THE TRAGEDY OF HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS LINDA DARNELL (16 OCTOBER, 1923 - 10 APRIL, 1965)

 

1923 - 1965

Linda Darnell was a child model who found her way into movies and theatre.

Her family life, to say the least, was unsettled, described as "domestic turmoil".  Her mother spotted certain talents in her daughter and reckoned she could make a successful career in the entrainment business.  There are more than enough hints that mother's selfishness and financial ambitions played a major part in encouraging and pushing Linda.

After her first film, Hotel for Women (1939), the media hailed Linda Darnell as Hollywood's newest star. She was a beautiful girl.  As a young woman, she found film-making to be hard work and not what she expected.

She made some films starring Tyrone Power, notably Brigham Young (1940) and The Mark of Zorro (1940) and Blood and Sand (1941) but her stardom began to fade quite quickly and significant film roles were hard to come by.  Darryl F. Zanuck once a big supporter lost interest in furthering her career.

In 1943, she was cast but uncredited as the Virgin Mary in The Song of Bernadette.  She was still considered to be a very beautiful woman but compliments alone did not help her career and financial standing.

Luckily, in 1946, she was cast in a major movie, Forever Amber, and received high praise.  She had top billing over Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene and George Sanders.  After that, there was a reasonable short run of successes.  In 1949, she appeared in A Letter to Three Wives and received what was regarded as the highest praise in her career.  It was so good that she was tipped for an Academy Award.  Alas, it was not to be.

He career career began to slump again and although she made films, they were mostly forgettable.

Here's a link to her screen CV: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001105/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_8_q_Linda%2520Darnell

Linda Darnell was married three times.  None of the marriages were particularly happy.  She had a number of affairs, but none seemed to end well.  Eventually she fell into depression, reportedly attempting suicide.  She became a heavy drinker.

On 10 April, 1965, she lived in Glenview, Illinois.  The house she lived in caught fire and Linda was found by firefighters lying next to a smoking sofa.  Her body had 80% burns.  She did not survive treatment in a burns unit, and died at 41.

Linda Darnell had moments of joy as a Hollywood star and despair in much of her private life.

But her star at 1631 Vine Street in the motion pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at least some indication that she will not be completely forgotten.

Note:

From July 2011 to March 2023, I built my Dropped the Moon blog and received 333, 384 views.  Here is the link to that archive of musings, poetry, celebrity profiles, fast fiction, book reviews, music reviews, and much else - https://droppedthemoon.blogspot.com Please have a browse any time.  Due to a technical hitch, I have decided to create a new blog called '2023 New Dropped the Moon', to carry on doing what I have done since 2011.  I hope you enjoy both the archive and the continuance of posts.