Anita Louise


Anita Louise was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Story of Louis Pasteur, Anthony Adverse, Marie Antoinette and The Little Princess. She was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star, and frequently described as one of the cinema's more fashionable and stylish women.
Louise had delicate features and blonde hair, with ageless grace, which saw her through 30 years in film, beginning as a child actress before becoming a featured player during Hollywood's Golden Age.

Life and career

Louise was born on January 9, 1915, in New York City, the daughter of Louis Fremault and Ann Fremault.
She attended the Professional Children's School. She made her acting debut on Broadway at the age of seven, in Peter Ibbetson. Within a year, she was appearing regularly in Hollywood films. By her late teens, she was cast in leading and supporting roles in major productions and highly regarded for her delicate features and blonde hair.
At age seven, Louise appeared in the film Down to the Sea in Ships. She made her first credited screen debut at the age of nine in the film The Sixth Commandment. In 1929, Louise dropped her surname, billing herself by her first and second names only.
As her stature in Hollywood grew, she was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star and frequently was described as one of cinema's more fashionable and stylish women. Her reputation was enhanced by her role as Hollywood society hostess, with her parties attended by the elite of Hollywood, and widely and regularly reported in the news media.
Among her film successes were Just Like Heaven, Madame Du Barry, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Story of Louis Pasteur, Anthony Adverse, Marie Antoinette, The Sisters, and The Little Princess.
By the 1940s, she was reduced to mostly secondary roles and her film career started to slow. Some of her films during this time are Casanova Brown, Nine Girls, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, Blondie's Big Moment, and Bulldog Drummond at Bay. Her last appearance in movies was in the 1952 war film Retreat, Hell!. Louise was reduced to minor roles and acted very infrequently until the advent of television in the 1950s provided her with further opportunities. In middle age, she played one of her more widely seen roles as the gentle mother Nell McLaughlin in the television series My Friend Flicka from 1956 to 1957, with co-stars Johnny Washbrook, Gene Evans, and Frank Ferguson. Louise was also the substitute host of The Loretta Young Show when Loretta Young was recuperating from surgery. In 1957, she was host of Theater Time on ABC-TV. Other shows Anita hosted include The United States Steel Hour and Playhouse 90. Her last television appearance was in a 1970 episode of the Mod Squad.

Personal life and death

Louise virtually retired after My Friend Flicka, which was rebroadcast thereafter for a generation. Her husband, film producer Buddy Adler, whom she married on May 18, 1940, died in 1960. They had two children. She married Henry Berger in 1962. Louise died of a stroke on April 25, 1970, in West Los Angeles, California. She was buried next to Adler at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. She was 55 years old.
Louise has a star at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of her contribution to films.
A Republican, she supported Dwight Eisenhower's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1922Down to the Sea in ShipsUncredited
1924The Sixth Commandment
1924Lend Me Your Husband
1925The Street of Forgotten MenFlower GirlUncredited
1926The Untamed Lady
1927The Music Master
1927MemoriesShort
19284 DevilsLouise
1928A Woman of AffairsDiana as a ChildUncredited
1929The Spirit of YouthToodles Ewing
1929Square ShouldersMary Jane Williams
1929Wonder of WomenLottie
1929The Marriage PlaygroundBlanca Wheater
1930The Florodora GirlVibart Child
1930What a ManMarion Kilbourne
1930Just Like HeavenMimi Martell
1930The Third AlarmMilly Morton
1931The Great MeadowBetty Hall
1931MillieConstance 'Connie' Maitland
1931Everything's RosieRosie Droop
1931The Woman BetweenHelen Weston
1931Heaven On EarthTowhead
1932The Phantom of CrestwoodEsther Wren
1933Our BettersElizabeth 'Bessie' Saunders
1934The Most Precious Thing in LifePatty O'Day
1934Are We Civilized?Norma Bockner
1934Madame DuBarryMarie Antoinette
1934Cross StreetsClara Grattan
1934I Give My LoveLorna March
1934Judge PriestEllie May Gillespie
1934The FirebirdMariette Pointer
1934Bachelor of ArtsMimi Smith
1935Lady TubbsWynne Howard
1935Here's to RomanceLydia Lubov
1935A Midsummer Night's DreamTitania, Queen of the Fairies
1935Personal Maid's SecretDiana Abercrombie
1936The Story of Louis PasteurAnnette Pasteur
1936Brides Are Like ThatHazel Robinson
1936Anthony AdverseMaria
1937Green LightPhyllis Dexter
1937Call It a DayJoan Collett, the maid
1937The Go GetterMargaret Ricks
1937That Certain WomanFlorence 'Flip' Carson Merrick
1937First LadyEmmy Page
1937TovarichHelene Dupont
1938My BillMuriel Colbrook
1938Marie AntoinettePrincesse de Lamballe
1938The SistersHelen Elliot Johnson
1938Going PlacesEllen Parker
1939The Little PrincessRose Hamilton
1939The GorillaNorma Denby
1939These Glamour GirlsDaphne 'Daph' Graves
1939Hero for a DaySylvia Higgins
1939Main Street LawyerHoney Boggs
1939RenoMrs. Joanne Ryder
1940Wagons WestwardPhyllis O'Conover
1940Glamour for SaleAnn Powell
1940The Villain Still Pursued HerMary Wilson
1941The Phantom SubmarineMadeline Neilson
1941Two in a TaxiBonnie
1941Harmon of MichiganPeggy Adams
1943Dangerous BlondesJulie Taylor
1944Nine GirlsPaula Canfield
1944Casanova BrownMadge Ferris
1945Love LettersHelen Wentworth
1946The Fighting GuardsmanAmelie de Montrevel
1946The Bandit of Sherwood ForestLady Catherine Maitland
1946The Devil's MaskJanet Mitchell
1946Personality KidLaura Howard
1946ShadowedCarol Johnson
1947Blondie's Big MomentMiss Gary
1947Bulldog Drummond at BayDoris Hamilton
1952Retreat, Hell!Ruth Hansen

Television