Decades ago, Josephine Hutchison was a leading American stage actress and star of Warner Bros. And the notorious personal life only "fueled interest" in her person.
Biography
Josephine Hutchinson was born into the family of Captain Charles James Hutchinson and actress Leona Roberts in Seattle, Washington in 1898 (although some sources claim that in 1904). Her mother is best known for her role as Mrs. Mead in the cult movie Gone With the Wind.
In 1917, thanks to Leona Roberts' acquaintance with Douglas Fairbanks, the miniature "Titian" Josephine got a small role in the film "The Little Princess" starring Mary Pickford. This experience inspired her to further study drama and dance, which lasted for three years. Moreover, her first experience in cinema marked the beginning of her theatrical and acting career, to which she devoted her entire life.
Career
In 1920, Josephine Hutchinson made her debut as a dancer in the city's Metropolitan theater production The Little Mermaid. For two years she worked with the Rams Head Playhouse in Washington, which was run by her future husband, Robert Bell. In 1925, Hutchinson appeared in the acclaimed Broadway production of A Man's Man opposite Pat O'Brien.
At one of the performances, she was noticed by Gladys Caltrop, who worked with the famous actress and screenwriter Eva Le Gallienne. And when the need arose to replace Rose Hobart in the production of Three Sisters, Caltrop recommended Hutchinson for the role of Irina. Eva Le Gallienne approved the candidacy of the actress. After her performance, one of the critics remarked: "She is beautiful, spontaneous and has emotional restraint." Over the next few years, Josephine took part in productions based on plays by Ibsen, Chekhov and Shakespeare, as well as in the acclaimed work of Le Gallienne "Peter Pan" (1928). The Herald Tribune wrote: “Josephine Hutchinson was able to accurately portray Wendy's motherhood as the role demands.” In 1931, she received rave reviews for her performance as Alice in Alice in Wonderland. …
But in 1934 her relationship with Le Gallienne became tense and Josephine asked her agent Leland Hayward to organize a screen test. She was perfect for work at Warner Bros. and soon signed a lucrative contract.
Her film debut took place in 1934 in the musical film Happiness Ahead. But the role of Hutchison in this picture turned out to be almost the worst work of the actress. Trying to create the image of a rich young girl posing as poor because of her love for the window washer, she smiled too much and flirted desperately. Perhaps the actress realized that she was too old for this role. But Josephine was beautiful as a woman who falls in love with her disabled husband's brother in The Right to Life (1935) and excellent as the wife of an oil company executive in China's Lamp Fuel (1935). However, none of these films were commercially successful. In 1936, an excellent work followed in the film "The Tale of Louis Pasteur" (1936), after which she was promised to shoot in the biography of Marie Curie. However, instead, Josephine was offered a job in the films I Married a Doctor (1936) and Mountain Justice (1937). In 1937, she ended her relationship with Warner Bros.
Once in the "free float", the actress actively set to work on the radio. Possessing a beautiful delivered voice, Hutchinson succeeded in this field. In addition, while working on one of the radio projects, she met Boris Karloff. The meeting of the British actor and Josephine grew into a strong friendship, which lasted until the last days of Boris.
Hutchinson returned to acting in films in 1946, when the picture with her participation "Somewhere in the Night" was released. She was followed by work in the films "Adventure in Baltimore" (1949), "Love is Better Than Ever" (1952), "Crossings Ahead" (1955), "Nevada Smith" (1966) and many others. In 1970, the last film with her participation was released, entitled "Rabbit, Run".
In the following years, the actress worked in television. She starred in the television series "Then Bronson Came", "To Rome with Love", "The Partridge Family", "Long Street", "Little House on the Prairie", "The Sixth Sense" and others.
It is known about the personal life of Josephine Hutchison that she was married three times and at a certain period of her life had a scandalous lesbian relationship with Eva Le Gallienne.
The actress first married in 1924. Director Robert Bell became her husband. Three years later, Josephine began a romantic relationship with Le Gallienne.
"It's only natural that actors fall in love with the people they work with," the actress said in an interview. This romance was the reason for Hutchison and Bell's divorce in 1930. However, they parted as good friends. Several years later, the relationship between the women also became tense. And in 1934 they were finished. “It was both good and normal and great. There was never any sense of shame associated with our relationship,” Hutchison said later.
In 1935, the actress remarried to James Townsend. But this relationship ended in divorce. The third husband of Josephine Hutchison was the actor States Cotsworth. The couple were together until the death of the Cotsworth in 1979.
