Anne Baxter

Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on May 7, 1923. She was the daughter of Kenneth Stuart Baxter, a salesman, and Catherine Dorothy (Wright), who was the daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright, the renowned architect. At the age of 11, Anne and her parents moved to New York City, which was still a major center of the entertainment industry, though the film industry was beginning to shift westward. The move inspired her to pursue acting as a career. By the age of 13, she had already appeared in a stage production of *Seen but Not Heard* and received positive reviews from Broadway critics. The play earned her a place at an exclusive acting school. In 1937, she traveled to Hollywood to explore opportunities in the film industry, but because she was considered too young, she returned to New York to continue acting on Broadway and in summer stock along the East Coast. Undeterred, she returned to California two years later. This time, she took a screen test that caught the attention of Twentieth Century-Fox executives, and she signed a seven-year contract. Before making a film with Fox, she was loaned to MGM for *20 Mule Team* (1940). At just 17, she was already cast in a significant role, something many aspiring actresses would have worked years for. Back at Fox in 1940, she played Mary Maxwell in *The Great Profile*, a film that failed at the box office. The following year, she portrayed Amy Spettigue in the remake of *Charley's Aunt* (1941), a modest role, but an improvement from bit parts. Her only other film that year was *Swamp Water* (1941), which was considered her first substantial role, though it received mixed reviews. In 1942, she played Lucy Morgan, the daughter of Joseph Cotten's character, in *The Magnificent Ambersons* (1942). The following year, she appeared in *The North Star* (1943), her first film with top billing, which was both a critical and financial success. In 1944, *Guest in the House* was a box-office failure, but *Sunday Dinner for a Soldier* was more popular with audiences, though it was poorly received by critics. In 1946, she portrayed Sophie MacDonald in *The Razor's Edge* (1946), a performance that earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, she served as narrator in *Mother Wore Tights* (1947) and *Blaze of Noon* (1947). It was not until 1950 that she landed a significant role as Eve Harrington in *All About Eve* (1950), for which she received her second Oscar nomination, but lost to Judy Holliday for *Born Yesterday* (1950). Through the 1950s, she appeared in several films, and in 1956, she was cast as Queen Nefretiri in Cecil B. DeMille's *The Ten Commandments* (1956), a role in which many considered her to look her most beautiful. After that film, she became a freelance actress rather than being tied to a studio. After no film appearances in 1958, she made one in 1959, *Season of Passion* (1959), and another in 1960, *Cimarron* (1960). After *Walk on the Wild Side* (1962), she took a four-year break from film. She remained active in theater and television, not seeking celebrity status but rather focusing on her craft. She became a regular in the television series *East of Eden* (1981) and *Hotel* (1983). Her final appearance was as Irene Adler in the TV film *Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death* (1984). Anne Baxter died of a stroke in New York on December 12, 1985, at the age of 62.