Andrea King

Andrea King

King, 1946
Born Georgette André Barry
(1919-02-01)February 1, 1919
Paris, France
Died April 22, 2003(2003-04-22) (aged 84)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
California, USA
Resting place Zion Episcopal Churchyard in Charles Town, West Virginia
Years active 1940–1994
Spouse(s) Nat Willis (married 1940–1970, his death)[1]
Children 1
Website http://www.andreaking.com/index.html

Andrea King (February 1, 1919 – April 22, 2003) was an American stage, film, and television actress, sometimes billed as Georgette McKee.

Early life

Andrea King was born Georgette André Barry in Paris, France in 1919 to American Lovinia Belle Hart. At two months of age, she moved with her mother to the United States.[2] She lived with her grandmother in Cleveland, Ohio, and Palm Beach, Florida, for the first four years of her life while her mother attended Columbia University in New York City. When her mother married Douglas McKee, King went to live with them in Forest Hills, Queens.[3]

As a teenager King attended the progressive Edgewood School in Greenwich, Connecticut,[3] a northern campus of Marietta Johnson's Organic School of Education.[4] Playing Juliet in a school production when she was 14, she was asked to audition for a role in a Lee Shubert play, which led to other stage work.[2][3]

Career

Andrea King appeared in Broadway plays and other theater work, most notably as Mary Skinner in Life with Father. Her film debut was in a docudrama, The March of Time's first feature-length film titled The Ramparts We Watch (1940). In 1944, she signed with Warner Bros. and changed her stage name to King (some of her early movies have her credited as "Georgette McKee", her stepfather's name).[2][3] King appeared uncredited in the Bette Davis film Mr. Skeffington (1944), and went on to do another ten movies in the next three years. She co-starred in a 1946 horror film, The Beast with Five Fingers, and a 1947 drama, The Man I Love, both opposite Robert Alda.

She originally was cast to play Dr. Lilith Ritter in Edmund Goulding's film noir classic Nightmare Alley, but she chose instead a memorable role as sophisticated Marjorie Lundeen in Ride the Pink Horse (1947).[5]

In the 1950s, King had leading roles in the similarly titled film noirs Dial 1119 and Southside 1-1000 and a science-fiction story, Red Planet Mars. She later played supporting roles in Hollywood feature films like The World in His Arms with Gregory Peck and Band of Angels with Clark Gable.

Television

In the 1960s and 1970s, most of her acting work was on television, including the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Maverick's episode "Two Tickets to Ten Strike" opposite James Garner. In 1959–1960, King appeared twice as "Duchess" in the episodes "The Blizzard" and "The Devil Made Fire" of another ABC/WB western series, The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore, Jeff York, Ray Danton, and Dorothy Provine, as well as in multiple episodes of the ABC/WB private-eye series 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye.

She made four guest appearances on Perry Mason between 1959–1963, including the role of murderer Barbara Heywood in the 1959 episode, "The Case of the Bedeviled Doctor". King continued to act on television through 1990 when she played her final role on the Murder, She Wrote episode, "The Fixer-Upper". She appeared twice more as herself on the A&E series, Biography, recalling her work with Peter Lorre and Montgomery Clift.[6]

Recognition

The Warner Bros. studio photographers voted King the most photogenic actress for the year 1945.[7] For her contribution to television she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960.[8]

Personal life

Andrea King pin-up from Yank, The Army Weekly, August 1945

According to her Los Angeles Times obituary, King was married to lawyer Nat Willis from 1940 until his death in 1970. She died in Woodland Hills, California and was survived by a daughter and three grandchildren.

Partial filmography

References

  1. ↑ Glenn, Justin (2014). The Washingtons: A Family History. Volume 6 (Part One): Generation Ten of the Presidential Branch. Savas Publishing. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-940669-31-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Schneider, Paul Miles. "Biography". The official Andrea King website. Retrieved June 18, 2009. A few years later, after settling in New York, Belle consented to marry Douglas McKee, the Vice President of the Title Guarantee & Trust Company, and the threesome moved into a large house in Forest Hills, Long Island
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bubbeo, Daniel (2001). The Women of Warner Brothers. McFarland. pp. 116–129. ISBN 978-0-7864-1137-5.
  4. ↑ "Marietta Pierce Johnston (1864–1938) – Organic Education, New Trends in Education". Education Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  5. ↑ Schneider, Paul Miles. "Ride the Pink Horse". The official Andrea King website. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ Schneider, Paul Miles. "Television Appearances". The official Andrea King website. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ McClellan, Dennis (April 26, 2003). "Andrea King". Hollywood Star Walk. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  8. ↑ "Andrea King". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2015-03-09.

External links

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