Bonita Granville
Acting • Born 1923-02-02 – Died 1988-10-11
Biography
Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award. In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series. After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities. Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties. Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).
Filmography
67 credits
The Mortal Storm
Movie • 1940
Elsa
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Movie • 1939
Nancy Drew
Suspense
Movie • 1946
Ronnie
Now, Voyager
Movie • 1942
June Vale
The Guilty
Movie • 1947
Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Movie • 1946
Kay Wilson
The Glass Key
Movie • 1942
Opal 'Snip' Madvig
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Movie • 1939
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew… Detective
Movie • 1938
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Movie • 1939
Nancy Drew
Third Finger, Left Hand
Movie • 1940
Vicky Sherwood
These Three
Movie • 1936
Mary Tilford
Cavalcade
Movie • 1933
Young Fanny
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
Movie • 1944
Kay Wilson
Youth Runs Wild
Movie • 1944
Toddy Jones
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Movie • 1941
Mary Pulham
Syncopation
Movie • 1942
Kit Latimer
Hitler's Children
Movie • 1943
Anna Miller
It's Love I'm After
Movie • 1937
Gracie Kane
Forty Little Mothers
Movie • 1940
Doris
The Lone Ranger
Movie • 1956
Welcome Kilgore
White Banners
Movie • 1938
Sally Ward
Angels Wash Their Faces
Movie • 1939
Peggy Finnegan
Escape
Movie • 1940
Ursula
Seven Miles from Alcatraz
Movie • 1942
Anne Porter
Merrily We Live
Movie • 1938
Marian Kilbourne
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Movie • 1941
Frances Marlowe
Breakfast in Hollywood
Movie • 1946
Dorothy Larson
Call It a Day
Movie • 1937
Ann Hilton
Song of the Saddle
Movie • 1936
Jen as a Child
The Wild Man of Borneo
Movie • 1941
Francine 'Frankie' Diamond
Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1
Movie • 1941
Self
Those Were the Days!
Movie • 1940
Martha Scroggs
The Beloved Brat
Movie • 1938
Roberta Morgan
Gallant Sons
Movie • 1940
Kate Pendleton
Song of the Open Road
Movie • 1944
Bonnie
The Truth About Murder
Movie • 1946
Christine Allen
Hard to Get
Movie • 1938
Connie Richards
Westward Passage
Movie • 1932
Little Olivia Allen (age 9)
My Bill
Movie • 1938
Gwen Colbrook
Guilty of Treason
Movie • 1950
Stephanie Varna
The Life of Vergie Winters
Movie • 1934
Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited)
Maid of Salem
Movie • 1937
Ann
The Beautiful Cheat
Movie • 1945
Alice
Soaring Stars
Movie • 1942
Passenger
The Plough and the Stars
Movie • 1936
Mollser Gogan
Strike It Rich
Movie • 1948
Julie Ann Brady
Ah, Wilderness!
Movie • 1935
Mildred Miller
Quality Street
Movie • 1937
Isabella
Silver Dollar
Movie • 1932
Liddy (uncredited)
Cradle Song
Movie • 1933
Carmen (uncredited)
The Garden of Allah
Movie • 1936
Convent Girl (uncredited)
Down in San Diego
Movie • 1941
Betty Haines
Senorita from the West
Movie • 1945
Jeannie Blake
The Legend of the Lone Ranger
Movie • 1981
Woman (uncredited)
The Velvet Alley
Movie • 1959
Mrs. Kirkley
Breakdowns of 1938
Movie • 1938
Nancy Drew (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood’s Children
Movie • 1982
Self
Studio One
TV • 1948
Ann
Lassie
TV • 1954
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Kitty
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Ellen Morison
Climax!
TV • 1954
Laura Jordan
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Joan
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
Climax!
TV • 1954
Molly