Linda Darnell
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Let's have some laughs. Let's all stay up and watch 'Stardust'." --Linda Darnell just five hours before the fire that killed her.
Some sources give 1921 as Ms. Darnell's birthyear.
Biography
Linda Darnell was touted by Hollywood wags as "the girl with the perfect face," and for once the description fit. Her cameo-cut china doll face was enough to ensure stardom in glamor-obsessed 1940s Hollywood; surely Darnell could easily fit into the top ten most beautiful women the screen has ever known. And as she matured, her voice deepened into a torchy throb that added intensity to the eventual siren image.
The product of a relentless stage mother, Darnell was a star by age 15 at Fox, where she was a contract player for 14 years. For a while she coasted on her looks alone, playing sweet young things (Selznick chose her to embody the Virgin Mary in 1943's "Song of Bernadette"), before her career took a more interesting turn. Darnell was hampered by being under contract to Fox, which specialized in escapist fare and wasted her for seven unremarkable years.
United Artists cast Darnell on loan-out for a Chekhov adaptation, "Summer Storm" in 1944. She wasn't ready, but the publicity--with Darnell lolling about a la Jane Russell, combined with that face--launched a transformation beyond pin-up to apprentice love goddess. The rest of the decade found her often in interesting roles that displayed her as willful, sometimes venal, smouldering trouble. Memorable portraits in the Darnell catalog include the strangled (and left to burn) music-hall trollop in "Hangover Square" (1945), the floozy waitress of "Fallen Angel" (also 1945, in which she acted circles around reigning studio queen Alice Faye), the ill-fated concubine in "Anna and the King of Siam" (1946, in which Darnell dies prophetically by fire) and "A Letter to Three Wives" (1948, hilariously stealing the show from Jeanne Crain and Ann Sothern).
But Darnell's big bid for superstardom went awry: taking over the starring role in Kathleen Windsor's bodice-ripper "Forever Amber" (1947) when Zanuck bounced Peggy Cummins. The movie received monumental publicity but censorship and the heavy hand of Otto Preminger produced dull results. Her scenes during The Great Fire of London produced a paranoia that caused her director to literally drag her before the cameras. Fire was becoming a lifelong fear.
After "Letter," the parts Darnell was ready for weren't offered to her. She received good notices for "No Way Out" (1950), a race relations drama ahead of its time, but as happened with Rita Hayworth, Hollywood tended to treat mature beauties in nonglamourous roles as if they were finished commercially in the business. The combination of a stormy personal life and alcohol dependence dogged her as she sped through the predictable downward spiral of summer stock, television and cabaret.
In 1965 Darnell was visiting a former secretary in a suburb of Chicago and fell asleep with a lit cigarette after watching a late show of "Star Dust" (1940), wherein she played a young Hollywood hopeful. Her hostess and her daughter escaped the blaze, but Darnell suffered burns over eighty percent of her body. Some accounts had her escaping the fire only to re-enter the house, thinking her friend's daughter had not escaped; others alleged she went back to retrieve her mink coat---the last vestige remaining from her glory days. She died two days later, rallying into consciousness only once, when her adopted daughter, Lola, visited her. Linda Darnell, the woman called "almost too beautiful," left behind an estate of only $10,000, which went to her sixteen-year-old girl. Today Darnell is not remembered as well as many of her less-talented contemporaries, but an examination of her career reveals a gifted beauty whose steamy noir persona made her a tragic, unforgettable entry in Hollywood history.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Short)
Misc. Crew (Short)
Life Events
1937
Won regional "Gateway to Hollywood" contest; screen-tested by RKO
1939
Screen acting debut in "Hotel for Women"
1940
Appeared in "Star Dust", loosely based on her own life
1942
Moved out of her parents' home
1944
Loaned out to UA for "Summer Storm"; image change began
1945
New career phase ushered in with release of "Hangover Square" and "Fallen Angel"
1946
Slightly burned while filming scene for "Anna and the King of Siam"
1947
Won role of Amber St. Clair over Lana Turner and 213 others in "Forever Amber"
1948
Had career triumph in "A Letter to Three Wives"
1949
Lost role of "Pinky" to Jeanne Crain
1950
Received strong notices for nonglamorous role in "No Way Out"
1952
Final film for Fox, "Night Without Sleep"
1956
Stage debut in "A Roomful of Roses" in Phoenix, Az.; First appeared in TV dramas; made Broadway debut in "Harbor Lights", which closed after four performances
1959
Learned lines via hypnosis in Chicago, for theater production of "Late Love"
1960
Made nightclub debut at the Town House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1965
Made last film, "Black Spurs", at Paramount
1965
Watched late show of "Star Dust" with friends before falling asleep with lit cigarette (April 9)
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Let's have some laughs. Let's all stay up and watch 'Stardust'." --Linda Darnell just five hours before the fire that killed her.
Some sources give 1921 as Ms. Darnell's birthyear.
