Ann Doran

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Ann Lee Doran

Birth Place

Amarillo, Texas, USA

Born

July 28, 1911

Died

September 19, 2000

Cause of Death

Complications After Suffering A Series Of Strokes

Biography

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Character actress Ann Doran was beyond prolific, appearing in more than 350 film and television shows. Her career in film began humbly, working as a stand-in before stepping up to bit parts in movies like Frank Capra's rags to riches romantic comedy "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town." Capra liked Doran and went on to cast her in a string of his films, including his adaptation of the daffy stage pl...

Filmography

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Wildcats (1986)

First Monday in October (1981)

Advice to the Lovelorn (1981)

Crazy Times (1981)

All Night Long (1981)

Little Mo (1978)

Photos & Videos

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Arrangement, The (1969) -- (Movie Clip) The Countdown Continues

Gildersleeve On Broadway (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Take The Hand Of Your Beloved

Biography

Character actress Ann Doran was beyond prolific, appearing in more than 350 film and television shows. Her career in film began humbly, working as a stand-in before stepping up to bit parts in movies like Frank Capra's rags to riches romantic comedy "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town." Capra liked Doran and went on to cast her in a string of his films, including his adaptation of the daffy stage play "You Can't Take It With You." Capra's interest also aided Doran in scoring a contract with Columbia in 1938, which guaranteed her consistent work over the years in a wide range of productions, including the popular action serial "Flying G-Men," the Three Stooge's comedy short "Three Sappy People," and major movies like Howard Hawks' sassy classic "His Girl Friday." Though most of her work were bit parts, Doran did land the occasional lead. In 1938, she starred opposite Charles Starrett in the revenge-centered Western "Rio Grande." She later landed a supporting role in the boy and his dog drama "For the Love of Rusty." The film spawned several sequels, in which Doran reprised her role as the boy's loving mother, Ethel Mitchell. Yet she may be best remembered as the concerned mother of Jim Stark (James Dean) in the iconic classic "Rebel Without a Cause." Upon her death in 2000, Doran showed her love of Hollywood one last time by donating $400,000 to the Motion Picture Country House, which cares for retirees from the film industry.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Wildcats (1986)

First Monday in October (1981)

Advice to the Lovelorn (1981)

Crazy Times (1981)

All Night Long (1981)

Little Mo (1978)

Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion (1977)

The Macahans (1976)

The Family Nobody Wanted (1975)

The Last Angry Man (1974)

The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd (1974)

The Hired Hand (1971)

The Priest Killer (1971)

There Was a Crooked Man ... (1970)

Once You Kiss a Stranger (1969)

The Arrangement (1969)

Not With My Wife, You Don't! (1966)

The Hostage (1966)

The Carpetbaggers (1964)

Where Love Has Gone (1964)

Kitten With a Whip (1964)

The Brass Bottle (1964)

Captain Newman, M. D. (1963)

Cast a Long Shadow (1959)

Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)

A Summer Place (1959)

The FBI Story (1959)

Mrs. Richardson

The Rawhide Trail (1958)

Mrs. Cartwright

Life Begins at 17 (1958)

Voice in the Mirror (1958)

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

Step Down to Terror (1958)

The Female Animal (1958)

Violent Road (1958)

The Deep Six (1958)

Joy Ride (1958)

Day of the Bad Man (1958)

The Badlanders (1958)

Young and Dangerous (1957)

The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957)

Bombers B-52 (1957)

Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957)

Two Grooms for a Bride (1957)

Band of Angels (1957)

The Desperate Hours (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

The Eddie Cantor Story (1954)

Lillian Edwards

The Bob Mathias Story (1954)

Mrs. Lillian Mathias

Little girl's psychiatrist

The High and the Mighty (1954)

City Story (1954)

So This Is Love (1953)

Island in the Sky (1953)

Here Come the Nelsons (1952)

The Rose Bowl Story (1952)

Love Is Better Than Ever (1952)

The Painted Hills (1951)

Tomahawk (1951)

Mrs. Carrington

Gambling House (1951)

The People Against O'Hara (1951)

Her First Romance (1951)

Starlift (1951)

The Jackpot (1950)

Riding High (1950)

Never a Dull Moment (1950)

No Sad Songs for Me (1950)

Lonely Hearts Bandits (1950)

Big Jack (1949)

Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)

The Accused (1949)

Air Hostess (1949)

Virginia Barton

Rusty's Birthday (1949)

Holiday in Havana (1949)

One Last Fling (1949)

Rusty Saves a Life (1949)

Mrs. Ethel Mitchell

The Kid from Cleveland (1949)

The Clay Pigeon (1949)

Beyond the Forest (1949)

The Fountainhead (1949)

The Babe Ruth Story (1948)

The Walls of Jericho (1948)

He Walked by Night (1948)

Woman dispatcher

The Return of the Whistler (1948)

No Minor Vices (1948)

My Dog Rusty (1948)

Mrs. Ethel Mitchell

Rusty Leads the Way (1948)

The Snake Pit (1948)

Sealed Verdict (1948)

Reaching from Heaven (1948)

Variety Girl (1947)

The Crimson Key (1947)

My Favorite Brunette (1947)

Magic Town (1947)

Road to the Big House (1947)

Fear in the Night (1947)

For the Love of Rusty (1947)

The Son of Rusty (1947)

Mrs. Ethel Mitchell

Seven Were Saved (1947)

Mrs. Rollin Hartley

The Perfect Marriage (1947)

Second Chance (1947)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946)

Monica Lonsdale

Roughly Speaking (1945)

Pride of the Marines (1945)

Ella May Merchant

Mr. Skeffington (1944)

Henry Aldrich's Little Secret (1944)

I Love a Soldier (1944)

The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)

Here Come the Waves (1944)

The More the Merrier (1943)

Slightly Dangerous (1943)

Old Acquaintance (1943)

Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943)

The Hard Way (1943)

So Proudly We Hail! (1943)

Lieut. Betty Peterson

True to Life (1943)

Air Force (1943)

Mary Quincannon

They All Kissed the Bride (1942)

My Sister Eileen (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Street of Chance (1942)

Mr. Wise Guy (1942)

Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942)

Smith of Minnesota (1942)

Blue, White and Perfect (1942)

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Dive Bomber (1941)

Meet John Doe (1941)

Buy Me That Town (1941)

New York Town (1941)

Demonstrator in department store

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941)

The Kid from Kansas (1941)

Julie "Smitty" Smith

Penny Serenade (1941)

Criminals Within (1941)

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)

Sing Another Chorus (1941)

Glamour for Sale (1940)

Manhattan Heartbeat (1940)

Shop girl's friend

Girls of the Road (1940)

Five Little Peppers at Home (1940)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Paine's secretary

Let Us Live (1939)

Secretary juror

Coast Guard (1939)

Blind Alley (1939)

The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)

A Woman Is the Judge (1939)

Romance of the Redwoods (1939)

Flying G-Men (1939)

Girls' School (1938)

Little Miss Roughneck (1938)

City Streets (1938)

Start Cheering (1938)

Penitentiary (1938)

Blanche Williams

The Lady Objects (1938)

Highway Patrol (1938)

Extortion (1938)

Smashing the Spy Ring (1938)

Women in Prison (1938)

Rio Grande (1938)

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

The Main Event (1938)

Telegraph clerk

Nothing Sacred (1937)

When You're in Love (1937)

I'll Take Romance (1937)

The Devil's Playground (1937)

It's All Yours (1937)

The Shadow (1937)

Paid to Dance (1937)

She Married an Artist (1937)

Dangerous Intrigue (1936)

Alibi for Murder (1936)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

The Man Who Lived Twice (1936)

Let's Sing Again (1936)

Red Lights Ahead (1936)

Missing Girls (1936)

Ring Around the Moon (1936)

The Little Red Schoolhouse (1936)

Palm Springs (1936)

Lady of Secrets (1936)

Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935)

Telegraph clerk

Night Life of the Gods (1935)

Girl in swimming pool

The Case of the Missing Man (1935)

Way Down East (1935)

Servants' Entrance (1934)

One Exciting Adventure (1934)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Handy Andy (1934)

Double for Peggy Wood

Charlie Chan in London (1934)

Cast (Special)

All the Way Home (1981)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

Backstairs at the White House (1979)

Life Events

Photo Collections

Never a Dull Moment - Scene Stills

Here are a few scene stills from RKO's Never a Dull Moment (1950), starring Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray.

Videos

Arrangement, The (1969) -- (Movie Clip) The Countdown Continues A couple of minutes into writer, producer and director Elia Kazan's stylized opening, advertising executive Eddie (Kirk Douglas) becomes irrational on an L-A freeway, his wife Florence (Deborah Kerr) in the aftermath, in The Arrangement, 1969, also starring Faye Dunaway.

Gildersleeve On Broadway (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Take The Hand Of Your Beloved Opening (Frank Dawson as the preacher in idyllic Summerfield) with Uncle Throckmorton (Harold Peary, title character and also star of the NBC radio sitcom) with nephew Leroy (Freddie Mercer), ogling Ann Doran as Matlida, annoying teenage niece Marjie (Margaret Landry, replacing Nancy Gates), in the third feature in the RKO series, Gildersleeve On Broadway, 1943.

Violent Road (1958) -- (Movie Clip) You Get Nervous And Jumpy We infer here that Dick Foran as military veteran Frank (a.k.a. Sarge) works at the nearby rocket company that has to move in a hurry due to a series of accidents, and he has problems at home, implied by his troubled wife Edith (Ann Doran), the first scene for both, in Warner Bros.’ Violent Road, 1958, starring Brian Keith.

High And The Mighty, The (1954) -- (Movie Clip) Cocktails With The Chipmunks Laraine Day as heiress Lydia is tearing into her husband Howard (John Howard) over his latest business fumbling, in their first extended conversation, overheard across the aisle by Phil Harris as gregarious Ed, Ann Doran his wife, novelist and screenwriter Ernest Gann committing to the melodrama, in The High And The Mighty, 1954.

Brass Bottle, The (1964) -- (Movie Clip) You're Beginning To Twitch Leading man Tony Randall as architect Harold brings home the ancient bottle he's been warned is probably a fake, as a gift for his Egyptologist presumptive father-in-law (Edward Andrews) and wife (Ann Doran), who came home from Europe after hearing that he was engaged to their daughter (Barbara Eden), early in The Brass Bottle, 1964.

Brass Bottle, The (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Also From The Caterer? In total panic because his unwanted genie (Burl Ives) turned his house into an Arabian pleasure palace before the dinner he planned with his fianceè (Barbara Eden) and his skeptical in-laws (Edward Andrews, Ann Doran), things get even worse for architect Harold (Tony Randall) when a dancing “houri” (Kamala Devi) appears, in The Brass Bottle, 1964.

Clay Pigeon, The (1949) -- (Movie Clip) They Should've Let Him Die That’s the old Long Beach Naval Hospital at East 7th St. and Bellflower (site of the VA Hospital now), as we meet Bill Williams as hospitalized Seaman Jim Fletcher, Harold Landon a blind comrade, Ann Doran the nurse and Frank Wilcox the doctor, opening The Clay Pigeon, 1949, from director Richard Fleischer and writer Carl Foreman.

Penny Serenade (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Hello, Mrs. Adams Newsman Roger (Cary Grant) and Julie (Irene Dunne) leave a San Francisco New Year's party in a hurry to get married before he leaves town for his new assignment, then fail at their first attempt at parting in George Stevens' Penny Serenade, 1941.

Penny Serenade (1941) -- (Movie Clip) You Were Meant For Me Continuing from the opening, a skipping recording of Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed's "You Were Meant for Me" by Johnny Johnston reminds Julie (Irene Dunne) of meeting Roger (Cary Grant) for the first time, in George Stevens' Penny Serenade, 1941.

Pitfall (1948) -- (Movie Clip) She Probably Doesn't Appeal To You Ending their day-long first encounter, including boating, married insurance man John (Dick Powell) leaves model Mona (Lizabeth Scott), from whom he was collecting ill-gotten gains, sneaks home late, then handles creepy P-I Mac (Raymond Burr), in Pitfall, 1948, directed by Andre De Toth.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Tearing Me Apart! New in town, Intoxicated teen Jim (James Dean) with his parents (Jim Backus, Ann Doran), summoned to the jail from a party, juvenile counselor Framek (Edward Platt) and a hard wooden desk, early in Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without A Cause, 1955.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) -- (Movie Clip) I Go With The Kids Jim (James Dean) conning his parents (Ann Doran, Jim Backus) then off for the first day of school in their new town, meeting Judy (Natalie Wood) whom he's seen at the police station, in Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without A Cause, 1955.

Family

Rose Allen

Mother

Actor.

Bibliography

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