Ann Harding
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Harding received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her starring role in the 1930 screen adaptation of Philip Barry's play "Holiday" (in the role Katharine Hepburn would essay in the better 1938 remake).
Ann Harding was reportedly responsible for naming the Hedgerow Theatre by quiping "we will perform theater if we have to do it in the hedgerows".
Biography
Established Broadway lead who landed a contract in 1929 with Pathe (very soon thereafter part of RKO) and starred in a series of soap operas through the mid-1930s, most typically as suffering heroines who must make noble sacrifices for the men they love. With her ash-blonde hair usually swept back into a bun, the patrician Harding brought a gentle, serene strength to such worthy star vehicles as "When Ladies Meet" (1933) and "The Life of Vergie Winters" (1934) but fared less well in such awkward efforts as "Devotion" (1931) and "Enchanted April" (1935). Ideal for the philosophical sophistication of playwright Phillip Barry, Harding shone in fine adaptations of two of Barry's best comedy-drama talkfests: "Holiday" (1930), for which she received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress, and "The Animal Kingdom" (1932). Two of her best films came late in her reign as a star: the haunting, almost surreal love story "Peter Ibbetson" (1935, opposite Gary Cooper) and the taut suspense melodrama "Love from a Stranger" (1937, with Basil Rathbone).
Harding's boxoffice power declined sharply after 1935 partly as a result of her typecasting in virtuous roles and she retired two years later after marrying symphony conductor Werner Janssen. In 1942, however, she returned to the screen in the enjoyable mystery "Eyes in the Night," and subsequently kept intermittently busy in a series of maternal character roles through the mid 50s. Her best part during this time was as the wife of Oliver Wendell Holmes (played by Louis Calhern) in "The Magnificent Yankee" (1950), but the gracefully maturing Harding also played notable roles in "Those Endearing Young Charms" (1945) and "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" (1955).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Life Events
1921
Made stage acting debut with the Provincetown Players of Greenwich Village; made it to Broadway the same year
1923
Was associated with the Hedgerow Theatre in Pennsylvania; appeared in inaugural production of "Candida"
1929
Began as a film actress at Pathe (soon to be absorbed into RKO) with a leading role in "Paris Bound" opposite fellow newcomer from the stage Fredric March; immediately became a popular star
1936
Contract dropped by RKO
1937
Last starring role, in "Love from a Stranger", made in Britain
1942
Returned to films after a five-year absence to play opposite Edward Arnold in "Eyes in the Night"
1956
Appeared in last feature film, "Strange Intruder"
Photo Collections
(Pressbook images courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Harding received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her starring role in the 1930 screen adaptation of Philip Barry's play "Holiday" (in the role Katharine Hepburn would essay in the better 1938 remake).
Ann Harding was reportedly responsible for naming the Hedgerow Theatre by quiping "we will perform theater if we have to do it in the hedgerows".
