Although in her later years Anna Lee was best known for her work as the matriarch on the soap opera General Hospital, she had a long career in movies and on television. After the soap, many people recall her as the neighbor of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? But she also appeared in dozens of films, being the leading lady in many early productions, including Bitter Sweet, The Man Who Changed His Mind with Boris Karloff, King Solomon's Mines and others. As a supporting actress Lee had notable turns in several John Ford films (she was one of his favorites), including How Green Was My Valley and The Last Hurrah, as well as roles in such films as Summer Storm (with George Sanders, whom she disliked), the spy flick In Like Flint, and Sam Fuller's The Crimson Kimono.
Lee writes in a flavorful style of her childhood in England, her early days in British pictures, her three marriages (to director Robert Stevenson; a sexy American captain she met during WW 2 while entertaining the troops; and the author Robert Nathan, when they were both in their dotage), and can be forgiven for frequent name-dropping as she met and/or knew such folk as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, screenwriter Charles Bennett, the ultra-ambitious Merle Oberon, the hateful Fritz Lang, General George S. Patton, and Alfred Hitchcock, who gave her away at her second wedding! In her final years, Lee was confined to a wheelchair but still managed to make it to each taping of General Hospital that required her appearance. She died in 2004.
Verdict: Despite Lee not being a major star, hers is a very interesting story. ***.
This looks interesting! I always love what the supporting players thought of all the legends they worked with..
ReplyDeleteI first came into contact with Anna Lee, I guess, in Sound of Music, but I was also a big big General Hospital fan where she played the matriarch (did not make the connection till years later.) In college, when I was first introduced to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (as BD Hyman's mother!! LOL) , then it clicked and I realized I had been an Anna Lee fan all the time.
-Chris
I think most people will pick this up for the "Baby Jane" connection, although Lee doesn't dish so much on that aside from the fact that she liked Davis better than Joan. Still, I thought the book was a very good read and the woman had a fascinating life and career. I mean, Hitchcock gave her away -- that alone makes her interesting!
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