Grahame was born Gloria Hallward in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, was an architect and author descended from King Edward III. Her mother, Jeannie McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher who taught Gloria acting during her childhood and adolescence. She was signed to a contract with MGM Studios after Read more...

Changing her name to Gloria Grahame, she made her film debut in Blonde Fever (1944) and scored one of her most widely praised roles as the promiscuous Violet, who is saved from disgrace by George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). MGM was not able to develop her potential as a star and her contract was sold to RKO Studios in 1947.

Grahame was often featured in film noir pictures as a Read more...

Grahame had a string of stormy romances and failed marriages during her time in Hollywood. These difficulties began to affect her career after marital and child custody problems began to influence Grahame on the set of Oklahoma!. In 1960, even Hollywood was scandalized after her marriage to Tony Ray, Grahame's former stepson and son of her ex-husband Nicholas Ray (In A Lonely Place, Rebel Without Read more...