Miriam Hopkins Biography

Fast Facts

• Served as the vice-president of the Hollywood Democratic Committee in the 1930s and 1940s
• A trained ballerina, she started pursuing acting after breaking her ankle before touring with a ballet troupe
• Started in show business as a chorus girl in New York City
• Quote: "It makes a good story when women have feuds on their pictures ․ ․ ․ Somebody thought it would be good publicity for Bette [Davis] and me to have a feud․"
• Quote: "Me temperamental? I never was․ Proof of that is that I made four pictures with Willie Wyler, who is a very demanding director․ I made two with Rouben Mamoulian who is the same․ Two with Ernst Lubitsch, such a dear man․"
• Often takes on the role of Southern belles in films
• Was the first choice to portray the character Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind․"
• Was offered the eventual Oscar-winning role of Ellie Andrews in "It Happened One Night," but turned the part down