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Charlotte Greenwood

Actor
Born June 24, 1890Died December 28, 1977 (87 years)
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Frances Charlotte Greenwood (25 June 1890 - 28 December 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and eventually starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing around six feet tall, she was best known for her long legs and high kicks. She earned the unique praise of being, in her words, the "...only woman in the world who could kick a giraffe in the eye."

In 1913, Oliver Morosco cast her as Queen Ann Soforth of Oogaboo late in the run of L. Frank Baum and Louis F. Gottschalk's The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (better known in its novelization as Tik-Tok of Oz), then commissioned a successful star vehicle titled So Long Letty, which is the role that made her a star.

She starred with such luminaries as Charles Ruggles, Betty Grable, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, and Carmen Miranda. Most of Greenwood's best work was done on the stage, and was lauded by such critics as James Agate, Alexander Woollcott and Claudia Cassidy. One of her most successful roles was that of Juno in Cole Porter's Out of This World in which she introduced the Porter classic "I Sleep Easier Now."

Although the role was written with her in mind, film commitments prevented her from playing "Aunt Eller" in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway hit Oklahoma! (1943). She got her chance in the 1955 film version, just prior to retiring in 1956.

Charlotte Greenwood died in Los Angeles, California of undisclosed causes, aged 87.

She was married twice, first, unsuccessfully to actor Cyril Ring, brother of actress Blanche Ring, and secondly and happily to composer Martin Broones.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Charlotte Greenwood, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

  • Oklahoma!
  • Parlor, Bedroom and Bath
  • Down Argentine Way
  • Palmy Days
  • The Gang's All Here
  • Dangerous When Wet
  • Moon Over Miami
  • The Opposite Sex
  • Stepping Out
  • Young People
  • Driftwood
  • Home in Indiana
  • Glory
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome
  • The Great Dan Patch

Filmography

1956
The Opposite Sex · as Lucy
1956
Glory · as Miz Agnes Tilbee
1955
Oklahoma! · as Aunt Eller
1953
Dangerous When Wet · as Ma Higgins
1950
Peggy · as Mrs. Emilia Fielding
1949
1949
The Great Dan Patch · as Aunt Netty
1947
Driftwood · as Mathilda
1946
Wake Up and Dream · as Sara March
1944
Home in Indiana · as Penelope 'penny' Bolt
1944
Up in Mabel's Room · as Martha
1943
The Gang's All Here · as Mrs. Peyton Potter
1943
Dixie Dugan · as Mrs. Dugan
1942
Springtime in the Rockies · as Phoebe Gray
1941
The Perfect Snob · as Martha Mason
1941
Moon Over Miami · as Aunt Susan 'sue' Latimer
1941
Tall, Dark and Handsome · as Winnie Sage
1940
Down Argentine Way · as Binnie Crawford
1940
Young People · as Kit Ballantine
1940
Star Dust · as Lola Langdon
1931
Flying High · as Pansy Potts
1931
Palmy Days · as Helen Martin
1931
1931
Stepping Out · as Sally Smith
1931
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath · as Polly Hathaway
1929
So Long Letty · as Letty Robbins

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