Ella Raines
American actress (1920–1988)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988)[1] was an American film and television actress active from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s. Described as "sultry" and "mysterious", the green-eyed star[2] appeared frequently in crime pictures and film noir, but also in drama, comedy, Westerns, thrillers, and romance.
August 6, 1920
Ella Raines | |
|---|---|
Circa 1940 | |
| Born | Ella Wallace Raines August 6, 1920 |
| Died | May 30, 1988 (aged 67) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Years active | 1943–1957, 1984 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Among the leading men she starred with were John Wayne, Charles Laughton, William Powell, Randolph Scott, Franchot Tone, Brian Donlevy, George Raft, and Burt Lancaster. When film roles dwindled she turned to television. Her second marriage was to Robin Olds, a U.S. Air Force triple-ace fighter pilot and Commandant of Cadets of the United States Air Force Academy and they had 2 children.
Raines appeared as a pin-up girl in the June 2 and June 16, 1944, issues of the G.I. magazine Yank, and on the cover of Life magazine twice, in 1944 for her work in Phantom Lady, and in 1947 for Brute Force.
Early life
Born August 6, 1920 in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington[1] to logging engineer Ernest N. Raines and his wife Bird Zachary,[2][3][4] Raines studied drama at the University of Washington where she was discovered by talent agent Charles K. Feldman.[5] He informed his client and sometime business partner, director Howard Hawks who saw her appearing in a play at the university.[5] She achieved stardom almost overnight in Hollywood when she was made the sole contract star of a $1-million new production company Hawks had formed in 1943 with actor Charles Boyer, B-H Productions.[2][5] She made her film debut as the leading lady opposite Randolph Scott in Corvette K-225 (1943), which Hawks produced.[5]
Acting career
Film
Immediately following her debut in Corvette K-225, Raines was cast in the all-female war film Cry "Havoc" (also 1943). Hawks sold her contract to Universal Pictures where she first starred in the film noir Phantom Lady with Franchot Tone, directed by Robert Siodmak.[5][6] She also starred in the Preston Sturges comedy Hail the Conquering Hero, and the John Wayne western Tall in the Saddle (all 1944).[5]
Still in 1944 she appeared in the unusual Edwardian noir The Suspect opposite Charles Laughton. She then starred in two more films directed by Siodmak: the romantic suspense The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) with Geraldine Fitzgerald and George Sanders, and the noir Time Out of Mind (1947).[5] Also in 1947, she starred in the thriller The Web (1947) with Edmond O'Brien, the prison drama Brute Force (1947) with Burt Lancaster and the comedy The Senator Was Indiscreet with William Powell.
In 1949 she starred opposite Brian Donlevy in the noirish Impact, then took the lead role originally intended for Jean Wallace in the noir A Dangerous Profession, as Wallace had made a suicide attempt following her divorce from Franchot Tone. None of her later pictures were as successful as her earlier movies and her film career began to decline.
Following some years in television, her final film role was starring as the female lead in a British-made thriller The Man in the Road in 1956. Apart from a single television appearance in the 1980s, she retired from acting altogether the following year.
Television
In 1954 and 1955 she starred in the television series Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. She also directed three episodes.[5] She also appeared in such television series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, Lights Out, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Christophers.[7]
After a nearly three decade hiatus, Raines' final appearance as an actress was in a guest role in the crime drama series Matt Houston in 1984.
Theatre
She appeared on Broadway with Helen Hayes in The Wisteria Trees in 1955.[5][8]
Teaching
She was a private tutor for actors and also taught at the University of Washington in the early 1980s.[5]
Personal life
On August 11, 1942,[9] a few days after her graduation from the University of Washington, Raines married her high school sweetheart, United States Army Air Forces Major Kenneth William Trout. The couple divorced December 18, 1945.[10]
On February 6, 1947,[11] Raines married then double-ace World War II fighter pilot Robin Olds,[12] who went on to become a triple-ace during the Vietnam War, was eventually promoted to United States Air Force brigadier general, and served as commandant of the United States Air Force Academy from 1967 to 1971. The couple had two daughters, Christina and Susan and she essentially retired to raise them.[13][5] She also suffered two miscarriages and a stillbirth.[14] They separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976.
Known for her traditional family values, Raines was quoted at the height of her Hollywood career extolling them: "I am naturally captivated with the rewards that Hollywood bestows on those who are successful. But I’m going to do my best to see that these [rewards] never disturb the essential values in my life--love of husband, family, home; the things that really count."[2]
She died from throat cancer in Sherman Oaks, California on May 30, 1988, aged 67.[15]
Legacy
Raines has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for her contribution to motion pictures at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard.[7]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Corvette K-225 | Joyce Cartwright | |
| Cry 'Havoc' | Connie | ||
| 1944 | Phantom Lady | Carol Richman | |
| Hail the Conquering Hero | Libby | ||
| Tall in the Saddle | Arleta 'Arly' Harolday | ||
| Enter Arsène Lupin | Stacie Kanares | ||
| The Suspect | Mary | ||
| 1945 | The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry | Deborah Brown | |
| 1946 | The Runaround | Penelope 'Annabelle' Hampton | |
| White Tie and Tails | Louise Bradford | ||
| 1947 | Time Out of Mind | Clarissa 'Rissa' Fortune | |
| The Web | Noel Faraday | ||
| Brute Force | Cora Lister | ||
| The Senator Was Indiscreet | Poppy McNaughton | ||
| 1949 | The Walking Hills | Chris Jackson | |
| Impact | Marsha Peters | ||
| A Dangerous Profession | Lucy Brackett | ||
| 1950 | Singing Guns | Nan Morgan | |
| The Second Face | Phyllis Holmes | ||
| 1951 | Fighting Coast Guard | Louise Ryan | |
| 1952 | Ride the Man Down | Celia Evarts | |
| 1956 | The Man in the Road | Rhona Ellison |
