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Information about Billie Burke

Billie Burke

Billie Burke in the film Topper Returns
Birth nameMary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke
BornJuly 7 1884(1884--)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedMay 14 1970 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (1914-1932)


Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke (August 7 1884 – May 14 1970) was an Oscar-nominated American actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical The Wizard of Oz.

Early life

Known as Billie Burke, she toured the U.S. and Europe with a circus because her father, Billy Burke, was employed with them as a singing clown. Her family ultimately settled in London where she was fortunate to see plays in London's historic West End.

She wanted to be a stage actress. In 1903, she began acting on stage, making her debut in London, and eventually returning to America to become the toast of Broadway as a musical comedy star. She was praised by The New York Times for her charm and her brightness.

Career

Thanks to her representation by famed producer Charles Frohman, Burke went on to play leads on Broadway in Mrs. Dot, Suzanne, The Runaway, The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl, and The Land of Promise from 1910 to 1913, along with a supporting role in the revival of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero’s The Amazons.

There she caught the eye of producer Florenz Ziegfeld, marrying him in 1914. In 1916, they had one daughter, Patricia Ziegfeld. She was quickly signed for the movies, making her film debut in the title role of Peggy (1916). She continued to appear on the stage, and sometimes she starred on the screen. She loved the stage more than movie-business, not only because it was her first love, but also because it allowed her to have speaking parts (impossible in silent movies). But when the family's savings were wiped out in the Crash of 1929, she had no choice but to return to the screen.

In 1932 Billie Burke made her Hollywood comeback, starring as Margaret Fairfield in A Bill of Divorcement, directed by George Cukor, though the film is better known as Katharine Hepburn's film debut (Burke played Hepburn's mother). Despite the death of Florenz Ziegfeld during the film's production, Billie Burke resumed filming shortly after his funeral.

In 1936, MGM filmed a biopic of her deceased husband (The Great Ziegfeld), a film that won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actress (Luise Rainer as Ziegfeld's first wife, Anna Held). Burke was herself a character in the film, but she was not cast as herself. Instead, prominent actress Myrna Loy essayed the role of Burke.

In 1933, Burke was cast as Mrs. Millicent Jordan, a scatterbrained high-society woman hosting a dinner party in the comedy Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor, co-starring with Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow and Wallace Beery. The movie was a great success, and revived Burke's career. She subsequently starred in many comedies and musicals, typecast as a ditzy, fluffy and feather-brained upper-class matron, due to her helium-filled voice.

In 1937 she appeared in the first of the Topper series of films, about a man haunted by two socialite ghosts (played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett), in which she played the tremulous and daffy Clara Topper. Her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live (1938) resulted in her only Oscar nomination.

In 1938 (at age 53) she was chosen to play Glinda, "the Good Witch of the North", in the Oscar-winning seminal 1939 musical film The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming, with Judy Garland. Another successful series followed with Father of the Bride (1950) and Father's Little Dividend (1951), both directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor.

She wrote two autobiographies, both with Cameron Van Shippe: With a Feather on My Nose (Appleton 1949) and With Powder on My Nose (Coward McCann, 1959).

Radio and television

On CBS radio, The Billie Burke Show was heard on Saturday mornings from April 3 1943 to September 21 1946. Sponsored by Listerine, this situation comedy was initially titled Fashions in Rations during its first year. Portraying herself as a featherbrained Good Samaritan who lived "in the little white house on Sunnyview Lane," she always offered a helping hand to those in her neighborhood. She worked often in early TV, appearing in the short-lived sitcom Doc Corkle (1952).

Burke tried to make a comeback on the New York stage. She starred in two short-lived productions: This Rock and Mrs. January and Mr. Ex. Although Burke got good reviews, the plays did not. She appeared in several plays in California as well, although her mind became clouded, and she had trouble remembering lines. In the late 1950s, her failing memory led to her retirement from the show business, although her explanation for that was, "Acting just wasn't any fun anymore."

Enlarge picture
Memorial statue at Billie Burke's grave in Kensico Cemetery
Her last screen appearance was in Sergeant Rutledge, a Western directed by John Ford in 1960.

Later life and progeny

Billie Burke died in Los Angeles, California of natural causes, aged 85, in 1970 and was interred at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York, survived by her daughter, Patricia, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren (at the time of her death).

For many years, Billie's framed photo was displayed above the exit staircase at New York's Ziegfeld Theater, but it curiously vanished after renovations to it.

Quote

"Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese."

Listen to

Radio

  • The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air - 1932
  • Good News of 1939 - 1938
  • The Rudy Vallee Hour - 1939
  • The Gulf Screen Guild Theater - 1939
  • The Rudy Vallee Sealtest Show - 1940-41
  • The Pepsodent Show - 1941
  • The Billie Burke Show - 1943-1946
  • Duffy's Tavern - 1944
  • The Sealtest Village Store - 1944
  • Mail Call - 1944
  • The Charlie McCarthy Show - 1944-47
  • Tribute to Ethel Barrymore - 1945
  • The Rudy Vallee Show - 1945
  • Show Stoppers - 1946
  • The Danny Kaye Show - 1946
  • WOR 25th Anniversary - 1947
  • Your Movietown Radio Theatre - 1948
  • The Eddie Cantor Pabst Blue Ribbon Show - 1948
  • Family Theater - 1948-52
  • This Is Show Business - 1949
  • The Martin and Lewis Show - 1949
  • The Bill Stern Colgate Sports Newsreel - 1949
  • Stagestruck -1954
  • Biography in Sound - 1955-56

Broadway

  • My Wife - 1907
  • Love Watches - 1908
  • Mrs. Dot - 1910
  • Suzanne - 1910
  • The Philosopher in the Apple Orchard - 1911
  • The Runaway - 1911
  • The Amazons - 1913
  • The Land of Promise - 1913
  • Jerry - 1914
  • The Rescuing Angel - 1917
  • A Marriage of Convenience - 1918
  • Caesar's Wife - 1919
  • The Intimate Strangers - 1921
  • Rose Briar - 1922
  • Annie Dear - 1924
  • The Marquise - 1927
  • The Happy Husband - 1928
  • Family Affairs - 1929
  • The Truth Game - 1930
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 - 1934
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 - 1936
  • This Rock - 1943
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 - 1943
  • Mrs. January and Mr. X - 1944

Filmography

External links

IMDb profile
Topper (1937) is a comedy film which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the novel by Thorne Smith.
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7th July, July 7th, and 7/7 (pronounced "Seven-seven") have been widely used in the Western media as a shorthand for the 7 July 2005 bombings on London's transport system.
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Washington, D.C.

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Nickname: The City of Angels, L.A.
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"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
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Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (March 21, 1867 РJuly 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, aka Flo Ziegfeld. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies, inspired by the Folies Berg̬res of Paris.
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August 7 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

The Northern Hemisphere is considered to be halfway through its summer on this day.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1850s  1860s  1870s  - 1880s -  1890s  1900s  1910s
1881 1882 1883 - 1884 - 1885 1886 1887

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Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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May 14 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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Motto
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"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
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Glinda (or Glinda the Good Witch) is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.
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The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum.

The classic books

In the original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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Uncredited:
Richard Thorpe
George Cukor
King Vidor

Produced by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Novel:
L. Frank Baum
Screenplay:
Noel Langley
Florence Ryerson
Edgar Allan Woolf
Starring Judy Garland
Frank Morgan
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, trapeze acts, hula hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists.
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Clowns are comic performers, stereotypically characterized by their colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, and unusually large footwear. Clowning, in its most basic form, can be described as one form of drama without a fourth wall, however there are other types of
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West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. It also includes most of its major theatres, and indeed the term "West End" has become synonymous with London's commercial
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
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Broadway theatre[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows.
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The May 8, 2007 front page of
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Type Daily newspaper
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Owner The New York Times Company
Publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.
Staff Writers 350
Founded 1851
Price USD 1.
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Charles Frohman (July 15 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theatrical producer.

One of three Frohman brothers, he was born in Sandusky, Ohio. He was the youngest, his older brothers being: Daniel Frohman (1851–1940) and Gustave Frohman (1854–1930).
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Broadway theatre[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows.
..... Click the link for more information.


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