Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent."
Dvorak was the daughter and only child of silent film actress Anna Lehr and director Edwin McKim. While in New York, she attended St. Catherine's Convent. After moving to California, she attended Page School for Girls in Hollywood.
She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films. Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him.
In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl. Her friend, actress Karen Morley, introduced her to billionaire movie producer Howard Hughes, who groomed her as a dramatic actress. She was a success in such pre-Code films as Scarface (1932) as Paul Muni's sister; in Three on a Match (1932) with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell as the doomed, unstable Vivian; in The Crowd Roars (1932) with James Cagney; and in Sky Devils (1932) opposite Spencer Tracy. Known for her style and elegance, she was a popular leading lady for Warner Bros. during the 1930s, and appeared in numerous contemporary romances and melodramas. At age 19, Dvorak eloped with Leslie Fenton, her English co-star from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and they married on March 17, 1932. They left for a year-long honeymoon in spite of her contractual obligations to the studio, which led to a period of litigation and pay disputes during which she discovered she was making the same amount of money as the boy who played her son in Three on a Match. She completed her contract on permanent suspension, then worked as a freelancer. Although she worked regularly, the quality of her scripts declined sharply. She appeared as secretary Della Street to Donald Woods' Perry Mason in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). With her then-husband, Leslie Fenton, Dvorak traveled to England where she supported the war effort by working as an ambulance driver and acted in several British films. She appeared as a saloon singer in Abilene Town with Randolph Scott and Edgar Buchanan, released in 1946. The following year she adeptly handled comedy by giving an assured performance in Out of the Blue (1947). In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute.
Dvorak's marriage to Fenton ended in divorce in 1946. In 1947, she married Igor Dega, a Russian dancer who danced with her briefly in The Bachelor's Daughters. The marriage ended two years later.
Dvorak retired from the screen in 1951, when she married her third and last husband, Nicholas Wade, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. She had no children.
2008
as Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)
1997
as Self (archive footage)
1951
as Rachel Schaeffer
1951
as Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' Phillips
1950
as Connie Kepplar
1950
as Mary Ashlon
1950
as Sue Ellen Younger
1950
as Gert Lynch
1948
as Belle Connors
1947
as Charlene
1947
as Madeleine Forestier
1947
as Olive Jensen
1946
as Terry Wilson
1946
as Rita
1945
as Helen Grant
1945
as Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry
1943
as Joan Grahame
1943
as Barbara Lucas
1942
as Ann Morgan
1940
as Kay Warren
1940
as Jo
1939
as Eva McLain
1939
as Mary
1938
as Connie Benson
1938
as Minerva Harlan
1937
as Ann Rogers
1937
as Jerry
1937
as Della Street
1937
as Carol O'Neill
1937
as Ruth Martin
1937
as Connie Stewart
1936
as Self
1935
as Sally Mason
1935
as Josephine
1935
as Fay Wilson
1935
as Jean Morgan
1935
as Bonnie Haydon
1935
as Herself (uncredited)
1934
as Judy Wagner
1934
as Susan Merrill
1934
as Barbara
1934
as Marguerite Gilbert
1934
as Nan Reynolds
1934
as Miss Beulah Boyd
1934
as Joan
1934
as Myra
1934
as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)
1934
as Lydia
1933
as Claire Gore
1933
as Madeleine
1933
as Dancer
1932
as Vivian Revere
1932
as Judith 'Judy' Mason
1932
as Sally Condon
1932
as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' Louvain
1932
as Lee Merrick
1932
as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
1932
as Mary Way
1931
as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)
1931
as Party Guest (Uncredited)
1931
as Marian Crickle
1931
as Dancer (uncredited)
1931
as Bit (uncredited)
1931
as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)
1931
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
as Chorine in Black (uncredited)
1930
as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)
1930
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
as Student
1930
as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)
1930
as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)
1930
as Chorine (uncredited)
1930
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1930
as Chorine (uncredited)
1930
as Chorus Girl
1930
as Chorus Girl
1930
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1929
as Chorine (uncredited)
1929
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
1929
as Chorus Girl
1929
as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)
1929
as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)
1929
as Student (uncredited)
1929
as Doll
1917
as Phemie's Sister
1916
as Ramona Phail (age 4)