Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), and The Little Princess (1939). She was named as a WAMPAS Baby Star.

Life and career Louise was born on January 9, 1915, in New York City, the daughter of Louis and Ann Fremault. She attended the Professional Children's School. She made her acting debut on Broadway at the age of seven, in Peter Ibbetson. Louise appeared in the 1922 film Down to the Sea in Ships. She made her first credited screen debut at the age of nine in the film The Sixth Commandment (1924). In 1929, Louise dropped her surname, billing herself only by first and second names.

In the same 1937 St. Louis Star-Times interview referenced above, she is quoted as saying: "When I was nine...Mother and I walked out of the Bristol Hotel in Vienna and I was lifted off my feet by a man, who ran a few steps and threw me, bodily, into a waiting automobile...two hotel attaches came to the rescue...The hotel manager warned my mother that thirty children had been seized and hurried across the Italian frontier where they were sold...later to become white slaves when old enough."

As her stature in Hollywood grew, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star. Her reputation was enhanced by her role as Hollywood society hostess, with her parties attended by the elite of Hollywood and widely and regularly reported in the news media.

Among her film successes were Madame Du Barry (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), The Sisters (1938), and The Little Princess (1939).

By the 1940s, she was reduced to mostly secondary roles, and her film career started to slow. Some of her films during this time are Casanova Brown (1944), Nine Girls (1944), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), Blondie's Big Moment (1947), and Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947). Her last appearance in movies was in the 1952 war film Retreat, Hell!

Reduced to minor roles, she acted infrequently until the advent of television in the 1950s provided her with further opportunities. She played Nell McLaughlin in the television series My Friend Flicka from 1956 to 1957, with co-stars Johnny Washbrook, Gene Evans, and Frank Ferguson. She was substitute host of The Loretta Young Show (1953) when Loretta Young was recuperating from surgery. In 1957, she was host of Theater Time on ABC-TV. Other shows which she hosted included The United States Steel Hour (1962) and Playhouse 90 (1957). Her last television appearance was in a 1970 episode of The Mod Squad.

Personal life and death Louise's husband, film producer Buddy Adler, whom she married on May 18, 1940, died in 1960. They had two children. She married Henry Berger in 1962. Louise died of a stroke at the age of 55, on April 25, 1970, in Los Angeles, California. She was buried next to Adler at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2. McFarland & Company (2016)

Louise has a star at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of her contribution to films.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes1922Down to the Sea in ShipsUncredited 1924The Sixth Commandment Lost filmLend Me Your Husband1925The Street of Forgotten MenFlower GirlUncredited Incomplete film, missing reel 21926The Untamed Lady Lost film 1927The Music Master Lost filmMemoriesShort subject 19284 DevilsLouise Lost filmA Woman of AffairsDiana as a ChildUncredited 1929The Spirit of YouthToodles EwingSquare ShouldersMary Jane WilliamsWonder of WomenLottie Lost filmThe Marriage PlaygroundBlanca Wheater 1930The Florodora GirlVibart ChildWhat a ManMarion KilbourneJust Like Heaven Mimi MartellThe Third AlarmMilly Morton 1931The Great MeadowBetty HallMillieConstance 'Connie' MaitlandEverything's RosieRosie DroopThe Woman BetweenHelen WestonHeaven On EarthTowhead1932The Phantom of CrestwoodEsther Wren1933Our BettersElizabeth 'Bessie' Saunders 1934The Most Precious Thing in LifePatty O'DayAre We Civilized?Norma BocknerMadame DuBarryMarie Antoinette Cross StreetsClara GrattanI Give My LoveLorna MarchJudge PriestEllie May GillespieThe FirebirdMariette PointerBachelor of ArtsMimi Smith 1935Lady TubbsWynne HowardHere's to RomanceLydia LubovA Midsummer Night's DreamTitania, Queen of the FairiesPersonal Maid's SecretDiana Abercrombie 1936The Story of Louis PasteurAnnette PasteurBrides Are Like ThatHazel RobinsonAnthony AdverseMaria 1937Green LightPhyllis DexterCall It a DayJoan Collett, the maidThe Go GetterMargaret RicksThat Certain WomanFlorence 'Flip' Carson MerrickFirst LadyEmmy PageTovarichHelene Dupont 1938My BillMuriel ColbrookMarie AntoinettePrincesse de LamballeThe SistersHelen Elliot JohnsonGoing PlacesEllen Parker 1939The Little PrincessRose HamiltonThe GorillaNorma DenbyThese Glamour GirlsDaphne 'Daph' GravesHero for a DaySylvia HigginsMain Street LawyerHoney BoggsRenoMrs. Joanne Ryder 1940Wagons WestwardPhyllis O'ConoverGlamour for SaleAnn PowellThe Villain Still Pursued HerMary Wilson 1941The Phantom SubmarineMadeline NeilsonTwo in a TaxiBonnieHarmon of MichiganPeggy Adams1943Dangerous BlondesJulie Taylor 1944Nine GirlsPaula CanfieldCasanova BrownMadge Ferris1945Love LettersHelen Wentworth 1946The Fighting GuardsmanAmelie de MontrevelThe Bandit of Sherwood ForestLady Catherine MaitlandThe Devil's MaskJanet MitchellPersonality KidLaura HowardShadowedCarol Johnson 1947Blondie's Big MomentMiss GaryBulldog Drummond at BayDoris Hamilton1952Retreat, Hell!Ruth Hansen

Television YearTitleRoleNotes1950Stars Over HollywoodEpisode: "Landing at Daybreak"1952Footlights Theater1 episodes1952–1955The Ford Television TheatreMother / Marie McCoy / Mrs. Lindsey3 episodes1953Your Favorite StoryJuliaEpisode: "The Magician"1955Lux Video TheatreBeatrice PageEpisode: "Forever Female"1956My Friend FlickaNell McLaughlin39 episodes1956Ethel Barrymore TheatreEpisode: "Dear Miss Lovelace"1957The MillionaireNancy WellingtonEpisode: "The Nancy Wellington Story"1957Playhouse 90Mabel Seymour GreerEpisode: "The Greer Case"1957Letter to LorettaLauraEpisode: "Power Play"1962The United States Steel HourMrs. McCabeEpisode: "Far from the Shade Tree"1969MannixAlthea GreeneEpisode: "Missing: Sun and Sky"1970The Mod SquadGrace CochranEpisode: "Call Back Yesterday", (final appearance)

References

External links

Photographs and literature