Geneva Mitchell

Geneva Doris Mitchell (February 3, 1908 – March 10, 1949) was an American actress.[1] After beginning her entertainment career as a chorus girl at the age of twelve, she became more well known for her roles in several Hollywood films.

Geneva Mitchell
Mitchell, c. 1920s
Born
Geneva Doris Mitchell

(1908-02-03)February 3, 1908
Medaryville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 10, 1949(1949-03-10) (aged 41)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeChapel of the Pines Crematory
OccupationActress
Years active1920–1946

Early years

Mitchell was born in Medaryville, Indiana.[2] Her mother, Verna Mitchell Foss, danced in the Ziegfeld Follies.[3]

Career

Mitchell started her career on the stage in a musical comedy. At age 17, she was in the choruses of Sally and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921.[4]

She signed a contract with Warner Brothers in October 1929, and with Columbia Pictures in June 1934. Modern viewers will recognize Mitchell from her appearances in the Three Stooges 1935 films Restless Knights, Pop Goes the Easel, and particularly Hoi Polloi. In Hoi Polloi, Mitchell plays a dance instructor who directs the Stooges to "do exactly as I do." Before she begins her dance, a bumblebee lands on her bare back, and then crawls under her dress. She becomes alarmed. Naturally, the Stooges mimic her every startled move. This hilarious footage was to be reused six years later in In the Sweet Pie and Pie.

Death

Poor health curtailed Mitchell's career after 1936, as she appeared in only one film throughout the 1940s. She died in Los Angeles, California on March 10, 1949 at age 41.

Personal life

Mitchell's circumstances often made the news. In March 1922,[5] when she was 17, she married Robert Savage, a millionaire's son, in Milford, Connecticut. Five days later, she returned his ring and said, "I'm too young to be a wife."[6] On October 15, 1935, she married financier Harry J. Bryant in Yuma, Arizona.[7]

She was often seen with actor/director Lowell Sherman, and reported her brother as having been kidnapped by gangsters. She became entangled in legal wranglings involving Sherman's estate, and her publicist was sentenced to jail over a stunt she reportedly instigated.

Partial filmography

References
  1. "Geneva Mitchell". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  2. Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5019-0. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  3. "The final curtain". Billboard. October 13, 1951. p. 42. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  4. "Yale Student Weds Young Actress". The Buffalo Times. New York, Buffalo. March 11, 1922. p. 2. Retrieved July 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Scion of Wealthy Family Weds 17-Year-Old Actress". The St. Louis Star and Times. Missouri, St. Louis. March 10, 1922. p. 10. Retrieved July 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "This Follies Beauty Boasts Broadway's Briefest Honeymoon". The Montgomery Advertiser. Alabama, Montgomery. May 7, 1922. p. 30. Retrieved July 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Geneva Mitchell Weds, Returns To Job". Deseret News. Utah, Salt Lake city. International News Service. October 16, 1935. p. 7. Retrieved January 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.


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