--- name: "Joan Blondell" canonical: "https://film.one/person/joan-blondell" fi1m_id: "joan-blondell" imdb_id: "nm0000951" tmdb_id: 13568 wikidata_id: "Q242729" roles: ["Actor"] born: "30 August 1906" died: "25 December 1979" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 78 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-25T01:11:16.304759+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Joan Blondell ## Identity Joan Blondell - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joan-blondell - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** joan-blondell - **IMDb ID:** nm0000951 - **TMDB ID:** 13568 - **Wikidata ID:** Q242729 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Blondell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q242729, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000951/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13568 Actor. Born 30 August 1906 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 25 December 1979. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 30 August 1906, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 25 December 1979 - **Active:** 1931–1978 - **Also known as:** Rose Joan Blondell, Джоан Блонделл, Rosebud Blondell - **Frequently works with:** [Dick Powell](https://film.one/person/dick-powell.md), [James Cagney](https://film.one/person/james-cagney.md), [James Seymour](https://film.one/person/james-seymour.md), [Robert Lord](https://film.one/person/robert-lord.md), [Ruby Keeler](https://film.one/person/ruby-keeler.md) - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (3), 1970s 76 (1) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 2 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Crime 1, Music 1, Romance 1 - **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $402m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Blondell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q242729, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000951/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13568 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Footlight Parade*](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md) (70) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Joan Blondell > Joan Blondell delivers a wisecrack without making a fuss of it, and keeps cynical characters likeable. We rate her unforced comedy, though the films too often settle for giving her another version of the same supporting part. In *Footlight Parade* (1933), Joan Blondell’s Nan supplies dry comedy beside James Cagney’s alert, restless Chester Kent. She does not make a production of being funny, which matters in a film that spends too long postponing its musical numbers. We were glad of her company during that slow first hour: she makes the comedy feel easy when the plotting is anything but. She and Cagney give us people worth watching before Busby Berkeley’s numbers take over. *The Public Enemy* (1931) gives her a smaller share of our attention, but her Mamie helps show why William A. Wellman’s brisk film works. Its short exchanges need actors who can make the words count without slowing things down. Blondell and Mae Clarke have that assurance; Jean Harlow’s less certain delivery makes their skill easier to hear. Cagney dominates, and this is not a film to approach chiefly for Blondell, but her supporting work belongs to its strengths. Those parts came during a Warner Bros. run of roughly 50 films in the 1930s, often as wisecracking supporting women or second leads. Cagney was a recurring partner, as was Glenda Farrell in the gold-digging comedies. Blondell brings enough warmth to these cynical parts to keep the women from becoming a succession of sharp replies. The studio’s reliance on that familiar type was a limitation: being good at a particular job meant being asked to do it rather too often. After leaving Warners in 1938–39, she moved into freelance work and character parts. Aunt Sissy in Elia Kazan’s *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* (1945) gave that warmth more room in a dramatic role. Later, John Cassavetes cast her as the cynical playwright Sarah Goode in *Opening Night* (1977). The worldly women remained, but she had more to do than find the next wisecrack. We would start with *The Public Enemy*, accepting that Cagney gets most of the attention. For her comic partnership with him, try *Footlight Parade*. Allow some patience for the stretches when neither of them can make the story move. ## Biography Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in film, television and on stage for more than fifty years. Born Rose Joan Blondell in New York City, she began her career in vaudeville with her parents before winning the Miss Dallas beauty contest in 1926. She made her Broadway debut in the Ziegfeld Follies and appeared in several stage productions, including the 1929 play Penny Arcade with James Cagney. Warner Bros. signed her after the play was filmed as Sinners' Holiday (1930). Blondell became a contract player at the studio and appeared in numerous pre-Code films, often in supporting roles as a wisecracking blonde. She played Mamie in The Public Enemy (1931) and co-starred with Glenda Farrell in nine films. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Blue Veil (1951). Blondell continued working into the late 1970s, with later film roles including Vi in Grease (1978) and Dolly Kenyon in The Champ (1979). She also appeared in television series such as The Twilight Zone and Bonanza, and received a Tony Award nomination for her stage work. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, encyclopedia.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Grease* (1978), Fi1m 76, as Vi — [page](https://film.one/film/grease.md) - *Footlight Parade* (1933), Fi1m 70, as Nan — [page](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md) - *Gold Diggers of 1933* (1933), Fi1m 82, as Carol — [page](https://film.one/film/gold-diggers-of-1933.md) - *The Public Enemy* (1931), Fi1m 83, as Mamie — [page](https://film.one/film/the-public-enemy.md) ## Complete filmography (155) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Going Hollywood: The '30s* (1984), as (archive footage) - *The Woman Inside* (1981), as Aunt Coll - *The Glove* (1979), as Mrs. Fitzgerald - *The Champ* (1979), as Dolly Kenyon - *The Rebels* (1979), series, as Mrs. Brumple - *$weepstake$* (1979), series, as Mme. Grimaldi - *Battered* (1978), as Edna Thompson - *Grease* (1978), as Vi — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/grease.md) - *Fantasy Island* (1978), series, as Naomi Gittings - *Opening Night* (1977), as Sarah Goode - *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Ramona Bevans - *The Baron* (1977), as Mama Lou - *Death at Love House* (1976), as Marcella Geffenhart - *Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood* (1976), as Landlady - *Starsky & Hutch* (1975), series, as Mrs. Pruitt - *Switch* (1975), series, as Mrs. Lear - *Winner Take All* (1975), as Beverly Craig - *The Dead Don't Die* (1975), as Levenia - *The Snoop Sisters* (1973), series, as Madame Mimi - *Police Story* (1973), series, Actor - *Banyon* (1972), series, as Peggy Revere - *The Rookies* (1972), series, Actor - *The New Dick Van Dyke Show* (1971), series, as Aunt Louise - *Support Your Local Gunfighter* (1971), as Jenny - *The Phynx* (1970), as Ruby - *McCloud* (1970), series, Actor - *Love, American Style* (1969), series, Actor - *Medical Center* (1969), series, as Doris - *Big Daddy* (1969), Actor - *Here Come the Brides* (1968), series, as Lottie Hatfield - *The Name of the Game* (1968), series, as Miss Wall - *The Outsider* (1968), series, as Sadie Burch - *Kona Coast* (1968), as Kittibelle Lightfoot Clark - *Stay Away, Joe* (1968), as Glenda Callahan - *Waterhole #3* (1967), as Lavinia - *The Guns of Will Sonnett* (1967), series, as Miss Lottie - *Winchester '73* (1967), as Larouge - *The Spy in the Green Hat* (1967), as Mrs. 'Fingers' Stilletto - *The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.* (1966), series, as Madame - *Family Affair* (1966), series, Actor - *That Girl* (1966), series, Actor - *Summer Fun* (1966), series, Actor - *Ride Beyond Vengeance* (1966), as Mrs. Lavender - *The Cincinnati Kid* (1965), as Lady Fingers - *Kilroy* (1965), as Rose Kelsey - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Mrs. Fingers Stilletto - *Advance to the Rear* (1964), as Easy Jenny - *Petticoat Junction* (1963), series, as Florabelle Campbell - *Burke's Law* (1963), series, as Ethel Kronkeit, Candy Sturdevant - *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1963), series, as T.T. Hill - *Vacation Playhouse* (1963), series, as Miss Zilke - *The Lucy Show* (1962), series, as Joan Brenner - *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Rosanna Dobie - *Dr. Kildare* (1961), series, as Dolly Marlowe - *Angel Baby* (1961), as Mollie Hays - *My Three Sons* (1960), series, as Harriet Blanchard - *The Barbara Stanwyck Show* (1960), series, as Helene Terry - *The Untouchables* (1959), series, as Hannah 'Lucy' Wagnall - *Adventures in Paradise* (1959), series, as Millicent Brass - *The Twilight Zone* (1959), series, as Phyllis Britt — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-twilight-zone.md) - *Bonanza* (1959), series, as Lillian Manfred - *A Marriage of Strangers* (1959), as Mrs. Patrick - *The Real McCoys* (1957), series, as Aunt Win - *Desk Set* (1957), as Peg Costello - *Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?* (1957), as Violet - *This Could Be the Night* (1957), as Crystal St. Clair - *Child of Trouble* (1957), as Helen Green - *Lizzie* (1957), as Aunt Morgan - *The Opposite Sex* (1956), as Edith Potter - *Playwrights '56* (1955), series, Actor - *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as Rose Kelsey - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Joan Preston - *The Blue Veil* (1951), as Annie Rawlins - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Calamity Jane - *For Heaven's Sake* (1950), as Daphne Peters - *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as May - *Suspense* (1949), series, as Clara - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Ruth Breen - *Christmas Eve* (1947), as Ann Nelson - *Nightmare Alley* (1947), as Zeena Krumbein - *The Corpse Came C.O.D.* (1947), as Rosemary Durant - *Adventure* (1945), as Helen Melohn - *Don Juan Quilligan* (1945), as Marjorie Mossrock - *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* (1945), as Aunt Sissy - *Cry 'Havoc'* (1943), as Grace - *Lady for a Night* (1942), as Jenny Blake - *Three Girls About Town* (1941), as Hope Banner - *Model Wife* (1941), as Joan Keating Chambers - *Topper Returns* (1941), as Gail Richards - *I Want a Divorce* (1940), as Geraldine Brokaw - *Two Girls on Broadway* (1940), as Molly Mahoney - *The Amazing Mr. Williams* (1939), as Maxine Carroll - *Good Girls Go to Paris* (1939), as Jenny Swanson - *The Kid from Kokomo* (1939), as Doris Harvey - *East Side of Heaven* (1939), as Mary Wilson - *Off the Record* (1939), as Jane Morgan - *There's Always a Woman* (1938), as Sally Reardon - *Stand-In* (1937), as Lester Plum - *The Perfect Specimen* (1937), as Mona Carter - *Back in Circulation* (1937), as 'Timmy' Blake - *Talent Scout* (1937), as Benefit Show Guest (archive footage) (uncredited) - *The King and the Chorus Girl* (1937), as Miss Dorothy Ellis - *Gold Diggers of 1937* (1936), as Norma Perry - *Three Men on a Horse* (1936), as Mabel - *Stage Struck* (1936), as Peggy Revere - *Bullets or Ballots* (1936), as Lee Morgan - *Sons o' Guns* (1936), as Yvonne - *Colleen* (1936), as Minnie Hawkins - *Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5"* (1936), Actor - *Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie"* (1936), Actor - *Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"* (1936), Actor - *Miss Pacific Fleet* (1935), as Gloria Fay - *We're in the Money* (1935), as Ginger Stewart - *Broadway Gondolier* (1935), as Alice Hughes - *Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8* (1935), Actor - *Traveling Saleslady* (1935), as Angela Twitchell - *Kansas City Princess* (1934), as Rosie Sturges - *Dames* (1934), as Mabel Anderson - *He Was Her Man* (1934), as Rose Lawrence - *Smarty* (1934), as Vicki - *I've Got Your Number* (1934), as Marie Lawson - *Convention City* (1933), as Nancy Lorraine - *Havana Widows* (1933), as Mae Knight - *Footlight Parade* (1933), as Nan — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/footlight-parade.md) - *Goodbye Again* (1933), as Anne Rogers - *Gold Diggers of 1933* (1933), as Carol — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/gold-diggers-of-1933.md) - *Blondie Johnson* (1933), as Virginia M. "Blondie" Johnson - *Broadway Bad* (1933), as Tony Landers - *Just Around the Corner* (1933), as Mrs. Graham - *Lawyer Man* (1932), as Olga Michaels - *Central Park* (1932), as Dot - *Three on a Match* (1932), as Mary Keaton - *Big City Blues* (1932), as Vida Fleet - *Make Me a Star* (1932), as 'Flips' Montague - *Miss Pinkerton* (1932), as Nurse Georgia Adams aka Miss Pinkerton - *The Famous Ferguson Case* (1932), as Maizie Dickson - *The Crowd Roars* (1932), as Anne Scott - *The Greeks Had a Word for Them* (1932), as Schatzi Sutro - *Union Depot* (1932), as Ruth Collins - *Blonde Crazy* (1931), as Anne Roberts - *The Reckless Hour* (1931), as Myrtle Nichols - *Night Nurse* (1931), as Maloney - *Big Business Girl* (1931), as Pearl - *My Past* (1931), as Marian Moore - *The Public Enemy* (1931), as Mamie — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/the-public-enemy.md) - *God's Gift to Women* (1931), as Fifi - *Illicit* (1931), as Helen 'Duckie' Childers - *Millie* (1931), as Angie - *Other Men's Women* (1931), as Marie - *Sinners' Holiday* (1930), as Myrtle - *The Voice of Hollywood* (1930), Actor - *The Office Wife* (1930), as Katharine Murdock - *The Heart Breaker* (1930), Actor - *The Devil's Parade* (1930), Actor - *Broadway's Like That* (1930), as Ruth's Pal ## Gallery - ![Celebrities Dick Powell and Joan Blondell riding in a car for the Moon Festival parade, going through Chinatown in Los Angeles. (1941)](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-7af178523afa.jpg) Celebrities Dick Powell and Joan Blondell riding in a car for the Moon Festival parade, going through Chinatown in Los Angeles. (1941) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Dick_Powell_and_Joan_Blondell_in_the_Moon_Festival_parade.jpg/1280px-Dick_Powell_and_Joan_Blondell_in_the_Moon_Festival_parade.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Joan Blondell](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-77a801f09bde.jpg) Joan Blondell — Image via TMDB - ![Joan Blondell](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-005fdcbc925d.jpg) Joan Blondell — Image via TMDB - ![Joan Blondell](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-88d734230d53.jpg) Joan Blondell — Image via TMDB - ![Joan Blondell](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-1d7c31d5467e.jpg) Joan Blondell — Image via TMDB - ![Joan Blondell](https://film.one/media/person/459769/gallery-8c1152f17102.jpg) Joan Blondell — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1952: Best Supporting Actress (nominated), for *The Blue Veil* ### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play 1958: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (nominated) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joan-blondell