Remembering Ann Sheridan

Putting the "oomph" back in "The Oomph Girl"

Comments about
Ann Sheridan


I was struck by her extraordinary magnetism and directness.
- Rex Harrison 

Harrison also noted that he liked her "distinctive quality of earthiness that never transcends to blatant sexiness."



Ann Sheridan was wonderful, a real trouper She kept the mood of the whole company - and that wasn’t easy under such grueling shooting conditions.
- Juke Girl Director Curtis Bernhardt



She outlived some of the worst pictures you've ever known. People liked her. They made her a star in spite of the bad pictures. When we made I Was A Male War Bride she wasn't so young. She'd been through the mill by that time. But if you're going to make a good picture with Cary Grant, you'd better have somebody who's pretty damn good along with him.
- Director Howard Hawks



Without ever quite acheiving the mythic status of a super-star, she was always a pleasure to watch, and, as with all true stars, was never quite like anyone else.
- London Times, 1967 upon Ann's death.



I hurry to point out she was never lovelier or, I might add, more desirable....We are friends and could never be serious together.  If we tried, we'd probably break out laughing in the middle of a kiss.
- Errol Flynn about Ann reflecting on the filming of Silver River



After seven months, during which I gave the matter a lot of serious thought, I decided that here at least was a girl with whom I could always be happy.  To me, Ann Sheridan was the loveliest thing in the world.
- first husband actor Eddie Norris



I only met her a few times, but she was like one of the boys.  Just a regular person.
- actor Rand Brooks



She was a good all-rounder, but was at her most direct as a Brooklynesque hash slinger, quick with the wisecracks, slamming back at Cagney (or George Raft or Pat O'Brien).  It wasn't a type that was appreciated too much, when great acting was confused with Greer Garson or Norma Shearer; nor was Sheridan in the same league as Betty Grable as a pin-up...

She really was too warm, too lush, and too genuinely glamorous to compete with the other tinny girls.  Her singing voice, for instance, a warm contralto, is much more in tune with today's taste.  At all events, she never quite received her due.
- David Shipman, The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years



Mr. Skeffington could have been greater with Ann Sheridan in the lead. That’s who I wanted. The part of the most beautiful woman of her day would have suited Ann but Bette (Davis) heard of it and demanded it and she was box office at the time.
- Director Vincent Sherman



Completely different from her femme fatale image. She was bright, lively, opinionated, sheer joy, had terrible trouble with the men in her life. She wound up with George Brent at one point! Blah! She had this wicked humor the screen couldn’t capture. Oh, (maybe it did) later in that movie with Cary Grant (I Was A Male War Bride). (Studio Head) Jack (Warner) said she was the studio vixen and that was that.

In "Nora Prentiss" (1947) Kent Smith had the good part. Ann was just there radiating glamour. I’ve never heard from anybody who ever liked it and I was stuck with Robert Alda in the second lead. He was all wrong and later became a big Broadway star. Oh, there’s photography by Jimmy Wong Howe that makes the film almost watchable.
- Director Vincent Sherman



Ann Sheridan was a fabulous woman and she died before my eyes.  I never saw somebody expire with such grace and elegance. She was in pain and I would say, "Hi Annie. How are you today?" She'd reply, "'Well, sweetie I wish I felt as good as you do.' That's all she would say."
-- actress Carole Wells (Ann's co-star in Pistols n'' Petticoats)




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