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Shirley Deane

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Shirley Deane
Born
Shirley Deane Blattenberger

March 16, 1913
DiedApril 26, 1983 (aged 70)
OccupationActress
Years active1933–1940
Spouse
Thomas Kettering Jr.
(m. 1941)

Shirley Deane (born Shirley Deane Blattenberger; March 16, 1913 – April 26, 1983) was an American film actress.

Early years

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Born in Fresno, California,[1] to Jesse H. Blattenberger and his wife Zola (née Redden), she was raised by her maternal grandmother.[2]

Career

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Deane was best known as an actress for playing "Bonnie Jones" in 20th Century Fox's Jones Family series of films.[3] She was under contract with 20th Century Fox, and she acted in Prairie Moon (1936), the Flash Gordon serial, and some of the Charlie Chan films.[1] She was the original choice for the title role in the Blondie film series, a role that went to Penny Singleton after Deane was considered to be "too harsh when she nagged Dagwood", while Singleton came across as softer and sweeter.[4]

Deane also toured in revues, singing "some stirring patriotic and soft sentimental numbers".[5] She was the headline attraction in Star Dust Revue, a stage show that toured the southern United States in 1942,[6] and she performed in U. S. military camps.[7]

Personal life and death

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On December 20, 1941, Dean married theatrical agent Thomas Kettering Jr. in Reno, Nevada.[8] Deane left the film business in the 1940s, when she began her family. She died of cancer in Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California, on April 26, 1983, aged 70.[1]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1933 Dancing Lady Chorus Girl Uncredited
1934 Stand Up and Cheer! Dancer Uncredited
1935 Dante's Inferno Passenger in Boiler Room Uncredited
1935 Redheads on Parade Minor Role Uncredited
1935 Metropolitan Girl Who Sings Flat Uncredited
1936 King of Burlesque Phyllis Sears
1936 Charlie Chan at the Circus Louise Norman
1936 The First Baby Trudy Wells
1936 Educating Father Bonnie Jones
1936 Girls' Dormitory Fritzi
1936 Back to Nature Bonnie Jones
1936 One in a Million Girl in Band
1937 On the Avenue Chorus Girl Uncredited
1937 Off to the Races Bonnie Jones
1937 Nancy Steele Is Missing! Nancy
1937 The Jones Family in Big Business Bonnie Jones
1937 Hot Water
1937 Borrowing Trouble
1938 Love on a Budget Bonnie Thompson
1938 A Trip to Paris
1938 Safety in Numbers
1938 Prairie Moon Peggy Shaw
1939 Everybody's Baby Bonnie Thompson
1939 Undercover Agent Betty Madison
1940 Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Princess Aura Serial
1940 Private Affairs First Girl in Bridge Game Uncredited (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Actress Deane dies of cancer at 70". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 29, 1983. p. 30. Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Shirley Deane - The Private Life and Times of Shirley Deane. Shirley Deane Pictures". Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. 1980-03-09. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
  3. ^ Tucker p. 61
  4. ^ Basinger, Jeanine (March 11, 2014). I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8041-6974-5. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "Shirley Deane gets top spot". The Spokesman-Review. October 17, 1942. p. 5. Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Shirley Deane, Movie Star, to Appear In 'Star Dust Revue' On Granby Stage This Week". The Portsmouth Star. June 3, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved July 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "(untitled)". The L & N Employes' Magazine. August 1943. p. 6. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "Marriages". Billboard. January 17, 1942. p. 29. Retrieved July 5, 2024.

Bibliography

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  • Tucker, David C. The Women Who Made Television Funny: Ten Stars of 1950s Sitcoms. McFarland, 2015.
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