Gloria Grahame

GLORIA GRAHAME d1981. American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life, the studio did not believe she had the potential for major success and sold her contract to RKO. Often cast in film-noir projects, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire (1947) and then later won the award for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). She achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear (1952) / The Big Heat (1953) / Human Desire (1954) and Oklahoma (1955) but her film career began to wane soon afterwards. She died in New York aged 57 on October 5th 1981