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Louise Currie

1913 - 2013 (age 100) • Acting

a B movie and serial actress of the 1940s. Born Louise Gunter in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, she attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Moving to Hollywood, Currie enrolled in Max Reinhardt's drama school. “At the time, I was not necessarily a movie fan, but once I came to California, of course, that’s what California’s all about, the movie industry.” Attracting the interest of movie scouts while appearing in one of the school’s stage productions, Currie surprised them by expressing no desire at that point to enter movies. She wanted to wait until she graduated, and was better equipped as an actress, before she decided her next career move. When she was ready, she signed with agent Sue Carol. After she made a movie at Columbia, Harry Cohn wanted to put her under contract, but Currie would have none of it – she thought it “would maybe be more interesting to freelance.” She stated in 1999 that that was “more fun for me because I was able to pick and choose and do what I wanted, rather than all the little contract players who had to do exactly as they were told and go into films that they didn’t want or like. So, I had my independence, and I chose to do it that way.” The not-overly-ambitious Currie worked steadily during the next few years, with small, uncredited parts in As and leads in Poverty Row flicks. She found herself in a bunch of Westerns – her bullwhip-carrying role in GUN TOWN was her favorite – and also as the heroine in Bela Lugosi’s THE APE MAN. She was again menaced by Bela in VOODOO MAN. Her most enduring and fondly remembered credit is ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, considered by many the greatest cliffhanger of all time; two years later, she acted for 12 episodes opposite another serial marvel: THE MASKED MARVEL. Currie enjoyed the fast-paced shooting schedules of her B movies and serials: “Fortunately, I had enough training that I could do my scenes and not mess them up, not muff the lines. And I thought that was more stimulating and interesting than pictures like CITIZEN KANE [in which she played a reporter], where you just sat on a set for endless hours, doing nothing – which to me was just a trial and a bore. So I sort of enjoyed the activity, and the fact that you could do something quickly and do it well, and have it finished... But I’m sure that most of the people that started with big A productions would never have understood that, or been able to cope with it!” 

Known For

Voodoo Man

50%

Stella Saunders

1944

The Ape Man

44%

Billie Mason

1943

Adventures of Captain Marvel

64%

Betty Wallace

1941

Backlash

48%

Marian Gordon

1947

The Chinese Ring

52%

Peggy Cartwright

1947

Million Dollar Kid

59%

Louise Cortland

1944

The Masked Marvel

55%

Alice Hamilton

1943

The Crimson Key

45%

Heidi

1947

Lugosi: The Forgotten King of Horror

70%

Self

2016

Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula

85%

Self

1997

Sakima and the Masked Marvel

70%

Alice Hamilton (archive footage)

1966

Queen for a Day

75%

Secretary

1951

And Baby Makes Three

51%

Miss Quigley

1949

The Chinese Ring

52%

Peggy Cartwright

1947

Second Chance

65%

Joan Summers

1947

The Crimson Key

45%

Heidi

1947

Three on a Ticket

60%

Helen Brimstead

1947

Backlash

48%

Marian Gordon

1947

Wild West

90%

Florabelle Bannister

1946

Gun Town

70%

Buckskin Jane Sawyer

1946

Forty Thieves

50%

Katherine Reynolds

1944

Christmas Holiday

65%

Stewardess (uncredited)

1944

Million Dollar Kid

59%

Louise Cortland

1944

Voodoo Man

50%

Stella Saunders

1944

Around the World

63%

WAAC

1943

The Masked Marvel

55%

Alice Hamilton

1943

The Ape Man

44%

Billie Mason

1943

A Blitz on the Fritz

65%

Mrs. Egbert Slipp

1943

His Wedding Scare

80%

Susie - the New Bride

1943

Tireman, Spare My Tires

70%

Fay Springer

1942

Stardust on the Sage

55%

Nancy Drew

1942

The Bashful Bachelor

63%

Marjorie

1942

Dude Cowboy

60%

Gail Sargent

1941

Double Trouble

100%

Miss Mink

1941

Look Who's Laughing

67%

Jane (uncredited)

1941

Citizen Kane

80%

Reporter at Xanadu (uncredited)

1941

Filters

Department

Genres