Karen Morley (born Mildred Linton; December 12, 1909 – March 8, 2003) was an American film actress.

Life and career

Born Mildred Linton in

Ottumwa, Iowa Ottumwa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, the city is split into northern and southern halves b ...

, Morley lived there until she was 13 years old. When she moved to Hollywood, she attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

. She went on to attend the University of California, but she dropped out to join the Los Angeles Civic Repertory Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse. After working at the Pasadena Playhouse, she came to the attention of the director Clarence Brown, at a time when he had been looking for an actress to stand in for Greta Garbo in screen tests. This led to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and roles in films such as '' Mata Hari'' (1931), '' Scarface'' (1932), '' The Phantom of Crestwood'' (1932), '' The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932), '' Arsene Lupin'' (1933), ''

Gabriel Over the White House ''Gabriel Over the White House'' is a 1933 American pre-Code political fantasy film starring Walter Huston as a genial but politically corrupt U.S. President who has a near-fatal automobile accident and comes under divine influence—specifical ...

'' (1933), and '' Dinner at Eight'' (1933). In 1934, Morley left MGM. Her first film after leaving the studio was '' Our Daily Bread'' (1934), directed by King Vidor. She continued to work as a freelance performer and appeared in Michael Curtiz's '' Black Fury'', and '' The Littlest Rebel'' with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

. Without the support of a studio, her roles became less frequent; however, she did play Mr. Collins' wife Charlotte Lucas in ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' (1940), which was produced by MGM. The film was critically well-received, but it did not advance her career; as a result, Morley turned her attention to stage plays. In the early 1940s, she appeared in several plays on Broadway, including the role of Gerda in the original production of '' The Walrus and The Carpenter''. Her career came to an end in 1947 (November 1952) when she testified before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

and refused to answer questions about her alleged American Communist Party membership. She maintained her political activism for the rest of her life. In 1954, she ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of New York on the American Labor Party ticket. After being blacklisted in Hollywood by the studio bosses, she never rebuilt her film acting career. In the early 1970s, Karen Morley briefly resumed her acting career with guest roles in television series such as '' Kojak'', '' Kung Fu'', and ''

Police Woman The integration of women into law enforcement positions can be considered a large social change. A century ago, there were few jobs open to women in law enforcement. A small number of women worked as correctional officers, and their assignment ...

''. In 1993, she appeared in ''The Great Depression'', a documentary TV series produced by Henry Hampton's Blackside Productions in association with

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

. In the series, she talked about how helpless she felt as a privileged Hollywood actress in the face of all the poverty and suffering that surrounded her. She also spoke of her experience making ''Our Daily Bread'' and working for King Vidor, whom she described as a conservative who thought that people should willingly help each other without government interference. In December 1999, at the age of 90, she appeared in ''Vanity Fair'' in an article about blacklist survivors, and she was honored at the San Francisco FIlm Festival.

Personal life

In November 1932, Morley married director

Charles Vidor Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1900June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), ''The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), ''The Desperadoes'' (1943), ''Cover Girl'' (1944), '' Together A ...

in Santa Ana, California. They were divorced on March 2, 1943. They met on the set of ''Man About Town'', in which Morley played the female lead, and Vidor was co-director. Vidor and Morley had a son, Michael Charles Vidor.

Death

Morley lived in Santa Monica, California during her later years. She died of pneumonia at the age of 93 in Woodland Hills, California.

Partial filmography

* '' Thru Different Eyes'' (1929) as bit part (uncredited) * ''

Inspiration Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...

'' (1931) as Liane Latour * '' Daybreak'' (1931) as Emily Kessner * '' Never the Twain Shall Meet'' (1931) as Maisie * '' Politics'' (1931) as Myrtle Burns * '' High Stakes'' (1931) as Anne Cornwall * '' The Sin of Madelon Claudet'' (1931) as Alice * '' The Cuban Love Song'' (1931) as Crystal * '' Mata Hari'' (1931) as Carlotta * '' Arsene Lupin'' (1932) as Sonia * '' Are You Listening?'' (1932) as Alice Grimes * '' Scarface'' (1932) as Poppy * '' The Man About Town'' (1932) as Helena * '' The Washington Masquerade'' (1932) as Consuela Fairbanks * ''

Downstairs Downstairs may refer to: * Downstairs (EP), an independent release by the band 311 * ''Downstairs'' (film), a 1932 film starring John Gilbert * The Downstairs Club (later Le Disque a Go! Go!) See also *Downstair Stairs are a structure design ...

'' (1932) as Karl's New Employer (uncredited) * '' The Phantom of Crestwood'' (1932) as Jenny Wren * '' The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) as Sheila Barton * '' Flesh'' (1932) as Laura Nash * ''

'' (1933) as Pendola Molloy * '' Dinner at Eight'' (1933) as Mrs. Lucy Talbot * '' The Crime Doctor'' (1934) as Andra * '' Our Daily Bread'' (1934) as Mary Sims * ''

Straight Is the Way ''Straight Is the Way'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by Paul Sloane, written by Bernard Schubert, and starring Franchot Tone, May Robson, Karen Morley, Gladys George, Nat Pendleton and Jack La Rue. It is based upon the stage play by Da ...

'' (1934) as Bertha * '' Wednesday's Child'' (1934) as Kathryn Phillips * '' Black Fury'' (1935) as Anna Novak * ''

$10 Raise ''$10 Raise'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by George Marshall, written by Henry Johnson and Lou Breslow, and starring Edward Everett Horton, Karen Morley, Alan Dinehart, Glen Boles, Berton Churchill and Rosina Lawrence. It was released ...

'' (1935) as Emily Converse * '' The Healer'' (1935) as Evelyn Allen * '' Thunder in the Night'' (1935) as Madalaine * '' The Littlest Rebel'' (1935) as Mrs. Cary * '' Devil's Squadron'' (1936) as Martha Dawson * '' Beloved Enemy'' (1936) as Cathleen O'Brien * '' Outcast'' (1937) as Margaret Stevens * '' The Girl from Scotland Yard'' (1937) as Linda Beech * '' The Last Train from Madrid'' (1937) as Baroness Helene Rafitte * '' On Such a Night'' (1937) as Gail Stanley * '' Kentucky'' (1938) as Mrs. Goodwin - 1861 * ''

'' (1940) as Mrs. Collins * '' Jealousy'' (1945) as Dr. Monica Anderson * '' The Unknown'' (1946) as Rachel Martin Arnold * '' The Thirteenth Hour'' (1947) as Eileen Blair * '' Framed'' (1947) as Beth * '' Samson and Delilah'' (1949) (uncredited) * '' M'' (1951) as Mrs. Coster * '' Born to the Saddle'' (1953) as Kate Daggett

References

*'' The Gettysburg Times'', "Discovered", November 3, 1932, Page 7. *'' Los Angeles Times'', "Karen Morley, 93, A Movie Star Until a Congressional Hearing", April 27, 2003, Page N47. * *'' Oakland Tribune'', "One Star's Family", September 9, 1935, Page 68.

External links

* *
Photographs of Karen Morley
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Karen 1909 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American actresses American stage actresses Actresses from Iowa American film actresses American television actresses Hollywood blacklist American Labor Party politicians Deaths from pneumonia in California People from Ottumwa, Iowa Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players WAMPAS Baby Stars 21st-century American women