Joan Blondell Biography

Fast Facts

• Honored in 2007 by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City
• Attended the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas, which was at the time a teacher's college
• Born to a vaudeville family, she started performing on Broadway in 1927
• Quote: "There's a very fine line between underacting and not acting at all․"
• Was raped by a police officer in 1927, a fact she kept secret until she told her daughter decades later
• Often collaborated with James Cagney on film projects
• Widely recognized for her wisecracking antics in movies
• Replaced Bea Benaderet for one episode of "Petticoat Junction" when the actress was sick
• Under contract with Warner Brothers, studio head Jack Warner wanted to change her name to "Inez Holmes," but she refused
• Won the Miss Dallas pageant in 1926 under the name Rosebud Blondell, later placing fourth for Miss America
• Would talk her way through song and dance numbers while cast in musicals