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Gertrude Michael
Born	Lillian Gertrude Michael June 1, 1911(1911-06-01) Talladega, Alabama, United States
Died	December 31, 1964 (aged 53) Beverly Hills, California, United States
Years active	1932–1961

Gertrude Michael (June 1, 1911, Talladega, Alabama – December 31, 1964, Beverly Hills, California) was an American film, stage and television actress.

Born as Lillian Gertrude Michael in Talladega, Alabama, she reportedly graduated from high school at the age of 14. She became a radio singer on the radio. She attended the University of Alabama and Converse College, Cincinnati.

In 1929 in Cincinnati she made her stage debut in a stock company. She subsequently appeared on Broadway in Rachel Crothers' Caught Wet (1931). She entered the movies playing Richard Arlen's finaceé in Wayward (1932), but her best-remembered role is probably as Rita Ross in Murder at the Vanities (1934), one of the last pre-Code films, in which she sang an ode to marijuana (Sweet Marijuana).

She had an affair with writer Paul Cain (aka Peter Ruric). After they broke up, Cain wrote the role of the alcoholic lover (based on Michael) in his only novel published during his lifetime, Fast One.

Gertrude Michael died, aged 53, from undisclosed causes, in Beverly Hills, California.

Filmography

• Allotment Wives (1945)
• Parole Fixer (1940) .... Colette Menthe
• Just Like a Woman (1939) .... Ann Heston
• Hidden Power (1939) .... Virginia
• Star of the Circus (1938) .... Yester
• Sophie Lang Goes West (1937) .... Sophie Lang
• Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937) .... Jessica Stafford
• Make Way for a Lady (1936) .... Eleanor Emerson
• Second Wife (1936) .... Virginia Howard
• The Return of Sophie Lang (1936) .... Sophie Lang
• Forgotten Faces (1936) .... Cleo Ashton
• Till We Meet Again (1936) .... Elsa Duranyl
• Woman Trap (1936) .... Barbara 'Buff' Andrews
• The Last Outpost (1935) .... Rosemary Haydon
• Four Hours to Kill! (1935) .... Mrs. Sylvia Temple
• It Happened in New York (1935) .... Vania Nardi
• Father Brown, Detective (1934) .... Evelyn Fischer
• Cleopatra (1934) .... Calpurnia
• The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934) .... Sophie Lang
• Murder on the Blackboard (1934) .... Jane Davis
• Murder at the Vanities (1934) .... Rita Ross
• The Witching Hour (1934) .... Margaret Price
• I Believed in You (1934) .... Pamela Banks
• Hold That Girl (1934) .... Dorothy Lamont
• George White's Scandals (1934) (uncredited) .... Miss Lee
• Bolero (1934) .... Lady D'Argon
• Search for Beauty (1934) .... Jean Strange
• Cradle Song (1933) .... Marcella
• I'm No Angel (1933) .... Alicia Hatton
• Ann Vickers (1933) .... Mona Dolphin
• Night of Terror (1933) .... Sarah Rinehart
• A Bedtime Story (1933) .... Louise
• Sailor Be Good (1933) .... Kay Whitney
• Unashamed (1932) .... Marjorie
• Wayward (1932) .... Mary Morton

Television appearances

• Sea Hunt .... Mrs. Friedrich (1 episode, 1961)
• Perry Mason .... Helen Rucker (1 episode, 1958)
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (3 episodes, 1952-1957)
• The 20th Century-Fox Hour .... Kate (1 episode, 1957)
• The New Adventures of Charlie Chan .... Joyce Fenton (1 episode, 1957)
• Cameo Theatre (1 episode, 1955)
• Four Star Playhouse .... Fanny (1 episode, 1955)
• The Ford Television Theatre .... Belle (1 episode, 1954)
• Private Secretary .... Hollywood Star (1 episode, 1954)
• The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse .... Coralee (1 episode, 1954)
• Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson (1 episode, 1954)
• Meet Corliss Archer ... Mrs. Wilson (1 episode)
• Cavalcade of America .... Major Pauline Cushman (1 episode)

References

External links

• Gertrude Michael at the Internet Movie Database
• Gertrude Michael at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gertrude Michael at Allmovie
• Gertrude Michael at Find a Grave