Gloria Hallward was born on November 28, 1923 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother (and acting mentor) was stage actress Jean Grahame. Gloria acted professionally while still in high school and in 1944 Louis B. Mayer (after seeing her on Broadway) gave her an MGM contract under the name Gloria Grahame.

Gloria would go on to star in Oklahoma!, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bad and the Beautiful, A Woman’s Secret, The Big Heat, In a Lonely Place, and many other memorable movies. While she was wonderfully capable of starring in any genre, she’s most associated with film-noir.

Below are 10 Facts about this beautiful and incredibly talented actress.

1. Her filmography includes 39 feature films. She also starred in 4 TV-movies and 2 miniseries.
2. “Grahame” was Gloria’s grandmother’s maiden name.
3. She was near-sighted and wore glasses when not onscreen.
4. Gloria was descended from royalty! Her father’s family descended from King Edward III through John of Gaunt. Her mother’s family descended from the Scottish Kings of the Hebrides.
5. Her unusual (by anyone’s standards) 1960 marriage to former stepson Anthony Ray was somewhat of a Hollywood scandal.
6. For whatever reasons, Gloria was notoriously unhappy with the tilt of her upper lip,so she often stuffed cotton along her gumline to straighten it out.
7. Gloria Grahame was the 37th actress to receive an Academy Award when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).
8. Claimed to never watch herself on television or even in movie rushes.
9. Appeared in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Crossfire (1947) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).
10. Is portrayed by Annette Bening in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (2017).