Audrey Totter(1917-2013)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
One is certainly hard-pressed to think of another true "bad girl"
representative so closely identifiable with film noir than hard-looking
blonde actress Audrey Totter. While she remained a "B"-tier actress for
most her career, she was an "A" quality actress and one of filmdom's
most intriguing ladies. She always managed to set herself apart even in
the most standard of programming.
Born to an Austrian father and Swedish mother on December 20, 1917, in
Joliet, Illinois, she treaded lightly on stage ("The Copperhead," "My
Sister Eileen") and initially earned notice on the Chicago and New York
radio airwaves in the late 1930s before "going Hollywood." MGM
developed an interest in her and put her on its payroll in 1944. Still
appearing on radio (including the sitcom "Meet Millie"), she made her
film bow as, of course, a "bad girl" in
Main Street After Dark (1945).
That same year the studio usurped her vocal talents to torment poor
Phyllis Thaxter in
Bewitched (1945). Her voice was
prominent again as an unseen phone operator in
Ziegfeld Follies (1945). Audrey
played one of her rare pure-heart roles in
The Cockeyed Miracle (1946).
At this point she began to establish herself in the exciting "film
noir" market.
Among the certified classics she participated in were
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
in which she had a small role as
John Garfield's blonde floozie
pick-up. Things brightened up considerably with
Lady in the Lake (1946)
co-starring Robert Montgomery
as detective Philip Marlowe. The film was not well received and is now
better remembered for its interesting subjective camera technique.
Audrey's first hit as a femme fatale co-star came on loanout to Warner
Bros. In The Unsuspected (1947),
she cemented her dubious reputation in "B" noir as a trampy,
gold-digging niece married to alcoholic
Hurd Hatfield. She then went on a truly
enviable roll with High Wall (1947), as
a psychiatrist to patient
Robert Taylor,
The Saxon Charm (1948) with
Montgomery (again) and
Susan Hayward,
Alias Nick Beal (1949) as a
loosely-moraled "Girl Friday" to
Ray Milland, the boxing film
The Set-Up (1949) as the beleaguered
wife of washed-up boxer Robert Ryan,
Any Number Can Play (1949)
with Clark Gable and as a two-timing
spouse in Tension (1949) with
Richard Basehart.
Although the studio groomed Audrey to become a top star, it was not to
be. Perhaps because she was too good at being bad. The 1950s film scene
softened considerably and MGM began focusing on family-styled comedy
and drama. Audrey's tough-talking dames were no longer a commodity and
MGM soon dropped her in 1951. She signed for a time with Columbia
Pictures and 20th Century Fox as well but her era had come and gone.
Film offers began to evaporate. At around this time she married Leo
Fred, a doctor, and instead began focusing on marriage and family.
TV gave her career a slight boost in the 1960s and 1970s, including
regular roles in
Cimarron City (1958) and
Our Man Higgins (1962) as a
suburban mom opposite
Stanley Holloway's British butler.
After a period of semi-retirement, she came back to TV to replace
Jayne Meadows in the popular television
series Medical Center (1969)
starring Chad Everett and
James Daly. She played Nurse Wilcox,
a recurring role, for four seasons (1972-1976). The 70-year-old Totter
retired after a 1987 guest role on "Murder, She Wrote." Her husband
died in 1996. On December 12, 2013, Audrey Totter died at age 95 in
West Hills, California.
representative so closely identifiable with film noir than hard-looking
blonde actress Audrey Totter. While she remained a "B"-tier actress for
most her career, she was an "A" quality actress and one of filmdom's
most intriguing ladies. She always managed to set herself apart even in
the most standard of programming.
Born to an Austrian father and Swedish mother on December 20, 1917, in
Joliet, Illinois, she treaded lightly on stage ("The Copperhead," "My
Sister Eileen") and initially earned notice on the Chicago and New York
radio airwaves in the late 1930s before "going Hollywood." MGM
developed an interest in her and put her on its payroll in 1944. Still
appearing on radio (including the sitcom "Meet Millie"), she made her
film bow as, of course, a "bad girl" in
Main Street After Dark (1945).
That same year the studio usurped her vocal talents to torment poor
Phyllis Thaxter in
Bewitched (1945). Her voice was
prominent again as an unseen phone operator in
Ziegfeld Follies (1945). Audrey
played one of her rare pure-heart roles in
The Cockeyed Miracle (1946).
At this point she began to establish herself in the exciting "film
noir" market.
Among the certified classics she participated in were
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
in which she had a small role as
John Garfield's blonde floozie
pick-up. Things brightened up considerably with
Lady in the Lake (1946)
co-starring Robert Montgomery
as detective Philip Marlowe. The film was not well received and is now
better remembered for its interesting subjective camera technique.
Audrey's first hit as a femme fatale co-star came on loanout to Warner
Bros. In The Unsuspected (1947),
she cemented her dubious reputation in "B" noir as a trampy,
gold-digging niece married to alcoholic
Hurd Hatfield. She then went on a truly
enviable roll with High Wall (1947), as
a psychiatrist to patient
Robert Taylor,
The Saxon Charm (1948) with
Montgomery (again) and
Susan Hayward,
Alias Nick Beal (1949) as a
loosely-moraled "Girl Friday" to
Ray Milland, the boxing film
The Set-Up (1949) as the beleaguered
wife of washed-up boxer Robert Ryan,
Any Number Can Play (1949)
with Clark Gable and as a two-timing
spouse in Tension (1949) with
Richard Basehart.
Although the studio groomed Audrey to become a top star, it was not to
be. Perhaps because she was too good at being bad. The 1950s film scene
softened considerably and MGM began focusing on family-styled comedy
and drama. Audrey's tough-talking dames were no longer a commodity and
MGM soon dropped her in 1951. She signed for a time with Columbia
Pictures and 20th Century Fox as well but her era had come and gone.
Film offers began to evaporate. At around this time she married Leo
Fred, a doctor, and instead began focusing on marriage and family.
TV gave her career a slight boost in the 1960s and 1970s, including
regular roles in
Cimarron City (1958) and
Our Man Higgins (1962) as a
suburban mom opposite
Stanley Holloway's British butler.
After a period of semi-retirement, she came back to TV to replace
Jayne Meadows in the popular television
series Medical Center (1969)
starring Chad Everett and
James Daly. She played Nurse Wilcox,
a recurring role, for four seasons (1972-1976). The 70-year-old Totter
retired after a 1987 guest role on "Murder, She Wrote." Her husband
died in 1996. On December 12, 2013, Audrey Totter died at age 95 in
West Hills, California.