Andrea Leeds
| Andrea Leeds | |
|---|---|
from the trailer for Stage Door (1937)
|
|
| Born |
Antoinette Lees August 14, 1914 Butte, Montana, U.S. |
| Died | May 21, 1984 (aged 69) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1934–1940 |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Stewart Howard (1939–1962) |
Andrea Leeds (August 14, 1914 – May 21, 1984) was an American film actress. A popular supporting player of the late 1930s, Leeds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Stage Door (1937). She was progressing to leading roles, when she retired from acting following her marriage in 1939, and was later a successful horse breeder.
Leeds was born Antoinette Lees in Butte, Montana, the daughter of Chas and Lina Lees. Her father was an immigrant from England.
She began her film career in 1934 playing bit parts and using her given name. As Andrea Leeds she played her first substantial role in the film Come and Get It (1936) and achieved another success with her next film It Could Happen to You (1937).
As part of an ensemble cast that included Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball, Leeds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as an aspiring actress in Stage Door (1937). She read for the role of Melanie in Gone with the Wind, however the role was given to Olivia de Havilland.
Her wholesome quality led to her being cast in The Goldwyn Follies (1938) playing "Miss Humanity" – a woman considered by a jaded Hollywood executive to represent the ideal American woman. The film was not a success and received poor reviews.
She next appeared in two films opposite Joel McCrea, Youth Takes a Fling (1938) and They Shall Have Music (1939), for the first time playing the lead female role. She continued to play the romantic female lead in an adventure film set in the 1906 Philippines, The Real Glory, opposite Gary Cooper and David Niven, and opposite Don Ameche in the first Technicolor biography of Stephen Foster, Swanee River (1939).
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