond Strikes BackLola Field
1934CaravanCountess Wilma
1934The White ParadeJune Arden-
1935Clive of IndiaMargaret Maskelyne Clive
1935ShanghaiBarbara Howard
1935The Call of the WildClaire Blake
1935The CrusadesBerengaria, Princess of Navarre
1935Hollywood Extra GirlHerselfShort subject
1936The Unguarded HourLady Helen Dudley Dearden
1936Private NumberEllen Neal
1936RamonaRamona
1936Ladies in LoveSusie Schmidt
1937Love Is NewsToni Gateson
1937Café MetropoleLaura Ridgeway
1937Love Under FireMyra Cooper
1937Wife, Doctor and NurseIna Heath Lewis
1937Second HoneymoonVicky
1938Four Men and a PrayerMiss Lynn Cherrington
1938Three Blind MicePamela Charters
1938SuezCountess Eugenie de Montijo
1938KentuckySally Goodwin
1939Wife, Husband and FriendDoris Borland
1939The Story of Alexander Graham BellMrs. Mabel Hubbard Bell
1939Eternally YoursAnita
1940The Doctor Takes a WifeJune Cameron
1940He Stayed for BreakfastMarianna Duval
1941The Lady from CheyenneAnnie Morgan
1941The Men in Her LifeLina Varsavina
1941Bedtime StoryJane Drake
1942A Night to RememberNancy Troy
1943ChinaCarolyn Grant
1943Show Business at WarHerselfShort subject
1944Ladies CourageousRoberta HarperFamously "a clef" biopic of the WWII WASPs, pioneering women pilots
1944And Now TomorrowEmily Blair
1945Along Came JonesCherry de Longpre
1946The StrangerMary Longstreet
1947The Perfect MarriageMaggie Williams
1947The Farmer's DaughterKatrin "Katy" HolstrumAcademy Award for Best Actress
1947The Bishop's WifeJulia Brougham
1948Rachel and the StrangerRachel Harvey
1949The AccusedDr. Wilma Tuttle
1949Mother Is a FreshmanAbigail Fortitude Abbott
1949Come to the StableSister MargaretNominated for Academy Award for Best Actress
1950Key to the CityClarissa Standish
1951You Can Change the WorldHerselfShort subject
1951Cause for Alarm!Ellen Jones
1951Half AngelNora Gilpin
1951Screen Snapshots: Hollywood AwardsHerselfShort subject
1952PaulaPaula Rogers
1952Because of YouChristine Carroll Kimberly
1953It Happens Every ThursdayJane MacAvoy
1986Christmas EveAmanda KingsleyTV movie
1989Lady in a CornerGrace GuthrieTV movie
1994Life Along the MississippiNarrator TV documentation

Radio appearances