Verree Teasdale (March 15, 1903 – February 17, 1987) was an American actress born in Spokane, Washington.

Early years

A second cousin of

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

, Teasdale attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

in Brooklyn and trained as a stage actress at the New York School of Expression.

Career

Veree Teasdale in First Lady trailer cropped

Teasdale debuted on Broadway in the role of Augusta Winslow Martin in ''The Youngest'' (1924) and performed there regularly until 1932. After co-starring in

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's play ''

The Constant Wife ''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A “sparkling comedy o ...

'' with

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

in 1926–1927, she was offered a film contract, and her first film, ''

Syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

'', was released in 1929. Teasdale appeared older than her physical age, which enabled her to play bored society wives, scheming other women and second leads in comedies such as ''

Roman Scandals ''Roman Scandals'' is a 1933 American black-and-white pre-Code musical film starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart, Edward Arnold and David Manners. It was directed by Frank Tuttle. The film features a number of intricate production ...

'' (1933). In 1935, she played

Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...

in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''.

Personal life and death

Teasdale married actor William O'Neal in 1927, and they divorced in 1933. In 1935, she married actor

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley K ...

, and they remained together until his death in 1963. Teasdale and Menjou appeared together in two films, ''

The Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

'' in 1936 and '' Turnabout'' in 1940, and were co-hosts of a syndicated radio program in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A June 19, 1949, review by

Jack Gould John Ludlow Gould (February 5, 1914 – May 24, 1993) was an American journalist and critic, who wrote commentary about television. Early life and education Gould was born in New York City into a socially prominent family and attended the Loomi ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said ''Meet the Menjous'' "easily is among the most literate and enjoyable items on the daytime schedule". Teasdale retired after the radio program finished its run, keeping busy with her hobby of costume design. She died on February 17, 1987 in Culver City, California.

Broadway theater

*''The Youngest'', from December 22, 1924 to March 23, 1925 - Augusta Winslow Martin *''The Morning After'', from July 27, 1925 to August 1925 - Mrs. Madera *''The Master of the Inn'', from December 21, 1925 to January 1926 - Harriet Norton *''Buy, Buy, Baby'', from October 07, 1926 to October 1926 - Pauline Lunt *''The Constant Wife'', from November 29, 1926 to August 13, 1927 - Marie-Louise Durham *''By Request'', from September 27, 1928 to October 1928 - Claudia Wynn *''Precious'', from January 14, 1929 to February 1929 - Sonia *''Nice Women'', from June 10, 1929 to August 1929 - Dorothy Drew *''Soldiers and Women'', from September 02, 1929 to October 1929 - Helen Arnold *''The Royal Virgin'', from March 17, 1930 to March 1930 - The Countess of Nottingham *''The Greeks Had a Word for It'', from September 25, 1930 to May 1931 - Jean *''Marriage for Three'', from November 11, 1931 to November 1931 - Peggy Howard *''Experience Unnecessary'', from December 30, 1931 to February 1932 - Theda Thompson

Complete filmography

*''

'' (1929) - Rita Eliot *''Her New Chauffeur'' (1929, Short) *''Hunt the Tiger'' (1929, Short) *''The Ninety-Ninth Amendment'' (1929, Short) *''

The Sap from Syracuse ''The Sap from Syracuse'' is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and written by John Griffith Wray, along with Jack O'Donnell, John Hayden and Gertrude Purcell. The film stars Jack Oakie, Ginger Rogers, Granvil ...

'' (1930) - Dolly Clark *''Mr. Intruder'' (1930, Short) - The Wife *''

Skyscraper Souls ''Skyscraper Souls'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code romantic drama film starring Warren William, Anita Page, Maureen O'Sullivan, Gregory Ratoff, and Verree Teasdale. Directed by Edgar Selwyn, it is based on the 1931 novel ''Skys ...

'' (1932) - Sarah Dennis *''

Payment Deferred ''Payment Deferred'' is a crime novel by C.S. Forester, first published in 1926. William Marble is a bank clerk living in south London with a wife, Annie, and two teenage children, Winifred ('Winnie') and John, desperately worried about money an ...

'' (1932) - Mme. Collins *''

They Just Had to Get Married ''They Just Had to Get Married'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Slim Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, Roland Young, and Verree Teasdale. The screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman, H.M. Walker, and an ...

'' (1932) - Lola Montrose *'' Luxury Liner'' (1933) - Luise Marheim *''

Terror Aboard ''Terror Aboard'' is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Paul Sloane, written by Robert Presnell Sr., Manuel Seff and Harvey F. Thew, and starring John Halliday, Charlie Ruggles, Shirley Grey, Neil Hamilton, Jack La Rue, Verree T ...

'' (1933) - Millicent Hazlitt *''

Love, Honor, and Oh Baby! ''Love, Honor, and Oh Baby!'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film, starring Slim Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, and George Barbier. The 1940 Universal Pictures film with the same title is not a remake. Adapted from the stage play, ''"Oh, Promise ...

'' (1933) - Elsie Carpenter *'' Goodbye Love'' (1933) - Phyllis Van Kamp aka Fanny Malone *''

'' (1933) - Empress Agrippa *''

Fashions of 1934 ''Fashions of 1934'' is a 1934 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by William Dieterle with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert and Carl Erickson was based on the story ''The Fash ...

'' (1934) - Mabel McGuire aka The Duchess *''

A Modern Hero ''A Modern Hero'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romance drama film starring Richard Barthelmess and directed by G. W. Pabst. It is based on the novel with the same title by Louis Bromfield. It was Pabst's only American talking film and the next ...

'' (1934) - Lady Claire Benston *''

Madame DuBarry Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being ...

'' (1934) - Duchess de Granmont *''

Dr. Monica ''Dr. Monica'' is a 1934 American pre-Code melodrama film produced by Warner Bros. starring Kay Francis, Warren William, and Jean Muir. An obstetrician, who is unable to have children, discovers that the baby she is about to deliver was fathe ...

'' (1934) - Anna *'' Desirable'' (1934) - Helen *''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's ...

'' (1934) - Carola Pointer *''

'' (1935) - Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Betrothed to Theseus *''

'' (1936) - Ann Westley *''

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

'' (1937) - Irene Hibbard *''

Topper Takes a Trip ''Topper Takes a Trip'' is a 1938Some sources, such as Turner Classic Movies, say 1939. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film was released in New York City on 29 December 1938, and in the United States in January 1939. The exact year ...

'' (1938) - Mrs. Parkhurst *''

5th Ave Girl ''Fifth Avenue Girl'', sometimes stylized as ''5th Ave Girl'', is a 1939 RKO Radio Pictures comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, and James Ellison. The screenplay was written by Al ...

'' (1939) - Martha Borden *'' I Take This Woman'' (1940) - Madame Marcesca *'' Turnabout'' (1940) - Laura Bannister *'' Love Thy Neighbor'' (1940) - Barbara Allen *'' Come Live with Me'' (1941) - Diana Kendrick (final film role)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teasdale, Verree 1903 births 1987 deaths American film actresses Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Actresses from Spokane, Washington American stage actresses American radio actresses 20th-century American actresses