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Constance Bennett Biography |
Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 - July 24, 1965) was a US actress.
Constance BennettBorn in New York City, Bennett was the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, and the elder sister of actresses Barbara and Joan Bennett.
Bennett made her first film appearance as a child and appeared in a few bit parts before marrying and divorcing while still in her teens. She resumed her film career with the advent of talking pictures, and with her delicate blonde features and glamorous fashion style, quickly became a popular film star. She also captured numerous headlines in 1932, when she married one of Gloria Swanson's former husbands, Henri le Bailly, the Marquis de La Coudraye de La Falaise (1898-1972), a French nobleman. They were divorced in 1940.
A 1931 contract with Warner Brothers Studios earned her $300 000 for two movies and made her one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood. She was a close friend of Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt, and despite the potential harm to her career, stood by Vanderbilt all through her notorious 1934 child custody trial. Bennett's film career continued to grow during the 1930s, and in 1937 she scored her biggest success, as a ghost in the comedy Topper with Cary Grant.
She married her third husband, the actor Gilbert Roland in 1941 and had three children with him, before they divorced in 1946. By this time she was working less frequently in film but was in demand in both radio and theatre. Her shrewd investments had made her a very wealthy woman, and she founded a cosmetics and clothing company that added to her wealth, but Bennett enjoyed being a celebrity and so continued to work. In 1946 she married US Air Force Colonel John Theron Coulter, and concentrated her efforts on providing relief entertainment to US troops still stationed in Europe, winning military honors for her services. Their marriage continued until her death.
She made no films from the early 1950s until 1965 when she made a comeback in the film Madame X (released posthumously in 1966). Shortly after filming was completed, Bennett collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage.
In recognition of her military contributions, and as the wife of Coulter, who had by then achieved the rank of Brigadier General, she was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Coulter died in 1995 and was buried with her.
Constance Bennett has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard, a short distance from the star of her sister, Joan. |
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