F

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• Farrell, Glenda (1904 - 1971) –

 

Co-Star of Joan in seven movies.

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They met during the filming of Havana Widows (1933) and became lifelong friends. Both spent hours socializing at each other's home or went shopping.

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Joan Blondell: “I'd go home at night with my sides aching because she was that funny. I recently saw her in a Torchy Blaine movie on TV, and she was the whole show. Like most of us, she got rotten treatment form Warners. But she did rebound on live TV and we stayed close until her passing last year. I cried buckets, I can tell you.” (Source: Interview J. Bawden, 1972)

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“I miss Glenda Farrell so much; she was one gal I kept close to.” (Source: NY Times 1977)

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Glenda's son, Tommy Farrell: “The thing I remember most about Joan Blondell was that she used to love to laugh. She had a great sense of humour and would just laugh at everything. We always had a great time with her.”

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Glenda Farrell: “They used to call Joan and me 'the gimme girls.' We were always out to get a man with money. But those movies were risqué in the way that 'Forty Carats' [the play she was doing at the time] is risque – sophisticated and fun.“ (Source: NY Times 1969)

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"Miss Blondell and I did a series, and we got along very well. She’s still my oldest friend, you know. We got along fabulously, we never ever had a moment of saying, “Huh, she’s got a better line that [sic] I have!” She was the first one to come to me and say, “I think you can get a laugh if you do such and such here.” (Source: The Reminiscences of Glenda Farrell, 1959)
 

Their seven movies together were:

Havana Widows (1933), I've Got Your Number (1934), Kansas City Princess (1934), Traveling Saleslady (1935), We're in the Money (1935), Miss Pacific Fleet (1935), Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936).

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Critic Lionell Collier about their pairings: “[Their pairing was] something of a stroke of genius, and the pictures they have made together always reach a level of infectious mirth that it is impossible to resist. “

 

• Fine De Lux Food (And Beaucoup of It) –

 

Tea room in Santa Monica opened by Joan's father Ed in the early 1920s. The shop closed after a short time. Its lack of success was partially due to Mr. Blondell being unable to prioritize it over other family activities. For example, he would close it when Joan appeared in a school play, or her brother had a football game.

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See also John Gilbert.

 

• First Stage Appearance – see 'Ed Blondell and Company'

 

• Flynn, Errol (1909 – 1959) –

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Joan's co-star in The Perfect Specimen (1937).

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Joan Blondell: “Oh, I loved Errol. He was a dear friend of mine and quite unlike his publicity... He most of all was just a guy who liked to tell stories, have fun, some drinks and be with his friends.” (Source: Interview with L Maltin 1971)

 

• Francis, Kay (1905 – 1968) –

 

Kay Francis was THE star of the early 1930s at Warner Brothers. In February 1935, she gave a nautical themed costume party at the Vendome restaurant to celebrate her recent divorce from Kenneth McKenna.

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The whole restaurant was made into a ship. Guests included James Cagney, Maurice Chevalier, Frederic March and wife, Joan Bennett, and Joan with her husband George Barnes.

 

 

• Freelancing –

 

After leaving Warner Brothers in 1939, Joan started to freelance. Her first movie was East Side of Heaven (1939) at Universal. After that, she'd work for Columbia in two movies, Good Girls Go to Paris (1939) and The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939). She moved on to MGM for Two Girls on Broadway (1940).

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In 1940, she signed a contract for I Want a Divorce (1940) together with then husband Dick Powell at Paramount.

 

• Friends and Friendship –

 

Among Joan's closest friends were: Frances Marion, Glenda Farrell, Adele Rogers St. John, Virginia Zanuck, Dorothy Ponedel, Nancy Sinatra (Frank Sinatra's first wife), Liz Whitney Tippett, and Jill Jackson.

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Joan Blondell: “You don't keep up all the old friendships, though; there are people you love and there's nothing that's going to shake that love, but that doesn't mean you're roommates.” (Source: NY Times 1977)

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Bridget Hanley (co-star in Here Come the Brides): “I don't know how she had time to be friends to so many people.” (Source: Interview by M. Kennedy 2006)

 

G

 

• Gable, Clark (1901 - 1960) –

 

Joan's co-star in Night Nurse (1931) and Adventure (1945).

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They were friends and shared the same dislike for phonies. While filming Adventure (1945) they had casual dinners on the set with make-up artist Dorothy Ponedel.

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Once in 1949, when Joan's marriage to Mike Todd was on the brink, they met for dinner. Knowing how unhappy she was, and after advising her to leave Todd, he proposed marriage. He stated that only she could replace his late wife Carole Lombard. Joan was moved, but said she gently declined the offer.

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Joan Blondell: “You never heard anyone say a bad word about Gable. Hell, he was so damned nice to everybody.” (Source: NY Times 1977)

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“It was the joy of your life to know Clark Gable. He was everything good you could think of. He had a delicious humor, he had great compassion, he was always a fine old teddy bear. In no way was he conscious of his good looks as were most other men in pictures at his time.”

 

• Gilbert, John (1897 – 1936) –

 

In the early 1920s, John Gilbert was a guest once at the Blondell family's Fine De Lux Food (And Beaucoup of It).

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Joan Blondell: “The highlight of my life as a waitress was the night that John Gilbert came in with a washed-out blonde. I put on my prettiest organdy apron and stuck a ribbon in my hair and smiled and swished about very much as Janet Gaynor did in 'A Star is Born'. But Mr. Gilbert never once took his eyes off the pasty-faced blonde. But he left me a dollar for a tip and I pasted it in my memory book with the date and occasion and a poem.” (Source: Silver Screen, 1937)

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She also gave an account of this John Gilbert encounter in her book Center Door Fancy.

 

• Girl Scouts –

 

While they lived in San Diego, thirteen-year-old Joan joined the girl scouts and won a medal for live saving.

 

• Golden Globes –

 

Joan was nominated for a Golden Globe twice. First, in the Best Supporting Actress category for The Cincinnati Kid (1965). Second, in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category for Opening Night (1977).

 

• Gone With the Wind –

 

The part of Belle Watling was offered to Joan, but she turned it down. She did Good Girls Go to Paris (1939) instead, undeniably an inferior choice.

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She said she declined because the part was too controlled by the Hays office. Maybe she didn't like the thought of such low billing. Whatever the real reason, Joan as Belle Watling would have been a joy (in my humble opinion)!

 

• Grandchildren –

 

Joan has five grandchildren.

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Powell, Sandra Lynn (1957)

Powell, Matthew (1986)

Powell, Scott (1959)

Hayward, Joan Ellen (1961)

Powell, Stephanie (1962)
 

Joan Blondell: "I love to take them for a while and spoil them to death, and then when I'm through send them back to their parents." (Source: Interview by M. Koch, 1972)

 

• Grauman's Chinese Theater –

 

In February 1937, Joan and Dick Powell left their imprints in wet cement outside of Grauman's.

 

• Grave –

 

Joan Blondell’s remains can be found at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, CA. They are in a locked area not accessible to the public.

 

• Gray, Coleen (1922 - 2015) –

 

Co-star of Joan and Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley (1947).

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Coleen Gray: “She had self-confidence. She was very professional, always knew her lines. She had a way of using her body that I thought was fascinating. She was just exquisite the way she delivered that line about having a heart like an artichoke. It was a wonderful example of a sexy blonde who was past her prime.”

 

• Greeks Had a Word for Them, The (1932) –

 

Joan did this movie, which originally was titled The Greeks had a Word for It, on loan for Sam Goldwyn as a replacement for Carole Lombard.

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One of her co-stars was stage actress Ina Claire.

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Joan Blondell: “I was up against Ina Claire, who was terribly condescending. 'I'm from the theater', she told me, 'and you, my dear, are from vaudeville.' Ah, but I was twenty-two and she was forty and guess who lasted in movies and who didn't?”

 

H

 

• Hand Double –

 

Joan was playing a card dealer in Norman Jewison's movie The Cincinnati Kid (1965). She was rather worried because of her rheumatic arthritis and lack of knowledge about poker and dealing. Jewison solved the problem by hiring a hand double who had to paint his nails to match hers.

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• Hepburn, Katharine (1907 - 2003) –

 

Co-star in Desk Set (1957). Joan admired Hepburn, who took care of Joan's dog while she was hospitalized during filming.

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Joan Blondell: “I really don't have envy in my gut, but I admire Hepburn a helluva lot. She'll lay into you if she thinks you're not doing the right thing, but we had a good feeling between us and I have great respect for her.“ (Source: R. Bowers in Films in Review, April 1972)

 

• Hollywood Victory Caravan –

 

In 1942, various Hollywood stars joined this three week railroad tour through the USA. Their goal was to raise money for war bonds.

 

The following stars took the journey with Joan: Cary Grant, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charles Boyer, James Cagney, Claudette Colbert, Pat O'Brien, Groucho Marx, Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope and Olivia de Havilland.

 

• Holmes, Inez –

 

WB wanted to make this Joan’s new stage name when she first joined the studio. Although scared she wouldn't get the five-year contract, she refused, telling the studio that her name was an established show business entity. She ended up getting the contract anyway.

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Joan Blondell: “They wanted to change my name to, hold everything.... Inez Holmes.”

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“I was scared almost out of my wits they wouldn't give me that five-year contract.“

 

• Home –

 

Joan Blondell: “What was foremost in my life, in every phase of it, has been my home... and whoever is in my home, be it a husband, or children, or whatever. The instant they said 'Cut', I was whammo out of that studio and into the car, zuuuup out of the gate and home.

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Half the time I'd forget to put on my shoes, I wouldn't even stop for that... what meant most to me was getting home, and that's the truth.” (Source: John Kobal – People Will Talk, 1986)