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Ellen Hall

American actress (1923–1999) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ellen Hall

Ellen Hall was an American actress and showgirl. She was introduced to the film industry when her mother, Ella Hall, got an uncredited cameo as a nurse in the 1930 Universal production All Quiet on the Western Front.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Ellen Hall
Ellen Hall
Hall in 1943
Born
Ellen Joanna Johnson

(1923-04-18)April 18, 1923
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 24, 1999(1999-03-24) (aged 75)
Bellevue, Nebraska, U.S.
Other namesEllen Langer
OccupationActress
Years active1941–1952
Known for
Spouse
Lee Langer
​
​
(m. 1944; died 1995)​
Parents
RelativesRichard Emory (brother)
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In 1943, Hall joined the Goldwyn Girls, a musical stock company of female dancers formed by Samuel Goldwyn, based on the Ziegfeld Girls. In 1944, 20th Century Fox invited her to join the newly formed Diamond Horseshoe Girls.

During her career, she acted in Westerns, a popular genre in the 1940s, as well as family comedies and musicals. In 1951, she appeared in the television series The Cisco Kid.

Hall performed her last acting role in 1952, when she was 28.

Early years

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Ellen Hall's mother was the actress Ella Hall, and her father was actor-turned-director Emory Johnson. The couple married in a private ceremony in 1917.[1] After their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into Johnson's Los Angeles residence, which they shared with his mother, Emilie Johnson. The oldest of Hall's siblings, Emory Waldemar Johnson Jr, was born on January 27, 1919.[2] The Johnson's second child, Alfred Bernard Johnson, was born on September 26, 1920.[3] Ellen Hall was born Ellen Joanna Johnson on April 19, 1923.[4]

In 1924, Ellen's mother filed for divorce, though the couple reconciled in late 1925. In March 1926, a truck fatally struck the five-year-old Alfred while the kids were crossing a busy street in Hollywood. The Johnson couple subsequently had another child, Diana Marie, on October 27, 1929.[5]

Hall's parents eventually divorced in 1930, and Ella and her three children found residence with Ella's mother, who lived in North Hollywood. Ella got work at the upscale department store I. Magnin.[6] In 1932, Emory Johnson declared bankruptcy to reduce his financial obligations towards Ella and their children.[7]

Career

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Hall appeared in her first large-scale production when she was seven. Her mother secured roles for her and her ten-year-old brother, Waldmar, in the 1930 Universal production All Quiet on the Western Front.[8]

According to another newspaper account, Hall made her first appearance in front of the cameras at age nine, with an uncredited role in Mary Pickford's Secrets, released in 1933.[6]

Comedies, glamour, and musicals

At the age of 18, Hall was chosen to play one of the background autograph seekers in the 1941 musical comedy The Chocolate Soldier.[9][10]

At 21, in 1943, Hall became one of the thirty-four Goldwyn Girls, created by Sam Goldwyn. This led her to appear in the 1944 Samuel Goldwyn Productions musical Up in Arms.[11] Her promotional photo from the shoot states, She is 5'6" tall, weighs 123 pounds, and has brown hair and blue eyes.[12] In 1944, she appeared in Here Come the Waves;[9][13] in 1945, Wonder Man;[9][14] and in 1946, Cinderella Jones.[9][15] This role would be her last in a musical. In late 1944, Hall was selected by 20th-Century Fox producer William Perlberg to join the fourteen Diamond Horseshoe Girls.[16]

Westerns

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Although she had work in other genres, Hall found her acting niche in B movie Westerns. Out of her filmography of twenty movies, eight were Westerns.[17] In 1943, the 20-year-old actress got her first female lead in the Monogram Pictures production Outlaws of Stampede Pass.[9][18] Hall would act in five Westerns in 1944: in January, she got top female billing in Raiders of the Border;[9][19] in April, she appeared in Lumberjack;[9][20] in June, Range Law;[9][21] and in July, Call of the Rockies[9][22] and Brand of the Devil.[9][23]

Following her 1944 marriage, Hall began accepting fewer film roles. In 1946, she acted in Thunder Town,[9][24] and in 1949, she accepted her final role in a Hollywood Western, in Lawless Code.[9][25]

Other genres and mediums

Interspersed with her 1944 Western roles, Hall also landed a role as the long-dead wife of Bela Lugosi in the 1944 film Voodoo Man.[9][26] After getting married, she acted in six more movies, and in 1951, she appeared in three episodes of the Western television series The Cisco Kid. Her final Hollywood production was the 1951 film Bowery Battalion,[9][27] and her last recorded film is the 1952 PFC production The Congregation.[9][28] She retired from making films at the age of 28.

Personal life

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Marriage

In February 1944, Hall was working with actress Ann Sheridan on a scene for the Warner Bros. production Shine On, Harvest Moon.[29] While on set, Sheridan introduced Hall to Lee Langer, a Marine fighter pilot who had seen action in the Guadalcanal campaign.[a] Hall and Langer immediately connected, and two weeks later, on March 13, 1944, they announced their engagement. Hall was 20 years old, while Langer was 25.[36] The couple married on December 3, 1944, in North Hollywood.[37] Rickie VanDusen was Hall's maid of honor.[38][39] Hall's mother, Ella, was friends with Mary Pickford,[40] who arranged for the wedding reception to be held at the Hollywood home of her friend Frances Marion. Along with Hall's mother, Pickford was in the receiving line.[39] A newspaper article describing the wedding referenced Hall's father as "the late Emory Johnson"; father and daughter were estranged at the time.[39]

After the wedding, Langer remained on active duty. The couple moved into a three-bedroom Spanish stucco-style home[41] in Los Angeles.[42] The military discharged Langer from active service on February 21, 1946.[43] A son was born to the couple on March 4, 1949.[citation needed] They would remain married until Langer's death, in 1995.[citation needed]

Retirement

By 1952, Hall had retired from acting. She was a Motion Picture & Television Fund volunteer group member and served as its volunteer president from 1969 to 1970.[44]

Langer became a restaurateur, managing the upscale Encore Cafe on La Cienega Boulevard.[45] In 1951, he also became a major in the Marine Reserves.[46]

Death

The couple eventually[when?] retired to Rosarito Beach, Mexico. Langer died in 1995 in San Ysidro, San Diego, at the age of 76.[47] The couple had been married for 50 years. After Langer's death, Hall moved to Bellevue, Nebraska. On March 24, 1999, she died of complications from a stroke while residing in Bellevue's Hillcrest Care and Rehabilitation Center. She was 75 at the time of her death. Her ashes were transported west and interred with her mother and sister at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Her estranged father is buried a block away.[48]

Filmography

More information ◆ Filmography of Ellen Hall ◆, Year ...
          ◆   Filmography of Ellen Hall   ◆          
Year Film Role Production Distribution Genre Credit Released
1930All Quiet on the Western FrontYoung girlUniversalUniversalWarNoApr 21, 1930
1933SecretsYoung girlMary PickfordUnited ArtistsDramaNoMar 16, 1933
1941The Chocolate SoldierAutograph seekerMGMLoews Inc.MusicalNoOct 31, 1941
1943Outlaws of Stampede PassMary LewisMonogramMonogramWesternYesOct 15, 1943
1944Raiders of the BorderBonita BayneMonogramMonogramWesternYesJan 31, 1944
1944Up in ArmsGoldwyn GirlSamuel GoldwynRKOMusicalNoFeb 17, 1944
1944Voodoo ManEvelyn MarloweBanner ProdMonogramHorrorYesFeb 21, 1944
1944LumberjackJulie Peters JordanHarry ShermanUnited ArtistsWesternYesApr 28, 1944
1944Range LawLucille GrayMonogramMonogramWesternYesJun 24, 1944
1944Call of the RockiesMarjorie MalloyRepublicRepublicWesternYesJul 14, 1944
1944Brand of the DevilMolly DawsonArthur AlexanderPRCWesternYesJul 30, 1944
1944Here Come the WavesJohnny Cabot FanMark SandrichParamountMusicalNoDec 18, 1944
1945A Royal ScandalUnknownErnst Lubitsch20th Century FoxDramaNoApr 11, 1945
1945Having Wonderful CrimeBathing beautyRobert FellowsRKOComedyNoApr 12, 1945
1945Wonder ManGoldwyn GirlSamuel GoldwynRKOMusicalNoJun 8, 1945
1946Cinderella JonesJunior LeaguerWarner Bros.Warner Bros.MusicalNoMar 9, 1946
1946Thunder TownBetty MorganPRCPRCWesternYesApr 12, 1946
1949Lawless CodeRita CaldwellMonogramMonogramWesternYesDec 4, 1949
1951Bowery Battalion
–
Jan GrippoMonogramComedyNoJan 24, 1951
1952The Congregation
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Paul F. Heard ProdPFCReligiousNoJan 1, 1952
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Television

More information ◆ Television Roles for Ellen Hall ◆, Year ...
          ◆   Television Roles for Ellen Hall   ◆          
Year Series Role Season Episode Name Genre Air Date
1950The Cisco KidElaine Jarrett116"Newspaper Crusader"WesternDecember 19, 1950
1951The Cisco KidElaine122"Freight Line Feud"WesternJanuary 27, 1951
1951The Cisco KidElaine Wilson21"Performance Bond"WesternSeptember 3, 1951
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Gallery

Notes

  1. Nathan Hale "Toots" Langer was born on February 3, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois.[30] His Jewish parents immigrated to the United States from Austria in 1910.[31] After earning his diploma from Chicago's Bowen High School, he became a student at Bradley Polytechnic Institute, in Peoria, Illinois.[32] On September 26, 1941, Langer was 22 years old and a second-year student at Bradley when he volunteered for the United States Marine Corps;[33] he secured his commission as a second lieutenant in June 1942.[34]

    Lieutenant Langer received his assignment to the marine squadron VMA-124. It became operational on December 28, 1942, and subsequently deployed to Guadalcanal on February 12, 1943. VMA-124 remained in the Solomon Islands until September 1943.[35]

References

Bibliography

External links

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