Andrea Leeds

Dreamy Andrea Leeds in publicity for the 1939 film THE REAL GLORY. She was born Antoinette Lees on August 18, 1914 in Butte, Montana. She began her film career in 1933, playing bit parts. She played her first substantial role in the film “Come and Get It” (1936) and achieved another success with “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). 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. In 1938, she also read for the role of and did screen tests for the role of Melanie in Gone with the Wind; however the role was given to Olivia de Havilland. She next appeared in two films opposite Joel McCrea; “Youth Takes a Fling” (1938) and “They Shall Have Music” (1939). She continued to play the romantic female lead in an adventure film “The Real Glory” (1939), and opposite Don Ameche in “Swanee River” (1939), the first Technicolor biography of Stephen Foster. Her final film “Earthbound” (1940) was a fantasy murder mystery in which her character is aided by the ghost of her late husband to solve his murder. Although her films were successful and she remained a popular actress, Leeds retired in late 1939 after marrying. With her husband, she became a successful horse owner/breeder. The couple also owned the Howard Manor in Palm Springs, a hotel originally built as the Colonial House by Las Vegas casino owner Al Wertheimer. After her husband's death in 1962, Leeds ran a jewellery business. The lovely star passed away from cancer at age 70 on May 21, 1984.

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