Bonita Granville

albatros1 ( 2008-01-17 )

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Bonita Granville (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988). Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage (1933). Over the next couple of years she played uncredited supporting roles before playing the role of Mary in the film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour. For her role as that child, Granville was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1938 she played girl detective Nancy Drew in the film Nancy Drew, Detective. The film was a success, and Granville reprised that role in three further films from 1938 to 1939. As a young adult, she was once again cast in supporting roles, often in prestigious films such as Now, Voyager (1942), as well as two Andy Hardy films with Mickey Rooney. Her career began to fade by the mid-1940s. In 1947 Granville married Jack Wrather, who had produced some of her films. He formed the Wrather Corporation, and bought the rights to both The Lone Ranger and Lassie. Granville worked as a producer for several film and television productions featuring these characters, including the 1954 TV series Lassie. She appeared in the film version of The Lone Ranger in 1956. The couple remained married until Wrather's death in 1984. Granville died four years later of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California, aged 65. Bonita Granville has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6607 Hollywood Boulevard, for her contributions to motion pictures.