Ellen Drew


Ellen Drew was an American film actress.

Biography

Early life

Drew, born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1914, was the daughter of an Irish-born barber. She had a younger brother, Arden. Her parents separated in 1931. She worked various jobs and won a number of beauty contests before becoming an actress. Moving to Hollywood in an attempt to become a star, she was discovered while working at an ice cream parlor where one of the customers, actor William Demarest, took notice of her and eventually helped her get into films.

Career

Ray's venture into the movies brought about a conflict in names when she tried starting her career with the name Terry Ray which happened to be the name of another Terry Ray, a male actor. A 1937 newspaper photo showed the resolution of the conflict as "They conferred, drew lots from the hat and masculine Terry Ray became Terry Rains, while feminine Terry Ray remained as before." She later tried the name of Erin Drew.
After appearing in 25 features using her birth name, she became a fixture at Paramount Pictures officially as Ellen Drew from 1938 to 1944, where she appeared in as many as six films per year, including Sing You Sinners with Bing Crosby and The Lady's from Kentucky with George Raft. She moved to RKO in 1944. Among her leading men were Ronald Colman, William Holden, Basil Rathbone, Dick Powell, and Robert Preston.
Her films include Christmas in July, Isle of the Dead, Johnny O'Clock, The Man from Colorado, The Crooked Way and The Baron of Arizona with Vincent Price. In the 1950s, with her movie career on the decline, she worked as a television actress. Among her final roles was the part of Julia Webberly in the 1960 Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Larcenous Lady".

Radio

On June 23, 1943, Drew co-starred with Agnes Moorehead and Ted Reid in "Uncle Henry's Rosebush" on Suspense, and on July 25, 1943, she co-starred with Preston Foster in "China Bridge", a presentation of Silver Theater on CBS radio. She also appeared twice on the Kate Smith Hour.

Death

Drew died on December 3, 2003, in Palm Desert, California of a liver ailment, aged 89. She was survived by her son, David, and five grandchildren. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

Honors

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Drew was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.

Partial filmography