Connie Leon (1881 in Cheshire, England – 10 May 1955 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer, dancer and film actress.

Career

Between 1896 and 1909, Connie Leon was popular in provincial theatre as a singer, dancer and comedian, including

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

and in

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

roles.''The Era'', 21 August 1909. Rotherham, Hippodrome: "Miss Connie Leon, a smart comedienne and dancer." In her 50s she started a successful career in Hollywood, acting in over 50 films between 1934 and 1949, though most of these were uncredited. She was best known for her parts in the 1940s films ''

Mrs. Miniver ''Mrs. Miniver'' is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel '' Mrs. Miniver'' by Jan Struther, it shows how the life of an unassuming British h ...

'', '' Forever and a Day'' and '' Bombs Over Burma''.

Selected filmography

*''

All Men Are Enemies ''All Men Are Enemies'' is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and written by Lenore J. Coffee. The film stars Helen Twelvetrees, Mona Barrie, Hugh Williams, Herbert Mundin, Henry Stephenson and Walter Byron. The ...

'' (1934) - Maid (uncredited) *''

One More River ''One More River'' is a 1934 American drama film mystery directed by James Whale. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and starred Colin Clive, Diana Wynyard and stage actress Mrs Patrick Campbell in one of her very few films. T ...

'' (1934) - Flower Woman (uncredited) *''

Clive of India Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

'' (1935) - Ayah (uncredited) *''

Werewolf of London ''Werewolf of London'' is a 1935 horror film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as the titular werewolf. The supporting cast includes Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, and Spring Byington. Jack Pierce, who is b ...

'' (1935) - Millie - Yogami's Housekeeper (uncredited) *''

A Feather in Her Hat ''A Feather in Her Hat'' is a 1935 melodrama film starring Pauline Lord as a working-class woman with ambitions for her son. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by I. A. R. Wylie. Plot In 1925 London, middle-aged, widowed shopkeeper ...

'' (1935) - Woman (uncredited) *''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, ...

'' (1937) - (uncredited) *''

The Great Garrick ''The Great Garrick'' is a 1937 American historical comedy film directed by James Whale and starring Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland, and Edward Everett Horton. The film also features Lionel Atwill, Luis Alberni, Melville Cooper, and future star ...

'' (1937) - Woman in Audience (uncredited) *''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de H ...

'' (1938) - Saxon Woman (uncredited) *'' In Old Mexico'' (1938) - Servant (uncredited) *''

The Rains Came ''The Rains Came'' is a 1939 20th Century Fox film based on an American novel by Louis Bromfield (published in June 1937 by Harper & Brothers). The film was directed by Clarence Brown and stars Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda ...

'' (1939) - Nurse (uncredited) *''

Honeymoon in Bali ''Honeymoon in Bali'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film. It is also known by the alternative titles ''Husbands or Lovers'' and ''My Love for Yours''. Virginia Van Upp's screenplay was based on the short stories "Our Miss Keane" by Grace S ...

'' (1939) - Bill's Housekeeper on Bali (uncredited) *'' We Are Not Alone'' (1939) - Mrs. Hart - Cockney Patient (uncredited) *''

The Light That Failed ''The Light That Failed'' is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events through ...

'' (1939) - Flower Woman (uncredited) *''

My Son, My Son! ''My Son, My Son!'' is a 1940 American drama film based on a novel by the same name written by Howard Spring and directed by Charles Vidor. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by John DuCasse Schulze. Cast * Madelein ...

'' (1940) - Second Landlady *'' The Westerner'' (1940) - Lily Langtry's Maid (uncredited) *'' Where Did You Get That Girl?'' (1941) - Housewife (uncredited) *''

Singapore Woman ''Singapore Woman'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Brenda Marshall and David Bruce. The Warner Bros. B picture is a remake of '' Dangerous'' (1935) using leftover sets from '' The Letter'' (1940). The s ...

'' (1941) - Suwa *'' The Wolf Man'' (1941) - Mrs. Wykes (uncredited) *''

Bombay Clipper ''Bombay Clipper'' is a 1942 aviation drama film directed by John Rawlins and starring William Gargan and Irene Hervey. The film features Maria Montez in an early role. Turhan Bey also appears. The film was based on the exploits of oceanic fl ...

'' (1942) - Chambermaid (uncredited) *''

Butch Minds the Baby ''Butch Minds the Baby'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Albert S. Rogell and written by Leonard Spigelgass, based on the short story of the same name by Damon Runyon. The film stars Virginia Bruce, Broderick Crawford, Dick Foran, Port ...

'' (1942) - Minor Role (uncredited) *'' This Above All'' (1942) - Minor Role (uncredited) *''

'' (1942) - Simpson *'' Bombs Over Burma'' (1942) - Ma Sing *''

Tales of Manhattan ''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film. Ba ...

'' (1942) - Mary (Rogers sequence) (uncredited) *'' Thunder Birds'' (1942) - Ellen (uncredited) *'' Cat People'' (1942) - Neighbor Who Called Police (uncredited) *'' Forever and a Day'' (1943) - Wartime Londoner *''

The Moon Is Down ''The Moon Is Down'' is a novel by American writer John Steinbeck. Fashioned for adaptation for the theatre and for which Steinbeck received the Norwegian King Haakon VII Freedom Cross, it was published by Viking Press in March 1942. The story ...

'' (1943) - Villager (uncredited) *'' Behind the Rising Sun'' (1943) - Tama's Mother (uncredited) *'' Sweet Rosie O'Grady'' (1943) - Charwoman (uncredited) *'' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943) - Townswoman (uncredited) *'' The Lodger'' (1944) - Woman (uncredited) *'' Uncertain Glory'' (1944) - Bonet's Maid (uncredited) *''

Going My Way ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ta ...

'' (1944) - Mrs. Quimp's Neighbor (uncredited) *''

Ministry of Fear ''Ministry of Fear'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and starring Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds. Based on the 1943 novel by Graham Greene, the film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds ...

'' (1944) - Lady Purchaser of Cake (uncredited) *''

The Pearl of Death ''The Pearl of Death'' is a 1944 Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the ninth of fourteen such films the pair made. The story is loosely based on Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the ...

'' (1944) - Ellen Carey (uncredited) *''

Reckless Age ''Reckless Age'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Felix E. Feist and written by Gertrude Purcell and Henry Blankfort. The film stars Gloria Jean, Henry Stephenson, Kathleen Howard, Franklin Pangborn, Andrew Tombes, Marshall Thompson, Jan ...

'' (1944) - Old Lady (uncredited) *'' My Buddy'' (1944) - Housekeeper (uncredited) *''

And Now Tomorrow ''And Now Tomorrow'' is a 1944 American drama film based on the best-selling novel, published in 1942 by Rachel Field, directed by Irving Pichel and written by Raymond Chandler. Both center around one doctor's attempt for curing deafness. The fil ...

'' (1944) - Hester (uncredited) *''

Hangover Square ''Hangover Square'' is a 1941 novel by English playwright and novelist Patrick Hamilton. It follows the schizophrenic alcoholic George Harvey Bone and his tortured love for Netta Longdon in the months leading up to the Second World War. Subtit ...

'' (1945) - Maid (uncredited) *''

The Brighton Strangler ''The Brighton Strangler'' is a 1945 American crime film directed by Max Nosseck and starring John Loder, June Duprez and Michael St. Angel. During the blitz in wartime London, an actor suffers concussion and believes himself to be the characte ...

'' (1945) - Mrs. Cllive - the Mayor's Wife (uncredited) *''

A Bell for Adano ''A Bell for Adano'' (1945) is a film directed by Henry King and starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. It was adapted from the 1944 novel of the same title by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1945. In his review of t ...

'' (1945) - Italian Woman (uncredited) *''

Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

'' (1945) - Nurse (uncredited) *''

Three Strangers ''Three Strangers'' is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco, written by John Huston and Howard Koch, starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. Pl ...

'' (1946) - Flower Woman (uncredited) *'' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946) - Beebe (uncredited) *''

Of Human Bondage ''Of Human Bondage'' is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in i ...

'' (1946) - Nurse (uncredited) *''

The Locket The Locket may refer to: *The Locket (1946 film) ''The Locket'' is a 1946 American psychological thriller with noirish undertones directed by John Brahm, starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, and Gene Raymond, and released by RKO ...

'' (1946) - Tina - Bonner Maid (uncredited) *''

That Brennan Girl ''That Brennan Girl'', also known as ''Tough Girl'', is a 1946 Melodrama#Film, melodrama film produced and directed by Alfred Santell and starring James Dunn (actor), James Dunn, Mona Freeman, William Marshall (bandleader), William Marshall, and J ...

'' (1946) - Miss Jane, Merryman Resident *''

Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman ''Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman'', also called ''A Woman Destroyed'', is a 1947 American drama film with elements of film noir that tells the story of a rising nightclub singer who marries another singer and becomes an alcoholic after sacrifici ...

'' (1947) - Mary, Angie's Maid (uncredited) *''

Moss Rose Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town F.C., Macclesfield Town, a clu ...

'' (1947) - Seamstress (uncredited) *'' The Woman in White'' (1948) - Village Woman (uncredited) *''

Julia Misbehaves ''Julia Misbehaves'' is a 1948 American romantic comedy film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon as a married couple who are separated by the man's snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when the daughter whom the man has rais ...

'' (1948) - Woman in Street (uncredited) *''

Challenge to Lassie ''Challenge to Lassie'' is an American drama directed by Richard Thorpe in Technicolor and released October 31, 1949, by MGM Studios. It was the fifth feature film starring the original Lassie, a collie named Pal, and the fourth and final ''La ...

'' (1949) - Mrs. Traill (uncredited) (final film role)

References and notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Connie 1881 births 1955 deaths English film actresses 20th-century English actresses British emigrants to the United States Actresses from Cheshire