Childhood & Early Life
Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana on May 7, 1923 to a sales manager, Kenneth Stuart Baxter and his wife Catherine Dorothy Wright, daughter of the famous architect Frank Llyod Wright.
She attended the ‘Brearley School’ after her family moved to New York from Michigan when Anne was eleven.
She made her stage debut at the tender age of thirteen with the murder mystery ‘Seen But Not Heard’ in 1936.
She followed it up with ‘There’s Always a Breeze’ and ‘Madame Capet’ on Broadway in 1938.
During the summer of 1938 and 1939 she also appeared in various plays at the ‘Cape Playhouse’ in Dennis, Massachusetts.
After being rejected for the play ‘The Philadelphia Story’ she went to Hollywood to give a test for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’ but was rejected again as she looked too young opposite Laurence Olivier.
Anne was signed up by ‘20th Century Fox’ for a seven year contract in February, 1940.
In 1949 she was loaned to another studio for a small role in a minor western ‘20 Mule Team’ and in ‘The Great Profile’.
In 1941 she graduated from the ‘University High School’ in Los Angeles and acted in Jack Benny’s version of Charley’s Aunt’.
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Career
Anne Baxter got her first decent role in ‘Swamp Water’ directed by Jean Renoir.
Her next roles were in ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ directed by Orson Welles, ‘Pied Piper’ in 1942 and the Technicolor film ‘Crash Drive’ in 1943.
In 1943 she was loaned to ‘Paramount’ to act in Billy Wilder’s ‘Five Graves to Cairo’. In the same year producer Samuel Goldwyn took her on loan for ‘North Star’.
She appeared in ‘The Sullivans’ in 1944. The same year she also appeared in ‘The Eve of St. Mark’. She next appeared in ‘Sunday Dinner for a Soldier’. She starred in another film in 1944, ‘Guest in the House’, this time for ‘United Artists’.
In 1945 she got a very small role in ‘A Royal Scandal’.
In 1946 she acted in the Technicolor film ‘Smoky’ and followed it up with ‘Angel on My Shoulder’, again for ‘United Artists’
Her next film ‘Razor’s Edge’ was directed by Edmund Goulding.
She did her next film ‘Blaze of Noon’ in 1947 for ‘Paramount’.
Anne appeared with her husband John Hodiak in ‘Homecoming’ in 1948. In 1948 she acted in the popular film ‘The Wells of Jericho’ and ‘Luck of the Irish’.
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She appeared in the musical ‘You’re My Everything’ and then in ‘A Ticket to Tomahawk’ in 1950.
Her next appearance was in ‘All About Eve’ in 1950 for which she received an Oscar nomination.
She acted in ‘Follow The Sun’ in 1951.
Her last year with ‘Fox’ was 1952 during which she acted in the films ‘Outcasts of Poker’, ‘My Wife’s Best Friend’ and ‘The Last Leaf’.
After leaving ‘Fox’ she signed a two-year contract with ‘Warner Bros’ and got a role in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘I Confess’ in 1953 and then in ‘The Blue Gardenia’.
She did the low-budget ‘Carnival Story’ in 1954, ‘Bedevilled’ for MGM, ‘One Desire’ for ‘Universal’, ‘The Spoilers’ in 1955 and finally another low-budget film ‘The Come-On’ in 1956.
In 1956 she appeared in ‘The Ten Commandments’.
In 1957 she appeared in ‘The three Violent People’ and appeared on Broadway in ‘The Square Root of Wonderful’.
She opted for a role in Douglas Fairbank’s ‘Chase a Crooked Shadow’ made in England. While in England she acted in the play ‘The Joshua Tree’ for three months.
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After coming back to the United States she worked for the television films ‘Cimarron’, ‘Mix Me a Person’ and ‘Season of Passion’ in 1961.
She did not make any films for the next three years after acting in ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in 1962.
She did a cameo in ‘Family Jewels’ in 1965, acted in a spaghetti Western ‘Tall Women’ and in ‘The Busy Body’ in 1967.
During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared as a guest artist in TV shows ‘Batman’, ‘The FBI, ‘Ironside’, ‘The Big Valley’, ‘The Name of the Game’, ‘Marcus Welby, MD’, ‘Cannon’ ‘Bancek’, ‘The Love Boat’, ‘Mannix’ and others.
During the 1970s she appeared in the Broadway production ‘Applause’. She continued acting with the play ‘Fool’s Paradise’ in 1971, TV movie ‘Little Mo’, the mini-series ‘East of Eden’ 1981 and ‘Hotel’ in 1983. Her last appearance was in ‘The Masks of Death’ in 1984.
Awards & Achievements
Anne Baxter won the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Oscar and the ‘Golden Globe Award’ in 1947 for ‘Razor’s Edge’.
In 1951 she was nominated for an ‘Academy Award for Best Actress’ for ‘All About Eve’.
She was honored with a star on the ‘Hollywood Walk of Fame’ on February 8, 1960.
In 1969 she won a ‘Primetime Emmy Award’ nomination for ‘Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role’ for the film ‘The Name of the Game’.
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She was made honorary mayor of the ‘Universal City’ in 1970.
Personal Life & Legacy
She married actor John Hodiak on July 7, 1946 and divorced him on January 27, 1953. She had a daughter, Katrina from this marriage.
She married Beverly Randolph Galt, an Air Force pilot, on February 18, 1960, and divorced him in 1968. She had two daughters, Melissa and Maginal from this marriage.
Her third marriage was with a stockbroker named David Gutman Klee on January 30, 1977 who he died suddenly nine months later.
Anne Baxter died of a brain aneurysm on December 12, 1985 in New York City while walking down Madison Avenue.
Facts About Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter was known for her love of animals, particularly dogs, and often worked with animal charities throughout her life.
She was a talented painter and enjoyed creating art in her spare time.
Anne Baxter had a passion for gardening and spent many hours tending to her beautiful garden.
She was an avid reader and had an extensive collection of books spanning various genres.
Anne Baxter was known for her quick wit and sense of humor, which endeared her to many of her colleagues in the entertainment industry.
