Joan Leslie

Beautiful Joan Leslie in a dreamy Kodachrome closeup from 1946. She was born Joan Agnes Theresa Brodel, on January 26, 1925 in Highland Park, Michigan. Her first film role was at age 11 in “Camille” (1936), starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. She played Taylor's younger sister Marie Jeanette, but her speaking scenes were deleted and she was uncredited. Leslie gained her first credited role in “Winter Carnival” (1939) as Betsy Phillips but her big break came when she signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1941. Her ability to cry on cue proved instrumental in her selection for the pivotal role of Velma, the club-footed girl helped by gangster Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) in “High Sierra” (1941). This role, by her own account, put her on the map. In between working as a photographers model, Leslie flourished in A-grade productions, playing Gary Cooper's sweetheart in “Sergeant York” (1941), co-starring and dancing with James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942) and featuring in the top half of the bill in the star-studded musical extravaganza “Thank Your Lucky Stars” (1943). She did her bit for the war effort too, dancing with servicemen in “Hollywood Canteen” (1944). By 1946, Leslie was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the roles offered to her by the studio and by the 1950s, she chose to focus on raising her daughters, which resulted in a more irregular film career. In 1952, she signed a short-term deal with Republic Pictures, the low-budget studio which primarily produced western pictures. One of the films she made for Republic was “Flight Nurse” (1953). Her last film was “The Revolt of Mamie Stover” (1956). She continued making sporadic appearances in television shows while her children were at school and retired from acting in 1991, after appearing in the TV film “Fire in the Dark”. In her later private life, Leslie was devoted to various Catholic charities and to raising her identical twin daughters. Joan Leslie passed away in October 2017 at the age of 90.

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