Renee Godfrey(1919-1964)
- Actress
Sultry-eyed, dark-haired and exquisite-looking, New York City native
Renee Godfrey certainly had the earnestness and requisite beauty to
catapult herself to the top of the film industry but, in the end, fell
short of her initial potential. She later put her career on the back
burner to raise a family and, sadly, fell ill with cancer before she
could resurrect it, dying at the young age of 44.
She was born Renee Haal on September 1, 1919, and discovered early on
that she had a natural gift for singing. The highly photogenic young
teen gave serious thoughts to an entertainment career after entering
and winning the "Miss New York State" contest (the talent portion, of
course, was her singing). She then vied for but lost the 1937 "Miss
America" crown. The resulting attention certainly didn't hurt and, by
age 19, she found herself singing in London as a part of
Danny Kaye's nightclub act. While there she
met British actor/playwright/director/screenwriter
Peter Godfrey, who worked both in
London and Ireland at the time. He was almost 20 years her senior. The
couple arrived in the US in the late 1930s and married in 1941.
Renee began her starlet career as Renee Haal at RKO, making her
unbilled debut in
Kitty Foyle (1940),
the film that garnered Ginger Rogers her
Oscar. She continued obscurely as chorus girl types in such films as
Let's Make Music (1940) and
Danny Kaye's
Up in Arms (1944), and even played a
nurse in Citizen Kane (1941).
Renee's stunning looks were soon put on display pitching Coca-Cola on
billboards while decorating military barracks as a soldier's pin-up
favorite. During WWII she and her husband put together a vaudeville act
and entertained the troops on USO tours. In their show Peter played an
amateur magician while Renee supported him as his lovely and leggy
assistant.
Renee tried to take advantage of her husband's escalating career at RKO
as a medium-budget director. She appeared to charming effect as a
secondary femme in his dramedy
Unexpected Uncle (1941) in which
elderly Charles Coburn narrated
and stole the film right from under ingénue leads
Anne Shirley and
James Craig. Renee's performance
earned her a contract at RKO. At around this time she changed the last
name of her stage moniker to her married name. After appearing in a
couple of Leon Errol comedy shorts, she was
featured once again in one of her husband's pictures, the romantic
drama Highways by Night (1942),
but it did not improve her Hollywood stock.
Renee's career picked up briefly in postwar "Poverty Row" films as a
"second lead" supporting such female stars as
Ruth Hussey in
Bedside Manner (1945),
Martha O'Driscoll in
Down Missouri Way (1946) and
Lynne Roberts in
Winter Wonderland (1946). Her
only co-starring parts came with the above-average Sherlock Holmes
entry Terror by Night (1946) and
the mild comedy French Leave (1948)
starring former child stars
Jackie Cooper and
Jackie Coogan. In the long run, most of
Renee's movie roles emphasized her beauty, not her talent, and that
took her only so far. An unbilled role in her husband's picture
The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948)
saw pretty much the end of her already flagging career.
With primary focus now on raising her three children (which included a
set of twins), Renee was seen very sporadically on TV during the 1950s
with guest roles on former film stars
Loretta Young and
Jane Wyman's tailor-made showcases. For the
most part, however, Renee was out of view. Her director-husband, who
had flourished on 50s TV, was in ill health by the end of the decade.
Taking secretarial and real estate classes to help support the family
income, Renee tried making a comeback of sorts, finding bit roles in
Can-Can (1960),
Inherit the Wind (1960) and
Tender Is the Night (1962).
Still a robust beauty, she was also a guest player on such popular
shows as Perry Mason (1957),
Hazel (1961),
The Donna Reed Show (1958)
and Wagon Train (1957). In the
early 1960s, however, before she could get completely back on track,
she was diagnosed with cancer. After a long, exhaustive battle, she
died at the age of 44 on May 24, 1964, in Los Angeles. Survived by her
husband and children, her last film, an unbilled part in
Walt Disney's feature
Those Calloways (1965), was
released posthumously. Her husband died in 1970.
Renee Godfrey certainly had the earnestness and requisite beauty to
catapult herself to the top of the film industry but, in the end, fell
short of her initial potential. She later put her career on the back
burner to raise a family and, sadly, fell ill with cancer before she
could resurrect it, dying at the young age of 44.
She was born Renee Haal on September 1, 1919, and discovered early on
that she had a natural gift for singing. The highly photogenic young
teen gave serious thoughts to an entertainment career after entering
and winning the "Miss New York State" contest (the talent portion, of
course, was her singing). She then vied for but lost the 1937 "Miss
America" crown. The resulting attention certainly didn't hurt and, by
age 19, she found herself singing in London as a part of
Danny Kaye's nightclub act. While there she
met British actor/playwright/director/screenwriter
Peter Godfrey, who worked both in
London and Ireland at the time. He was almost 20 years her senior. The
couple arrived in the US in the late 1930s and married in 1941.
Renee began her starlet career as Renee Haal at RKO, making her
unbilled debut in
Kitty Foyle (1940),
the film that garnered Ginger Rogers her
Oscar. She continued obscurely as chorus girl types in such films as
Let's Make Music (1940) and
Danny Kaye's
Up in Arms (1944), and even played a
nurse in Citizen Kane (1941).
Renee's stunning looks were soon put on display pitching Coca-Cola on
billboards while decorating military barracks as a soldier's pin-up
favorite. During WWII she and her husband put together a vaudeville act
and entertained the troops on USO tours. In their show Peter played an
amateur magician while Renee supported him as his lovely and leggy
assistant.
Renee tried to take advantage of her husband's escalating career at RKO
as a medium-budget director. She appeared to charming effect as a
secondary femme in his dramedy
Unexpected Uncle (1941) in which
elderly Charles Coburn narrated
and stole the film right from under ingénue leads
Anne Shirley and
James Craig. Renee's performance
earned her a contract at RKO. At around this time she changed the last
name of her stage moniker to her married name. After appearing in a
couple of Leon Errol comedy shorts, she was
featured once again in one of her husband's pictures, the romantic
drama Highways by Night (1942),
but it did not improve her Hollywood stock.
Renee's career picked up briefly in postwar "Poverty Row" films as a
"second lead" supporting such female stars as
Ruth Hussey in
Bedside Manner (1945),
Martha O'Driscoll in
Down Missouri Way (1946) and
Lynne Roberts in
Winter Wonderland (1946). Her
only co-starring parts came with the above-average Sherlock Holmes
entry Terror by Night (1946) and
the mild comedy French Leave (1948)
starring former child stars
Jackie Cooper and
Jackie Coogan. In the long run, most of
Renee's movie roles emphasized her beauty, not her talent, and that
took her only so far. An unbilled role in her husband's picture
The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948)
saw pretty much the end of her already flagging career.
With primary focus now on raising her three children (which included a
set of twins), Renee was seen very sporadically on TV during the 1950s
with guest roles on former film stars
Loretta Young and
Jane Wyman's tailor-made showcases. For the
most part, however, Renee was out of view. Her director-husband, who
had flourished on 50s TV, was in ill health by the end of the decade.
Taking secretarial and real estate classes to help support the family
income, Renee tried making a comeback of sorts, finding bit roles in
Can-Can (1960),
Inherit the Wind (1960) and
Tender Is the Night (1962).
Still a robust beauty, she was also a guest player on such popular
shows as Perry Mason (1957),
Hazel (1961),
The Donna Reed Show (1958)
and Wagon Train (1957). In the
early 1960s, however, before she could get completely back on track,
she was diagnosed with cancer. After a long, exhaustive battle, she
died at the age of 44 on May 24, 1964, in Los Angeles. Survived by her
husband and children, her last film, an unbilled part in
Walt Disney's feature
Those Calloways (1965), was
released posthumously. Her husband died in 1970.