Silver Screen (Nov 1938-Apr 1939)

Ann How Ann Sheridan Teaches Movie Fans The Meaning of Languor, Grace And Beauty. IT IS only by one of those strange accidents, which occur every once in a while in Hollywood, that Ann Sheridan is raising the temperatures of film fans in her audiences rather than teaching groups of children their A, B, C's in an obscure little schoolroom in Texas. That was the course she intended to follow when she entered North Texas Teachers' College. "I'm afraid teaching school was always a somewhat nebulous possibility," she told me, "The teachers' college was a good school to attend. We had a lot of fun and I doubt that any of us ever gave serious thought to the fact that some day the responsibility of teaching would be staring us in the face." It all happened while she was preparing to dispense higher education. Aside from her activities in basketball, tennis and swimming, Ann, who was then known as Clara Lou Sheridan, also dabbled in college theatricals. Her first public appearance was as a blues singer with the college orchestra! John Rosenfield, of the Dallas News, who heard her sing, induced Ann to enter the competition when Paramount announced its "Search for Beauty" contest. She won and spent several months under contract to that studio before she decided to free-lance. "A beauty contest winner usually has two strikes on her before she gets started," Ann pointed out. "A few, like Joan Blondell, Mary Astor, Corinne Griffith and Clara Bow, have won great success on the screen, but there are scores of others lost in the shuffle. "Too often a beauty contest winner has nothing exceptional save her face and figure. Of course the opportunity ottered is marvelous: one that hundreds of girls would like to have, lor it opens the studio gates and places them before a camera. W hat she does from then on is entirely up to her. "When I started free-lancing, I lost confidence in myself. The experience I had had at Paramount was valuable, yet it was months before I completely regained my courage. "Many times I considered giving up and returning to Texas to teach school. I never actually w e n t hungry, for I was always able to get enough work to keep going, but the prospect of getting anywhere, or ever winning real success, seemed bitterly hopeless." When the future looked absolutely blank. Ann's first real break came with the role of a lovable school teacher opposite Pat O'Brien in "The Great O'Malley." Her earlier experience singing the blues with the college orchestra came to the fore when she w a s called upon to portray a night club singer in "San Q u e n t i n , " and was an enormous asset at this time, particularly, when words and music play such an important part in film stories and an actress, to be successful, must be able to do practically everything in the entertainment field. Less than a year ago, Ann took another important step in her career when she married Edward Norris, the handsome young leading man who scored such a sensational hit in "They Won't Forget." But, evidently something went wrong with this marriage, for they are now applying for a separation. Recently Warner Brothers offered her a term contract. She accepted, "with more alacrity than poise," she says, and started in on the road toward stardom. "It hardly seems possible that a little over a year ago, I had my plans made to go back to Texas and school teaching," says Ann. There is nothing pretentious about Ann, no danger of her "going Hollywood" in her manner of living. She has a Filipino houseboy who is terrified by the telephone and will answer only in emergencies to say "Missy Sheridan she not in" and hang up! If you are one of her small circle of friends and are invited to dinner, chances are that you will sit down to a real meal of delicious chicken fried by Ann, herself. After dinner, there is often a friendly game of poker. Ann has the Texan's love for gambling, but the stakes are small. Still athletic, Ann goes in for horseback riding and aquaplaning. As a child she was something of a prodigy as an acrobatic dancer, and even now, with only her right hand and right foot on the floor, she can draw herself up until her entire weight is on the right hand and her legs are straight in the air. This, in brief, is the backstage story of Ann Sheridan, Hollywood's 1938 version of the perfect "It" girl. She entered the North Texas State Teachers' College — which was immeasurably tough on the professors. 34 Silver Screen