Miriam Hopkins
| Miriam Hopkins | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ellen Miriam Hopkins October 18, 1902 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 1972 (aged 69) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1921–1970 |
| Spouse(s) | Brandon Peters (1926–27) Austin Parker (1928–31) Anatole Litvak (1937–39) Raymond B. Brock (1945–51) |
| Children | Michael T. Hopkins (1932–2010) |
Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American film and TV actress known for her versatility. She first signed with Paramount in 1930, working with Ernst Lubitsch and Joel McCrea, among many others. Her long-running feud with Bette Davis was publicized for effect. Later she became a pioneer of TV drama. Hopkins was a distinguished Hollywood hostess, who moved in intellectual and creative circles.
Hopkins was born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Bainbridge, near the Alabama border. Her maternal great-grandfather, the fourth mayor of Bainbridge, helped establish St. John's Episcopal Church, in Bainbridge, where Hopkins sang in the choir.
In 1909, she briefly lived in Mexico. After her parents separated, she moved as a teen with her mother to Syracuse, New York, to be near her uncle, Thomas Cramer Hopkins, head of the Geology Department at Syracuse University.
She attended Goddard Seminary in Barre, Vermont (which later became Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont) and Syracuse University (in New York). She became estranged from her father, and when at the age of 19 she applied for a passport in 1922 in preparation for a theatrical tour of South America, she listed his address as "unknown."
At age 20, Hopkins became a chorus girl in New York City. In 1930, she signed with Paramount Pictures, and made her official film debut in Fast and Loose. Her first great success was in the 1931 horror drama film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which she portrayed the character Ivy Pearson, a prostitute who becomes entangled with Jekyll and Hyde. Hopkins received rave reviews, but because of the potential controversy of the film and her character, many of her scenes were cut before the official release, reducing her screen time to approximately five minutes.
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