Mildred Dunnock

Mildred Dunnock has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures, at 6613 Hollywood Boulevard. Films:. She died in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Some of Fréhel's best known songs:. Her final film was The Pick-up Artist in (1987). She was interred in the Cimetière de Pantin, in Paris. Dunnock was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for Death of a Salesman in 1951, and for Baby Doll in 1956. She never found the love she had sought for so long and died in 1951, a wretched drunk, alone in a hotel in Pigalle.

In addition to her successful career as a character actress in film and theater, Dunnock appeared frequently in numerous television series in guest roles, and later in her career, several made-for-television movies, including a remake of Death of a Salesman in which she played Linda Loman for the third time. Despite being one of Europe's most sought after performers, her destructive addictions led to her dropping out of sight for years. Her films include The Trouble with Harry (1955), Love Me Tender (1956), Baby Doll (1956), Peyton Place (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962). Of all her songs, her 1939 "La Java Bleue," with music by Vincent Scotto, proved her most popular. She reprised her role in the 1951 film version. While her alcohol abuse continued, she nevertheless was a major show business force of 1930s France. During the 1940s Dunnock performed mostly on stage, and scored another major success with Death of a Salesman in 1948. The most notable films in which she performed were 1931's De Coeur des Lilas, based on the Tristan Bernard play, and Pépé le Moko that starred Jean Gabin.

The 1945 film version marked her screen debut. In the 1930s, she appeared in several motion pictures, almost always portraying a singer in a minor or supporting role. After a couple of roles in Broadway productions, Dunnock won praise for her performance as a Welsh school teacher in The Corn is Green (1940). Part of what is now referred to as the bal musette, Fréhel often sang accompanied by pipes and/or an accordian player. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dunnock was a school teacher who did not start acting until she was in her early thirties. Singing as Fréhel, at the Paris Olympia in 1924 she recaptured the former magic with a powerful performance and was soon headlining at the most popular venues in the country. Mildred Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American theater, film and television actress. She then signalled a new beginning by switching to the stage name "Fréhel," taking the name from Cap Fréhel in Brittany where her parents had been born.

Lost in a world of alcohol and drugs, she returned to Paris in 1923 to a shocked public that saw the wasted shadow of the singer they had known and loved. Following her failed suicide attempt, in 1911 Marguerite Boulc'h tried to escape her pain and travelled to Bucharest, Turkey and then to Russia where she remained for more than ten years. Their marriage did not last long and Boulc'h's husband left her for the Parisian singer, Damia. Fréhel then began a relationship with Maurice Chevalier but that too did not last long and after he left her for the much older megastar Mistinguett, the distraught girl, still only 19 years old, attempted suicide. She began performing under the stage name "Pervenche" and soon met and married Robert Hollard, a performer who used the nom de guerre "Roberty." Alcohol entered her life at an early age and her drinking became a problem for her husband.

In her teens she got a break when she met one of the female music-hall performers who heard her sing and introduced her to show business promoters. Born in Paris, France to a poor and dysfunctional family, Marguerite Boulc'h was a child left to a life on the streets in the dark side of Paris. Fréhel, born Marguerite Boulc'h on July 14, 1891 – died February 3, 1951, was a French singer and actress. La Rue sans joie (1938).

L'Innocent (1937). Pépé le Moko (1937). Le roman d'un tricheur (1936). La Rue sans nom (1934).

De Coeur des Lilas (1931). La java bleue (1939). La der des der (1939). Tel qu'il est (1936).

Où sont tous mes amants (1935). A la dérive (1932). Où est-il donc? (1926). Comme un moineau (1925).