A Dramatic Life
In the vicious land of Hollywood, former pin-up girl Ann Sheridan desperately wanted to be taken seriously. She became a classic movie actress with a rebellious streak—but sadly, a career in the spotlight couldn’t promise her a “happily ever after”.
1. She Came From Humble Beginnings
Not only would Ann Sheridan’s career overflow with its fair share of drama, but she also lived through two tragic world conflicts during her life. She was born on February 21, 1915 during the second year of WWI as the youngest of five children. Luckily, resilience and fortitude seemed to flow through her veins.
2. She Was Raised Right
Ann Sheridan was a true Southerner. Being born in Texas meant she always had those Southern sensibilities and a down-to-earth personality. She stood up for what she believed in. Unfortunately, her Texan roots would cause her some problems once she got to Hollywood.
Silver Screen Collection, Getty Images
3. She Had Other Plans Before Acting
Before Sheridan became an actress, her life was on a very different course. She was attending the North Texas State Teachers College, where she sang in the college band and played basketball on the women’s team. From an early age, she was a well-rounded person and this sentiment would continue into her acting career.
When she finally got her big break, it was in the most shocking way possible.
John Kobal Foundation, Getty Images
4. Her Sister Was A Catalyst
Sheridan didn’t get her big break on purpose. Her sister, Kitty, was actually pulling a prank. She thought it would be funny to submit a headshot of Sheridan to the Paramount Pictures “Search For Beauty” contest, not thinking it would come of anything. However, she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Paramount, Search for Beauty (1934)
5. She Was The Luckiest Girl In The World
To everyone’s surprise, Ann Sheridan snagged the golden ticket of a lifetime. Winning the contest ushered her and her family into the glittering world of Hollywood and landed her attention by the big studios—but what they had to offer her wasn’t exactly enticing.
CINEGRAF magazine, Wikimedia Commons
6. She Started Small Before Getting Big
The early part of Sheridan’s career was marked by bit part after bit part, with just a few lines in each film—and then she suffered a crushing blow. The Harvard Lampoon called her “least likely to succeed”. With most of her film credits being such small roles, she hadn’t been able to demonstrate her skill as an actress.
Between the article and her lack of substantial work, things were starting to wear on Sheridan.
Paramount, Behold My Wife! (1934)
7. Acting Ran Her Ragged
The work was tough at Paramount, even after Sheridan landed a few jobs. She worked long hours and most of her early credits are for body doubling. She would attend the films just to spot her ankle, her hand, or her foot on screen.
It looked like things at Paramount couldn’t get worse—but then, they did.
Silver Screen Collection, Getty Images
8. Her History Was Erased
With the way Paramount treated Sheridan, it’s a wonder that they even bothered keeping her contract. First, they insisted on changing her name from Clara Lou Sheridan to Ann Sheridan—for the most ridiculous reason. They told her that it would fit better on the marquee.
But then they found other problems with the young actress.
A.L. Whitey Schafer, Wikimedia Commons
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9. Her Heritage Was Taken
While some found Sheridan’s Texan roots endearing, others weren’t impressed. When she was working on Cecil B DeMille’s The Crusades in 1935, she only had one line in the whole film. It was yet another long day with little payoff on set—but she was about to be put on the spot in the worst way.
10. She Was Made A Mockery For This Small Thing
Right there in the middle of the set, Cecil DeMille humiliated her in front of the cast and crew. He called her out on set, laughed at her accent, and forced her to recite the line over and over while everyone watched. Sheridan tried to have a good attitude about it, but she would only appreciate his criticism later in life.
11. Her Roles Grew Too Same-y
Sheridan’s work at Paramount grew stale, and she resented being pigeon-holed into non-lead roles. Instead, she got a new agent, Dick Polimer, who landed her a small role in Sing Me A Love Song (1936) at Warner Bros. This could have been the start of Sheridan’s propulsion into the lead roles she desired.
12. She Caught A Break During The Depression
Sheridan’s talent shone in Sing Me A Love Song. Her abilities in the role showed Max Arnow, a casting director, what she could do, and he offered her a six month contract with Warner Bros at $75 a week. She felt fortunate to have such high paying work during the Great Depression.
Unfortunately, her work during this time got all the wrong attention.
13. She Gained An Unwanted Title
Sheridan was fighting to define herself in Hollywood—but a single comment by a journalist would pretty much pigeonhole her forever. Walter Winchell stated she had a lot of “umph” in her photos. She felt this comment disregarded her abilities as an actress, placing all the credit on her beauty…and this would only be the beginning.
14. Her Label Became Permanent
For Sheridan, the journalist’s comment backfired spectacularly. It inspired a Warner Bros producer. They set up a false competition where 25 executives voted for Ann Sheridan as the “Oomph Girl,” a title she loathed through most of her career.
Sheridan was reduced to her beauty over her talent, and it wouldn’t be the last time.
New York Sunday News, Wikimedia Commons
15. She Had Links To A Past President
Sheridan had a few lucky breaks that she fought hard for. One of these was the film adaptation Kings Row (1942), which she starred in opposite future US President Ronald Reagan many years before his political career. But the film was plagued with controversy from the start due to an inappropriate relationship between father and daughter, among other mature themes.
Despite problems meetings the strict censors’ standards of the day, the film boosted both of their careers.
Warner Bros., Kings Row (1942)
16. She Supported Her Country’s Efforts
Conflict returned to Sheridan’s life during WWII. She participated in the worldwide effort by traveling overseas to entertain the troops, alongside many other American entertainers. Some had a difficult time finding work after their return stateside, like her former co-star Ronald Reagan, but thanks to Sheridan’s reputation, she ran into few issues.
17. Her Support Took A Huge Toll On Her
Sheridan went above and beyond trying to raise morale for the troops overseas—but the long hours took a brutal toll on her. She lost a lot of weight and struggled to put weight back after returning home, and not filling out her clothes affected her appearance. Sheridan also spoke out about, which ran counter to a lot of messaging of the day.
But she still had to struggle with the studios pushing her to play up her beauty.
CINE MUNDIAL magazine, Wikimedia Commons
18. She Stayed True To Herself Through Everything
Sheridan’s attitude and personality attracted other celebrities and fans. She often attended night clubs with Cesar Romero, a fellow actor who she was briefly romantically linked with. Her studio pushed her to make these nightclub appearances, but she didn’t mind. It was things like being made Max Factor’s “Girl of the Year” that got to her.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
19. She Had A Terrifying Encounter With A Fan
This sort of marketing focused around her looks rather than talents garnered her a bit of a strange following from men—and some took it too far. In early 1940, a UCLA fraternity member accosted her at a theater and handcuffed himself to the actress. A locksmith had to separate them.
Warner Bros shouldn’t have allowed Sheridan to be placed in this situation, but they continued to lean on Sheridan’s beauty anyway.
Warner Bros., Wikimedia Commons
20. She Was A Romantic
Sheridan dreamed of having that fairytale love with a man who she could have a long-lasting marriage with. When she fell in love with fellow actor Edward Norris, she thought this would be it for her. She had found her person. But their differences and circumstances forced the pair apart.
Warner Bros. Pictures, Wikimedia Commons
21. She Got Flack For Her Work
Sheridan and Norris married during the Great Depression. Norris was unemployed, but Sheridan worked hard thanks to her Warner Bros contract, earning $75 a week. Sadly, their fairy tale had a brutal ending.
Warner Bros., Wikimedia Commons
22. He Was Mean To Her
They divorced a little over a year after their marriage—but that wasn’t all. To add insult to injury, Norris later called his relationship with Sheridan a mistake. Unfortunately for Sheridan’s romantic side, this wouldn’t be her only failed marriage.
20th Century Fox, Wikimedia Commons
23. She Was Forced To Go On Dates
Despite the sad end of her first marriage, Sheridan still believed in true love. When Warner Bros arranged a date for her as a publicity stunt, her reaction was surprising. She wasn’t cynical about the fake-meet-cute, and she met with George Brent on November 1, 1939.
Within six months, they started going steady. Finally, this could be the person for Sheridan.
John Kobal Foundation, Getty Images
24. She Married An Unexpected Match
Prior to their marriage, Brent had been known a womanizer, and he participated in all the activities and proclivities available to a man of his stature at the time. Brent and Sheridan tied the knot in early 1942, but his faithfulness—or lack thereof—wasn’t really the problem.
In fact, they ended up butting heads for a totally different, surprising reason.
Warner Bros., Honeymoon for Three (1941)
25. She Was His Opposite
The couple’s disparate personalities clashed constantly. Sheridan and Brent were fairly opposite, and for a time, it didn’t matter. The two never aligned due to Sheridan’s bright and sociable personality and George’s anti-social, introverted tendencies.
It surprised everyone when they got together.
26. She Thought He Could Change
Sadly, mutual love and affection only carried them so far. Sheridan said Brent craved freedom. Additionally, she was still coming up in Hollywood, and Brent’s career was on his way down. But the way it finally blew up was nothing short of spectacular.
Brent was very health-conscious, and they got into a fight over carrots. Then Brent outlined all the things that were “wrong” with Sheridan, including the fact that she was too focused on being a “career girl”. So they decided to call it quits.
Warner Bros., Honeymoon for Three (1941)
27. He Tried To Get Ahead Of Her
Brent and Sheridan initially agreed on issuing a joint statement regarding their divorce to the press, but Sheridan didn’t realize that Brent was about to commit an act of betrayal. The next morning, Brent jumped on the phone and called the newspapers, saying the divorce “is the last thing in the world I wanted. But I don’t see what I can do about it.”
And with that, Sheridan returned to some familiar old territory.
John Kobal Foundation, Getty Images
28. She Had Many Publicity Stunt Flings
Ann Sheridan had difficulty reconciling the romanticized version of love and marriage with her experiences. During this time, publicity and marketing linked Sheridan romantically with several big names, but she didn’t care for the relationships. They didn’t have any meaning, nor any love, and secretly, Sheridan held out hope for a real love to sweep her off her feet.
Warner Bros., Wikimedia Commons
29. She Finds True Love…Again
Eventually, Ann Sheridan found an unconventional man to fall in love with, breaking her streak of publicity flings. From 1944-1949, she and film publicist Steve Hannagan had a heartfelt romantic relationship. He lived on the East Coast and she lived on the West Coast, but despite their continental divide, the couple made it work. For a while.
30. She Left Her Religion
The love she found with Hannagan was true, and marriage was certainly back on the table. Sheridan consulted a priest regarding this possibility, but she was in for a cruel surprise. He advised her that marriage would ruin both of their standing in the eyes of the Catholic church. She gave up religion, claiming this was the last straw for her staying with the church.
Warner Bros., Wikimedia Commons
31. She Was Devastated By Losing Him
Unfortunately, the strain of distance and the inability to marry came to a head for Sheridan and Hannagan. The two broke up, but they maintained a platonic relationship until Steve passed in 1953. His long-standing affections for her were clear when he left her $215,000 in his will, over $2 million today. His passing devastated Sheridan.
Twentieth Century Fox, Wikimedia Commons
32. She Bounced Back Quickly
After her romantic relationship with Hannagan was over, she was back on the Hollywood dating scene. One of the men she dated was set director Jacque Mapes—who she met on the set of Good Sam—and by now, she was a whole different person.
Despite failed romances and crushed ambitions, Sheridan was carefree. She was happy to ride her motorcycle and date around, but she still kept her eye on the prize—looking for meatier roles and a true love that would last. Sadly, she was looking in the wrong places.
33. She Left Hollywood
With little to hold her down in Hollywood, Ann Sheridan moved to Mexico to start her own production company. While she was there, she had an affair with then-married actor Rodolfo Acosta. Their relationship lasted five years, during which time they lived together in an apartment in Mexico City.
But the way it went off the rails was nearly unbelievable.
Paramount Pictures, Wikimedia Commons
34. She Was In Trouble With The Law
Ann Sheridan likely knew that her affair was wrong—but she had no idea how horrific the consequences would be. Acosta’s wife revealed their dalliance when she accused them of adultery in the Federal District Court in 1956. Sheridan was charged with adultery, which could have landed her in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, nothing came of the warrant issued for her arrest.
She and Rodolfo broke up several years later, in 1958. This wouldn’t be the only time Sheridan dealt with the law during her career.
35. She Got Some Career Advice—To Her Detriment
Sheridan lost out on and gave up on being cast in many films because she fought to act in good films and play lead roles. Early in her career, Sheridan featured in a film opposite Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. They advised her to fight for what she wanted in her career. There was just one problem.
It came a bit too early. Sheridan insisted on being the leading lady in films, and gave up on potentially career-altering films because the roles were secondary.
10Pepe10, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
36. She Has Trouble With Her Work
Contract disputes were common for Ann Sheridan. This left her with many suspensions from work, and meant that Warner Bros passed her up for many roles because of her behavior. One of these films was Meet John Doe (1941), for which the studio vetoed her casting. Another time, she went on strike for six months.
Their relationship was more sour than any romantic relationship she went through, and it was only getting worse.
Warner Bros., Wikimedia Commons
37. She Fought Against Hollywood’s Treatment Of Women
Working at Warner Bros didn’t impress Ann Sheridan. She wasn’t getting any good scripts and they began sending her work she didn’t like. That’s when she made a disturbing realization. Now that she’d committed the cardinal sin of turning 40—gasp—they weren’t going to give her the same opportunities.
This eventually drove Sheridan to take drastic action.
Universal, Woman on the Run (1950)
38. She Had Unparalleled Perseverance
Sheridan didn’t take every insult sitting down. In the early 50s, Howard Hughes and RKO were producing a film, titled My Forbidden Past and they fired Sheridan. It was all over a disagreement about who her co-star would be. But Sheridan wasn’t going to be walked all over by a producer; that’s not who she was.
39. She Fought Tooth And Nail
This incident brought Sheridan to her second run-in with the legal system. This time, she sued Hughes and RKO over the incident, and the results were surprising. She won $55,162 in the settlement. This could have been a damaging choice for her already waning career, but Sheridan knew she had to stand up for herself.
She always had, and she always would.
RKO, Appointment in Honduras (1953)
40. She Knew When To Back Down
In a bid to be less disagreeable with producers and directors, Ann Sheridan made a concession. She agreed to star in a film for the very same production company she sued, RKO. She didn’t like the project, and was very reluctant to participate.
After the filming was over, she didn’t go see the film in theaters, and said others had told her the film was terrible.
41. She Turned Her Back On Them
In 1948, after years of tension, Ann Sheridan bought out her contract with Warner Bros and parted way with the studio. She hoped to find more work in freelancing for films, but the results surprised her. The industry wasn’t as welcoming as it had once been—but luckily, she had other opportunities.
RKO, Appointment in Honduras (1953)
42. She Found Her Ideal Role
Like many actors and actresses who starred on the big screen early in their careers, Ann Sheridan made a career shift to television. And in the mid-1960s, a role Sheridan was truly proud of finally came to her. At the time, Sheridan was appearing in Another World, a soap opera. But then another offer came along.
43. She Had Surprising Taste
The series that Sheridan left a plum gig on Another World for? That would be the role of Henrietta Hanks in a TV Western sitcom titled Pistols ‘N’ Petticoats. While it sounds a bit cheesy, Sheridan absolutely loved being on the show. And it wasn’t the only dream she found coming true.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
44. She Finds True Love…For Real This Time
After years of searching for love, Sheridan finally found her person in actor Scott McKay, who she had a previous working relationship with. They had a different level of understanding than her previous husbands did, and she loved him dearly.
She took eight years to warm up to the potential for marriage, but their time together was sadly numbered.
CBS, Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966-1967)
45. Sheridan’s Star Began To Fade As It Rose Once More
Ann Sheridan worked hard on Pistols ‘N’ Petticoats—despite harboring a tragic secret. The amount of work she needed to put in on the show seemed like it was slowly killing her. She put all her time and effort into filming the show.
Sheridan worked all day, then spent evenings recovering and weekends in bed. Her health declined so rapidly and left everyone floundering for answers.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
46. She Let Everyone Guess At What Was Wrong
Despite her mystery illness, Sheridan continued to work. No one knew what was wrong, and some assumed it was another bout of emphysema, which she had experienced in the past. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
Bates Fabrics Inc., Wikimedia Commons
47. She Still Had Hope
Ann Sheridan didn’t let her illness get her down. It was while filming Pistols ‘N’ Petticoats and during her illness that she finally married Scott McKay. Reportedly, the last words she said to her husband regarding her illness were, “I’m going to be all right”. This made it clear that she didn’t intend to stop living, regardless of what the future held.
Sadly, it seems this hope would be short-lived.
Republic Pictures, Come Next Spring (1956)
48. She Left Everyone In The Dark
On January 21, 1967, a month shy of her 52nd birthday, Sheridan passed on. Her death came as a surprise to her husband, her sister, and everyone else around her. Sheridan was a force, and no one expected her to be gone so quickly nor so soon.
Though those close to her had noticed that she wasn’t at her best, she hadn’t said a word to them about her health.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
49. Her Secret Illness Got The Better Of Her
After Ann Sheridan’s untimely death, her family and friends finally learned what she’d been suffering from. Sheridan had esophageal cancer with large liver metastases. The surprise of her passing shook all those around her, and left the film and TV industry without a talented actress. The news blindsided and devastated her friends and family.
50. She Had No Illusions About Time’s Brutality
When asked about her career and legacy in the film industry, she said “There’s no position, really. It’ll be just one of those things that’s written off, for heaven’s sake. It won’t mean anything”. But the mark Sheridan left on the industry is substantial.
Despite being a tricky actress for producers to wrangle, Sheridan has a total of 75 films in her filmography, from bit roles to starring roles.
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