Mary Astor
Born
May 3, 1906
Died
September 25, 1987 (81 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Quincy, Illinois, USA
Mary Astor (May 3, 1906 - September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Most remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941) with Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s. She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost saw her career destroyed due to public scandal in the mid-1930s. She was sued for support by her parents and was later branded an adulterous wife by her ex-husband during a custody fight over her daughter.
Overcoming these stumbling blocks in her private life, Astor went on to even greater success on the screen, eventually winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak in The Great Lie (1941). She was an MGM contract player through most of the 1940s and continued to act in movies, on television and on stage until her retirement from the screen in 1964.
Astor was the author of five novels. Her autobiography became a bestseller, as did her later book, A Life on Film, which was specifically about her career. Director Lindsay Anderson wrote of her in 1990: "...(W)hen two or three who love the cinema are gathered together, the name of Mary Astor always comes up, and everybody agrees that she was an actress of special attraction, whose qualities of depth and reality always seemed to illuminate the parts she played."
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Known For
The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
Self (archive footage)
2006
Bogart: The Untold Story
Self (archive footage)
1997
Hollywood
Self · (13 episodes)
1980
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Self (archive footage)
1973
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Jewel Mayhew
1964
Youngblood Hawke
Irene Perry
1964
Burke's Law
Florence Roberts · (1 episode)
1963
Ben Casey
(1 episode)
1961
Dr. Kildare
Martha Lantzinge · (1 episode)
1961
Dr. Kildare
Aunt Frances · (1 episode)
1961
The Defenders
Flora Goode · (1 episode)
1961
Return to Peyton Place
Mrs. Roberta Carter
1961
Checkmate
Esther Brack · (1 episode)
1960
Thriller
Rose French · (1 episode)
1960
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Mrs. Leslie
1960
A Stranger in My Arms
Virgilnie Beasley
1959
Rawhide
Emma Cardwell · (1 episode)
1959
This Happy Feeling
Mrs. Tremaine
1958
The Devil's Hairpin
Mrs. Jargin
1957
The Ninth Day
1957
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Sarah Simmons · (1 episode)
1956
The Power and the Prize
Mrs. George Salt
1956
A Kiss Before Dying
Mrs. Corliss
1956
Playwrights '56
(1 episode)
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Mrs. Fenimore · (1 episode)
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Grace Dolan · (1 episode)
1955
The Thief
Isabelle Lagarde
1955
Producers' Showcase
Nancy Blake · (1 episode)
1954
Climax!
Mrs. Harriss · (1 episode)
1954
Climax!
Ethel Allen · (1 episode)
1954
Climax!
Martha · (1 episode)
1954
Climax!
Clarissa Bowman · (1 episode)
1954
Yesterday and Today
(archive footage)
1953
The United States Steel Hour
Isabelle Lagarde · (1 episode)
1953
General Electric Theater
Bea Hicks · (1 episode)
1953
Lux Video Theatre
Margaret Eliot · (1 episode)
1950
Lux Video Theatre
Mildred Le Brun · (1 episode)
1950
Robert Montgomery Presents
Norma Desmond · (1 episode)
1950
Any Number Can Play
Ada
1949
Little Women
Marmee
1949
Act of Violence
Pat
1949
Studio One
Ruth Sparling · (1 episode)
1948
Studio One
Harriet Brand · (1 episode)
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
(1 episode)
1948
Cass Timberlane
Queenie Havock
1947
Cynthia
Louise Bishop
1947
Desert Fury
Fritzi Haller
1947
Fiesta
Señora Morales
1947
Okay for Sound
Adriana (archive footage)
1946
Claudia and David
Elizabeth Van Doren
1946
Blonde Fever
Delilah Donay
1944
Meet Me in St. Louis
Anna Smith
1944
Thousands Cheer
Hyllary Jones
1943
Young Ideas
Josephine Evans
1943
Across the Pacific
Alberta Marlow
1942
The Palm Beach Story
The Princess Centimillia
1942
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
The Maltese Falcon
Brigid O'Shaughnessy
1941
The Great Lie
Sandra Kovak
1941
Brigham Young
Mary Ann Young
1940
Turnabout
Marion Manning
1940
Midnight
Helene Flammarion
1939
Listen, Darling
Dottie Wingate
1938
Woman Against Woman
Cynthia Holland
1938
Paradise for Three
Mrs. Irene Mallebre
1938
There's Always a Woman
Lola Fraser
1938
No Time to Marry
Kay McGowan
1938
The Hurricane
Mme. DeLaage
1937
The Prisoner of Zenda
Antoinette de Mauban
1937
Lady from Nowhere
Polly Dunlap
1936
Dodsworth
Edith Cortright
1936
Trapped by Television
Barbara 'Bobby' Blake
1936
And So They Were Married
Edith Farnham
1936
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
Lillian Cooper
1936
Man of Iron
Vida
1935
Page Miss Glory
Gladys
1935
Dinky
Martha Daniels
1935
Straight from the Heart
Marian Henshaw
1935
Red Hot Tires
Patricia Sanford
1935
I Am a Thief
Odette Mauclair
1934
The Hollywood Gad-About
Self
1934
The Case of the Howling Dog
Bessie Foley
1934
The Man with Two Faces
Jessica Wells
1934
Return of the Terror
Olga Morgan
1934
Upperworld
Hettie Stream
1934
Easy to Love
Charlotte
1934
Convention City
Arlene Dale
1933
The World Changes
Virginia Claffin Nordholm
1933
The Kennel Murder Case
Hilda Lake
1933
Jennie Gerhardt
Letty Pace
1933
The Little Giant
Ruth Wayburn
1933
Red Dust
Barbara "Babs" Willis
1932
A Successful Calamity
Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton
1932
Those We Love
May Ballard
1932
The Lost Squadron
Follette Marsh
1932
Men of Chance
Marthe
1931
Smart Woman
Nancy Gibson
1931
White Shoulders
Norma Selbee
1931
The Sin Ship
Frisco Kitty
1931
Behind Office Doors
Mary Linden
1931
Other Men's Women
Lily Kulper
1931
The Royal Bed
Princess Anne
1931
The Lash
Dona Rosita Garcia
1930
Holiday
Julia Seton
1930
Ladies Love Brutes
Mimi Howell
1930
The Runaway Bride
Mary Gray
1930
The Show of Shows
Performer in 'The Pirate' Number (uncredited)
1929
The Woman from Hell
Dee Renaud
1929
New Year's Eve
Marjorie Ware
1929
Romance of the Underworld
Judith Andrews
1928
Dry Martini
Elizabeth Quimby
1928
Heart to Heart
Princess Delatorre / Ellen Guthrie
1928
3-Ring Marriage
Anna
1928
Dressed to Kill
Jeanne
1928
Sailors' Wives
Carol Trent
1928
No Place to Go
Sally Montgomery
1927
The Rough Riders
Dolly
1927
Rose of the Golden West
Elena
1927
Two Arabian Knights
Mirza
1927
The Sunset Derby
Molly Gibson
1927
The Sea Tiger
Amy Cortissos
1927
Forever After
Jennie Clayton
1926
Don Juan
Adriana della Varnese
1926
The Wise Guy
Mary
1926
High Steppers
Audrey Nye
1926
Scarlet Saint
Fidele Tridon
1925
The Pace That Thrills
Doris
1925
Don Q Son of Zorro
Dolores de Muro
1925
Playing with Souls
Margo
1925
Enticement
Leonore Bewlay
1925
Oh, Doctor!
Dolores Hicks
1925
Inez from Hollywood
Fay Bartholdi
1924
The Price of a Party
Alice Barrows
1924
To the Ladies
Undetermined Secondary Role
1924
Unguarded Women
Helen Castle
1924
The Fighting American
Mary Brainard
1924
Beau Brummel
Lady Margery Alvanley
1924
The Fighting Coward
Lucy
1924
Woman-Proof
Violet Lynwood
1923
The Marriage Maker
Vivian Hope-Clarke
1923
Puritan Passions
Rachel
1923
Hollywood
Mary Astor
1923
The Bright Shawl
Narcissa Escobar
1923
Success
Rose Randolph
1923
Second Fiddle
Polly Crawford
1923
The Rapids
Elsie Worden
1922
The Man Who Played God
Young Woman
1922
Hope
Joan - the Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
1922
John Smith
Irene Mason
1922
The Young Painter
Helen Seymour
1922
The Angelus
Bit Part
1922
Wings of the Border
1921
The Beggar Maid
Peasant Girl / Beggar Maid
1921
My Lady o' the Pines
Norah Collison
1921
Sentimental Tommy
1921
Brother of the Bear
Marcia Harthorn
1921
Bullets or Ballots
Bit Part
1921