Evelyn Ankers

Evelyn Ankers
Evelyn Ankers
	Ankers in 1941
Born	Evelyn Felisa Ankers; August 17, 1918; Valparaíso, Chile
Died	August 29, 1985 (aged 67); Maui, Hawaii, U.S.
Resting place	Maui Veterans Cemetery, Makawao, Hawaii
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1936–1960
Spouse	Richard Denning (m. 1942)
Children	1

Evelyn Felisa Ankers (August 17, 1918 – August 29, 1985) was a British-American actress who often played variations on the role of the cultured young leading lady in many American horror films during the 1940s, most notably The Wolf Man (1941) opposite Lon Chaney Jr., a frequent screen partner.

Early years

Ankers was born to British parents^[1]^: 53 in Valparaíso, Chile.^[2] She was educated at The Latymer School, the Godolphin School, the Tacchomo School of Music and Dramatic Art, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.^[1]^: 54

Stage

Ankers' stage debut came in Colombia at age 10 when she had the title role in The Daughter of Dolores.^[1] On Broadway, she had the role of Lucy Gilham in Ladies in Retirement (1940).^[3] In London, she acted in Bats in the Belfry.^[1]^: 54

Film

Nigel Bruce, Ankers and Basil Rathbone in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Known as "the Queen of the Bs",^[2] Ankers starred in films including The Wolf Man (1941), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Captive Wild Woman (1943), Son of Dracula (1943), The Mad Ghoul (1943), Jungle Woman (1944), Weird Woman (1944), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), and The Frozen Ghost (1945). She appeared in Hold That Ghost (1941), Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), His Butler's Sister (1943), The Pearl of Death (1944), Pardon My Rhythm (1944), Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949), and played Calamity Jane in The Texan Meets Calamity Jane (1950), one of many movies for which she received top billing. A frequent screen partner was Lon Chaney Jr., although they privately disliked each other.

Ankers made over fifty films between 1936 and 1950, then retired from movies at the age of 32 to be a housewife. She occasionally played television roles, such as that of saloon owner Robbie James in the 1958 episode "Gambler" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Cheyenne, with Clint Walker in the title role.

Ten years later she made her last film, No Greater Love (1960),^[1]^: 72 with her husband Richard Denning.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

On September 6, 1942,^[1]^: 61 Ankers married Richard Denning, to whom she remained married until her death in 1985. The couple had one child, Diana Denning (later Dwyer).^[2] Ankers moved to Hawaii when her husband accepted the role of the governor in Hawaii 5-0.^[4] She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 67 on August 29, 1985, in Maui.^[2] Ankers and Denning are buried at Makawao Veterans' Cemetery in Makawao, Hawaii.^[5]

Ankers became an American citizen in August 1946.^[1]^: 71

Selected filmography

Ankers and Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man (1941)

Lobby card with Lon Chaney Jr., Ankers and Bela Lugosi in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Ankers, Turhan Bey and David Bruce in The Mad Ghoul (1943)

Ankers in 1945 Yank Army magazine pin-up

Skip Homeier and Ankers in a General Electric Theatre television episode (1954)

Land Without Music (1936) as A Lady of the Court (segment "Who said Carlini?") (uncredited)
Rembrandt (1936)^[2] as Party Girl (uncredited)
Fire Over England (1937) as Lady-in-Waiting (uncredited)
Wings of the Morning (1937) as Party Guest (uncredited)
Knight Without Armour (1937) as Minor Role (uncredited)
Murder in the Family (1938) as Dorothy Osborne
The Claydon Treasure Mystery (1938) as Rosemary Shackleford
Coming of Age (1938) as Christine Squire
The Villiers Diamond (1938) as Joan Raymond
Second Thoughts (1938) as Molly Frame
Over the Moon (1939) as Sanitarium Patient (uncredited)
Bachelor Daddy (1941) as Beth Chase
Hit the Road (1941) as Patience Ryan
Hold That Ghost (with Abbott and Costello) (1941) as Norma Lind
Burma Convoy (1941) as Ann McBragel
The Wolf Man (with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi) (1941) as Gwen Conliffe
North to the Klondike (with Broderick Crawford and Lon Chaney Jr.) (1942) as Mary Sloan
The Ghost of Frankenstein (with Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi) (1942) as Elsa Frankenstein
Eagle Squadron (with Robert Stack and Diana Barrymore) (1942) as Nancy Mitchell
Pierre of the Plains (1942) as Celia Wellsby
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (with Basil Rathbone) (1942) as Kitty
The Great Impersonation (1942) as Lady Muriel Dominey
Keep 'Em Slugging (1943) as Sheila
Captive Wild Woman (1943) as Beth Colman
All by Myself (1943) as Jean Wells
Hers to Hold (1943) as Flo Simpson
Crazy House (1943) as Evelyn Ankers (uncredited)
Son of Dracula (with Lon Chaney Jr.) (1943) as Claire Caldwell
You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943) as Lynn Smith
The Mad Ghoul (with Robert Armstrong) (1943) as Isabel Lewis
His Butler's Sister (1943, directed by Frank Borzage) as Elizabeth Campbell
Ladies Courageous (with Loretta Young and Diana Barrymore) (1944) as Wilhelmina
Weird Woman (1944) as Ilona Carr
Follow the Boys (1944) as Evelyn Ankers (uncredited)
Pardon My Rhythm (1944) as Julia Munson
Jungle Woman (1944) as Beth Mason
The Invisible Man's Revenge (with John Carradine) (1944) as Julie Herrick
The Pearl of Death (with Basil Rathbone and Rondo Hatton) (1944) as Naomi Drake
Bowery to Broadway (1944) as Bonnie Latour
The Frozen Ghost (with Lon Chaney Jr.) (1945) as Maura Daniel
The Fatal Witness (1945) as Priscilla Ames
The French Key (1946) as Janet Morgan
Queen of Burlesque (1946) as Crystal McCoy
Black Beauty (with Richard Denning) (1946) as Evelyn Carrington
Flight to Nowhere (1946) as Catherine Forrest
Spoilers of the North (1947) as Laura Reed
Last of the Redmen (1947) as Alice Munro
The Lone Wolf in London (with Gerald Mohr and Eric Blore) (1947) as Iris Chatham
Parole, Inc. (with Michael O'Shea and Turhan Bey) (1948) as Jojo Dumont
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (with Lex Barker) (1949) as Gloria James Jessup
The Texan Meets Calamity Jane (1950) as Calamity Jane
No Greater Love (with Richard Denning) (1960, Short) (final film role)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Mank, Gregory William (2005). Women in Horror Films, 1940s. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 9780786423354. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Evelyn Ankers obituary, nytimes.com, August 31, 1985; accessed June 20, 2016.
^ "Evelyn Ankers". Playbill Vault. Playbill. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
^ Actress Evelyn Ankers, 67, Former `Queen` Of B Movies, August 31, 1985, Chicago Tribune; retrieved August 16, 2016.
^ Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.

External links

Evelyn Ankers at IMDb
Evelyn Ankers at the Internet Broadway Database
Evelyn Ankers at Find a Grave

[whf-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Mank, Gregory William (2005). Women in Horror Films, 1940s. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 9780786423354. Retrieved November 4, 2017.

[obit-2] Evelyn Ankers obituary, nytimes.com, August 31, 1985; accessed June 20, 2016.

[3] "Evelyn Ankers". Playbill Vault. Playbill. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.

[chic-4] Actress Evelyn Ankers, 67, Former `Queen` Of B Movies, August 31, 1985, Chicago Tribune; retrieved August 16, 2016.

[5] Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.

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