Ann Dvorak was the daughter of silent film star Anna Lehr and silents director Edwin McKim. She entered films at the start of sound, as a dance instructor for the lavish MGM musicals. She came to international prominence in Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, but often complained about the lack of quality of her films, which led to arguments with her ...
(July 18, 1932): I don't want to go back to Hollywood if I can help it. I want to go back to the stage. The trouble with Hollywood is everybody is crazy for money. The producers are trying to make pictures cheaper and faster. They do not realize the public is becoming more critical, and can see the cheapness.
2
[when asked how her last name is pronounced] My name is properly pronounced "vor'shack." The D remains silent. I have had quite a time with the name, having been called practically everything from Balzac to Bickelsrock.
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Fact
1
Although most sources give Ann Dvorak's birth date as August 2, 1912, the New York City Birth Index confirms that Anna McKim was born on August 2, 1911. Throughout her career, Ann would claim 1912 as the year of her birth, though in later years she would begin listing 1911.
2
Moved to England during World War II and, between film gigs, worked as an ambulance driver to support the war effort.
3
Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" by Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).
4
She had no children.
5
Attended St. Catherine's Convent in Manhattan when young, but later was enrolled at the Page School for Girls in Los Angeles.
6
Her parents divorced when she was 8. She did not hear from her father after that for fourteen years, when she put out a letter in 1934 asking for information leading to his whereabouts. Six other men responded claiming to be her father before he did. He was living in Philadelphia at the time and had no idea she was in the movies.
7
Her friend Joan Crawford was the one who introduced her to Howard Hughes, who in turn was looking for a girl for his production of Scarface (1932). She made $250 a week.
8
A dispute over salary had Warner Bros putting her in bad pictures or standard roles. She later moved to England.
9
She was an avid bibliophile and had a large and valuable collection of first editions dating back to 1703.
10
Attempted to have her Warner Brothers contract terminated over financial issues, after finding out that she made the same money as the five-year-old who played her son in Three on a Match (1932).
$17 Million
