Anne Baxter was an American actress who worked on stage, movie, and television for nearly five decades. Anne’s family encouraged her to pursue acting instead of higher education. Since the studio had other brilliant actresses on its payroll like Linda Darnell, Gene Tierney, and Jeanne Crain, she was never given the respect she deserved. Despite her talent, ‘Fox’ utilized her in a game of ‘give and take’ with other studios. Her adaptability allowed her to play a variety of characters in a variety of situations, allowing Fox to loan her to studios like Paramount, Universal, and others to make successful pictures. She was a superb actress, but her experience with ‘20th Century Fox’ was not always joyous. Her acting career had many ups and downs, but she managed to come out on top.
Early Childhood of Anne Baxter
Architect Frank Llyod Wright’s daughter Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana on May 7, 1923.
Upon Anne’s eleventh birthday, her family relocated from Michigan to New York.
In 1936, at the age of thirteen, she made her stage debut in ‘Seen But Not Heard’.
On Broadway, she did ‘There’s Always a Breeze’ and ‘Madame Capet’ in 1938.
During the summers of 1938 and 1939, she performed at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Mass.
She travelled to Hollywood to test for Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca but was rejected again because she appeared too young opposite Laurence Olivier.
‘20th Century Fox’ signed Anne for a seven year deal in February 1940.
1949 saw her in a little western, ‘20 Mule Team,’ and in ‘The Great Profile.’
In 1941, she graduated from UCLA and starred in Jack Benny’s Charley’s Aunt.
Anne Baxter had her breakthrough performance in Jean Renoir’s ‘Swamp Water’.
Orson Welles’ ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’, ‘Pied Piper’, and ‘Crash Drive’ followed in 1942 and 1943.
In 1943, she acted in Billy Wilder’s “Five Graves to Cairo” for Paramount. In the same year, Samuel Goldwyn lent her to ‘North Star’.
On the Sullivans, 1944. In the same year she starred in ‘Mark’s Eve’. In ‘Sunday Dinner for a Soldier’, In 1944, she starred in ‘Guest in the House’ for ‘United Artists’.
‘A Royal Scandal’ in 1945 gave her a minor role.
In 1946, she starred in ‘Smoky’ and ‘Angel on My Shoulder’, both for ‘United Artists’.
Edmund Goulding directed her in ‘Razor’s Edge’.
Her next film was for Paramount, ‘Blaze of Noon’.
Anne starred in ‘Homecoming’ alongside John Hodiak in 1948. She starred in ‘The Wells of Jericho’ and ‘Luck of the Irish’ in 1948.
In 1950, she starred in ‘You’re My Everything’ and ‘A Ticket to Tomahawk’.
In 1950, she starred in ‘All About Eve,’ for which she was nominated for an Oscar
in ‘Follow The Sun’ 1951.
In 1952, she appeared in the films ‘Outcasts of Poker’, ‘My Wife’s Best Friend’, and ‘The Last Leaf’.
When she left Fox in 1953, she signed a two-year contract with Warner Bros. and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s “I Confess” and “The Blue Gardenia”.
‘Carnival Story’ in 1954, ‘Bedevilled’ for MGM, ‘One Desire’ for Universal, ‘The Spoilers’ in 1955, and ‘The Come-On’ in 1956.
The Ten Commandments in 1956.
‘The Three Violent People’ and ‘The Square Root of Wonderful’ both on Broadway in 1957.
“Chase a Crooked Shadow” (DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS) was made in England. She spent three months in the English play ‘The Joshua Tree’.
In 1961, she worked on the television films Cimarron, Mix Me a Person, and Season of Passion.
After ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in 1962, she didn’t act for three years.
She appeared in ‘Family Jewels’ in 1965, ‘Tall Women’ in 1967, and ‘The Busy Body’ in 1968.
in ‘Batman,’ ‘The FBI,’ ‘Ironside,’ ‘The Big Valley,’ ‘The Name of the Game’ and others in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the 1970s, she starred on Broadway in ‘Applause’. In 1971, she appeared in ‘Fool’s Paradise’, followed by ‘Little Mo’, ‘East of Eden’ and ‘Hotel’. Her last film was 1984’s “The Masks of Death.”
Honors & Awards
In 1947, Anne Baxter received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role in ‘Razor’s Edge’.
Oscar nomination for ‘All About Eve’ in 1951.
On February 8, 1960, she got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1969, she was nominated for a ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ for her role in ‘The Name of the Game’.Honorary Mayor of ‘Universal City’ since 1970.
Personal Legacy of Anne Baxter
She divorced actor John Hodiak on January 27, 1953. It produced one daughter, Katrina.
Beverly Randolph Galt, an Air Force pilot, divorced her on February 18, 1960. Melissa and Maginal were born from this marriage.
On January 30, 1977, she married a stockbroker named David Gutman Klee, who died nine months later.
On December 12, 1985, while walking down Madison Avenue, Anne Baxter died of a brain aneurysm.
Estimated Net Worth
Anne is one of the wealthiest and most popular Celebrities. Anne Baxter net worth is estimated at $77 Million by Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
Despite her Oscar, Anne Baxter was undervalued by 20th Century Fox.