Gladys George

Her first marriage was with actor Ben Erway. They eloped and were married by a judge on March 31, 1922, in Oakland California. On August 3, 1922, they remarried in San Luis Obispo. However the marriage culminated into divorce on October 1930.

Her second marriage was with Edward Fowler, a wealthy paper manufacturer, in 1933. In the very first year of their marriage Fowler discovered her in the arms of Leonard Penn, her co-star from ‘Broadway’ hit comedy ‘Personal Appearance’. The eventual result was divorce of the couple that materialised in 1935.

Following her divorce with Fowler she went on to marry actor Leonard Penn on September 19, 1935, at a probate court in New Haven, Connecticut. However her third marriage also met with same fate and the couple divorced in 1944.

She was born Gladys Clare Evans to Sir Arthur Evans Clare and Lady Clare (Alice) on September 13, 1904, while her parents were in America performing with a troupe. Her father was a renowned Shakespearean actor who received knighthood for his services to the British army in India.

She was born in a small town called Patten in Maine, United States, however another source mentioned the place as Hatton in Maine while according to yet another it was in the state of Missouri.

Her debut in stage acting happened when she performed in a family act ‘The Three Clares’ at three years of age. With time she developed a serious interest in stage acting and as a teenager she made her first Broadway debut in 1918 with the play ‘The Betrothal’.

She had the opportunity to work with renowned ‘Broadway’ star Pauline Frederick and later followed her into films. In 1919 George made her debut on the big-screen with Jerome Storm directed silent drama film ‘Red Hot Dollars’ in the leading role of Janet Muir.

Her successful debut helped her steadily perform in several other silent films in lead and second lead roles for the next couple of years. These included ‘The Woman in the Suitcase’ and ‘Below the Surface’ in 1920 and ‘The Easy Road’ and ‘Chickens’ in 1921.

However her career in films suffered a setback after she met with an accident that severely burned her. She made a comeback into films in 1934 following her marriage with a millionaire manufacturer Edward H Fowler who aided in furthering her career.

She soon signed a screen contract with ‘Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’ (‘MGM’) and was off with a spanking start as Shirley in the Paul Sloane directed drama film ‘Straight Is the Way’ (1934).