Wendy Barrie

Birthday: 1912-04-18
Deathday: 1978-02-02
Birthplace: Hong Kong, British Crown Colony [now China]
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wendy Barrie (18 April 1912 – 2 February 1978) was a British actress who worked in British and American films.

Barrie was born in London to English parents. Her father, Francis Charles John Graigoe Jenkin KC (1883 – 1936), was an employee of Great Western (according to the 1901 census), who then joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1902. Her mother was Ellen McDonagh. Hollywood gave her a more exotic parentage with her father being a King's Counsel and her mother a Russian-Jewish actress who had performed in the world's first professional Yiddish-language theater troupe. She received her education at a convent school in England and a finishing school in Switzerland.

In 1932, Barrie made her screen debut in the film Threads, which was based upon a play. She went on to make a number of motion pictures for London Films under the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan, the best known of which is 1933's The Private Life of Henry VIII, in which she portrayed Jane Seymour.

In 1934, she appeared in Freedom of the Seas and was contracted by Fox Film Corporation for a film directed by Scott Darling that was made in Britain. The following year, she moved to the United States and made her first Hollywood film for Fox opposite Spencer Tracy in the romantic comedy It's a Small World, followed by Under Your Spell with Lawrence Tibbett. Loaned to MGM, Barrie starred opposite James Stewart in the 1936 film Speed. In 1939 she starred with Richard Greene and Basil Rathbone in the 20th Century Fox version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and with Lucille Ball in RKO's Five Came Back. During 1939 and the early 1940s, Barrie made several of The Saint and The Falcon mystery films with George Sanders. She made her final motion picture in 1954.

With the dawn of television, in the late 1940s, Barrie turned to roles in that medium.

In 1956, she had a disc jockey program, the Wendy Barrie Show, on WMGM in New York City. She also hosted a widely syndicated radio interview show into the mid-1960s.

After appearances in more than 15 films in Britain and more than 30 in Hollywood, Barrie's contribution to the industry was recognized with a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street, near the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Her star was dedicated February 8, 1960.

Barrie became a naturalized American citizen in 1942. She was reportedly engaged to and had a daughter named Carolyn with the infamous gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and at one time was married to textile manufacturer David L. Meyer.

She died in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1978, aged 65, following a stroke that had left her debilitated for several years. She was buried in the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Credits

Year Title Character
1954-01-15 It Should Happen to You Guest Panelist
1943-06-28 Submarine Alert Ann Patterson
1943-06-26 Follies Girl Anne Merriday
1943-01-21 Forever and a Day Edith Trimble-Pomfret
1942-10-02 Eyes of the Underworld Betty Standing
1942-01-16 A Date with the Falcon Helen Reed
1941-10-30 Gangs Of The City Bonnie Parker
1941-10-24 The Gay Falcon Helen Reed
1941-04-04 Repent at Leisure Emily Baldwin
1941-01-24 The Saint In Palm Springs Elna Johnson
1940-11-01 Who Killed Aunt Maggie? Sally Ambler
1940-09-06 Men Against the Sky Kay Mercedes
1940-07-12 Cross-Country Romance Diane North
1940-06-07 The Saint Takes Over Ruth Summers
1940-06-05 Women in War Pamela Starr
1939-11-24 Day-time Wife Kitty Fraser
1939-09-22 The Witness Vanishes Joan Marplay
1939-06-23 Five Came Back Alice Melbourne
1939-03-24 The Hound of the Baskervilles Beryl Stapleton
1939-03-08 The Saint Strikes Back Valerie 'Val' Travers
1939-01-06 Pacific Liner Ann Grayson
1938-12-24 Newsboys' Home Gwen Dutton
1938-08-25 I Am the Law Frances 'Frankie' Ballou
1937-12-12 Prescription for Romance Valerie Wilson
1937-11-01 A Girl with Ideas Mary Morton
1937-08-27 Dead End Kay
1937-05-25 What Price Vengeance Polly Moore
1937-05-16 Wings Over Honolulu Lauralee Curtis
1937-02-01 Breezing Home Gloria Lee
1936-11-06 Under Your Spell Cynthia Drexel
1936-06-24 Ticket to Paradise Jane Forbes
1936-05-08 Speed Jane Mitchell
1936-03-06 Love on a Bet Paula Gilbert
1935-12-12 Millions in the Air Marion Keller
1935-10-25 A Feather in Her Hat Pauline Anders
1935-09-20 The Big Broadcast of 1936 Sue
1935-06-21 College Scandal Julie Fresnel
1935-04-12 It's A Small World Jane Dale
1935-02-25 There Goes Susie Madeleine Sarteaux
1934-06-12 Freedom of the Seas Phyllis Harcourt
1934-06-11 Give Her a Ring Karen Svenson
1934-06-07 It's a Boy Mary Bogle
1933-12-19 This Acting Business Joyce
1933-12-01 The House of Trent Angela Fairdown
1933-10-08 Cash Lilian Gilbert
1933-08-17 The Private Life of Henry VIII Jane Seymour
1932-11-17 Where Is This Lady? Lucie Kleiner
1932-11-01 The Barton Mystery Phyllis Grey
1932-10-01 Wedding Rehearsal Lady Mary Rose Wroxbury
1932-07-18 Collision Joyce Maynard
1932-03-29 The Callbox Mystery Iris Banner
1932-03-14 Threads Olive Wynn