Josephine Whittell


Josephine Whittell was an American character actress of the silent and sound film eras.

Early years

Whittell was born on November 30, 1883, in San Francisco, California, Her father was Charles W. Cunningham.

Career

Early in her career, Whittell performed as a chorus girl in Anna Held's theatrical company.
Whittell began her film career during the silent era, debuting in a featured role in 1917's Alimony. She appeared in four silent films between 1917 and 1921, before taking a hiatus from the film industry. In 1931 Whittell returned to films, with supporting roles in two Wheeler and Woolsey comedies, Caught Plastered and Peach O'Reno. During her 43-year career, she appeared in more than 70 films. In the early 1930s, she appeared frequently as the older seductress in films, prior to the enactment of the film code in the mid-1930s.
Over her career Whittell appeared in many notable films, either in supporting or small roles. Some of those films include: Stage Door, starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Adolphe Menjou; 1939's The Women, with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell; the 1945 version of State Fair, starring Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews; King Vidor's The Fountainhead, the film version of the Ayn Rand novel of the same name, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal; the musical, In the Good Old Summertime, with Judy Garland and Van Johnson; George Stevens' A Place in the Sun, starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters; the Cecil B. De Mille epic, The Greatest Show on Earth; and the classic 1954 version of A Star is Born, directed by George Cukor, and starring Garland and James Mason.
She remained active in films till very late in life, making her last appearance in 1959's The Buccaneer, directed by Anthony Quinn, and starring Yul Brynner, Claire Bloom, Charles Boyer, and Inger Stevens.

Personal life

In May 1904, Josephine Cunningham's purported engagement to George Whittell Jr. was a subject of dispute. She and her mother said that a diamond ring was evidence of the engagement. Meanwhile, George Whittell Sr. denied any engagement. On June 2, 1904, they were married in Jersey City, New Jersey. Whittell married actor Robert Warwick in 1910. When she acted on stage and he worked in films, they lived in New York and California, respectively, and visited each other occasionally.

Death

On June 1, 1961, Whittell died in Hollywood, California, at age 77. She was cremated and interred in Chapel Of The Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

Filmography