Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
February 2, 1923
Place of Birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.
In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series.
After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities.
Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties.
Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).
Year | Movie | Role |
---|---|---|
1982 | Hollywood’s Children | Self |
1981 | The Legend of the Lone Ranger | Woman (uncredited) |
1959 | The Velvet Alley | Mrs. Kirkley |
1956 | The Lone Ranger | Welcome Kilgore |
1950 | Guilty of Treason | Stephanie Varna |
1948 | Strike It Rich | Julie Ann Brady |
1947 | The Guilty | Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell |
1946 | Suspense | Ronnie |
1946 | Love Laughs at Andy Hardy | Kay Wilson |
1946 | Breakfast in Hollywood | Dorothy Larson |
1946 | The Truth About Murder | Christine Allen |
1945 | The Beautiful Cheat | Alice |
1945 | Senorita from the West | Jeannie Blake |
1944 | Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble | Kay Wilson |
1944 | Youth Runs Wild | Toddy Jones |
1944 | Song of the Open Road | Bonnie |
1943 | Hitler's Children | Anna Miller |
1942 | Now, Voyager | June Vale |
1942 | The Glass Key | Opal 'Snip' Madvig |
1942 | Syncopation | Kit Latimer |
1942 | Seven Miles from Alcatraz | Anne Porter |
1942 | Soaring Stars | Passenger |
1941 | H.M. Pulham, Esq. | Mary Pulham |
1941 | The People Vs. Dr. Kildare | Frances Marlowe |
1941 | The Wild Man of Borneo | Francine 'Frankie' Diamond |
1941 | Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1 | Self |
1941 | Down in San Diego | Betty Haines |
1940 | The Mortal Storm | Elsa |
1940 | Third Finger, Left Hand | Vicky Sherwood |
1940 | Forty Little Mothers | Doris |
1940 | Escape | Ursula |
1940 | Those Were the Days! | Martha Scroggs |
1940 | Gallant Sons | Kate Pendleton |
1939 | Nancy Drew... Reporter | Nancy Drew |
1939 | Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase | Nancy Drew |
1939 | Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter | Nancy Drew |
1939 | Angels Wash Their Faces | Peggy Finnegan |
1938 | Nancy Drew… Detective | Nancy Drew |
1938 | White Banners | Sally Ward |
1938 | Merrily We Live | Marian Kilbourne |
1938 | The Beloved Brat | Roberta Morgan |
1938 | Hard to Get | Connie Richards |
1938 | My Bill | Gwen Colbrook |
1938 | Breakdowns of 1938 | Nancy Drew (archive footage) (uncredited) |
1937 | It's Love I'm After | Gracie Kane |
1937 | Call It a Day | Ann Hilton |
1937 | Maid of Salem | Ann |
1937 | Quality Street | Isabella |
1936 | These Three | Mary Tilford |
1936 | Song of the Saddle | Jen as a Child |
1936 | The Plough and the Stars | Mollser Gogan |
1936 | The Garden of Allah | Convent Girl (uncredited) |
1935 | Ah, Wilderness! | Mildred Miller |
1934 | The Life of Vergie Winters | Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited) |
1933 | Little Women | Amy's Classmate (uncredited) |
1933 | Cavalcade | Young Fanny |
1933 | Cradle Song | Carmen (uncredited) |
1932 | Westward Passage | Little Olivia Allen (age 9) |
1932 | Silver Dollar | Liddy (uncredited) |
Year | TV Show | Role |
---|---|---|
1971 | V.I.P. Schaukel | Self |
1961 | The Mike Douglas Show | Self |
1954 | Lassie | |
1954 | Climax! | Laura Jordan |
1954 | Climax! | Molly |
1951 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Ellen Morison |
1950 | Lux Video Theatre | Kitty |
1950 | Lux Video Theatre | Joan |
1948 | Studio One | Ann |