Constance Bennett

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Birth Name: Constance Campbell Bennett

Born: 22 October 1904 Died: 24 July 1965

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 4"

Lists

155 votes

My Favourite Old Hollywood Hairstyles (519 items)
list by Blue Pineapple

Published 15 years, 8 months ago

15 comments

84 votes

Tribute to Glamorous Actresses of the Yesterday (257 items)
list by xolmis

Published 10 years, 3 months ago

3 comments

65 votes

The Beauty of Silence (500 items)
list by Onion Jack

Published 12 years, 10 months ago

2 comments

45 votes

Silent Actresses (507 items)
list by The Silent Era

Published 14 years, 6 months ago

3 comments

33 votes

200 Legendary Actresses (200 items)
list by Meganfan

Published 12 years, 6 months ago

2 comments

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Constance Bennett Videos

Movie Legends - Constance Bennett

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Added 13 years ago

Movie Legends - Constance Bennett (Finale)

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Movie Legends - Constance Bennett (Star)

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Description: She started off with a spell in a convent but decided to go into the family business. Independent, cultured, ironic and outspoken, Constance, the first Bennett sister to enter motion pictures, appeared in New York-produced silent movies before a meeting with Samuel Goldwyn led to her Hollywood debut in Cytherea (1924). She abandoned a burgeoning career in silents for marriage to Philip Plant in 1925; She resumed her film career after divorce, with the advent of talking pictures (1929), and with her delicate blonde features and glamorous fashion style, quickly became a popular film star. In 1931, a short-lived contract with She started off with a spell in a convent but decided to go into the family business. Independent, cultured, ironic and outspoken, Constance, the first Bennett sister to enter motion pictures, appeared in New York-produced silent movies before a meeting with Samuel Goldwyn led to her Hollywood debut in Cytherea (1924).

She abandoned a burgeoning career in silents for marriage to Philip Plant in 1925; She resumed her film career after divorce, with the advent of talking pictures (1929), and with her delicate blonde features and glamorous fashion style, quickly became a popular film star.

In 1931, a short-lived contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer earned her $300,000 for two movies which included The Easiest Way and made her one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood. The next year she moved to RKO, where she acted in What Price Hollywood? (1932), directed by George Cukor, an ironic and at the same time tragic behind-the-scenes looks at the old Hollywood studio system, in which she gave her finest performance. In this movie she is a star-struck waitress, named Mary Evans, who manages to make a good impression on a prominent film director (played by Lowell Sherman); with his patronage she becomes a movie star. While the director has some serious alcohol problems, she marries a wealthy playboy (played by Neil Hamilton), who genuinely loves his wife but is jealous of the demands made on her by her career. He leaves her, but not before Mary has been impregnated. She begins to turn her attentions to her mentor, but it is too late: he kills himself in her bedroom. Hoping to heal her emotional wounds, Mary flees to Paris with her child, where she is reunited with her contrite husband.

Bennett next showed her versatility in the likes of Our Betters (1933), Bed of Roses (1933) with Pert Kelton, The Affairs of Cellini (1934), After Office Hours (1935) with Clark Gable, the original Topper (1937, in a career standout as Marian Kerby opposite Cary Grant, a role she repeated in the 1939 sequel, Topper Takes a Trip), the ultimate madcap family comedy Merrily We Live (1938) and Two-Faced Woman (1941, supporting Greta Garbo).

By the 1940s, Bennett was working less frequently in film but was in demand in both radio and theatre. Shrewd investments had made her a wealthy woman, and she founded a cosmetics and clothing company.
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