Ona Munson

Ona Munson

Born: June 16, 1903
Died: February 11, 1955
in Portland, Oregon, USA
Ona Munson (June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955) was an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of prostitute Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind (1939).

She first came to fame on Broadway as the singing and dancing ingenue in the original production of No, No, Nanette. From this, Munson had a very successful stage and radio career in 1930s in New York. She introduced the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee" in the 1927 Broadway musical Hold Everything.

Her first starring role was in a Warner Brothers talkie called Going Wild (1930). Originally this film was intended as musical but all the numbers were removed prior to release due to the public's distaste for musicals which had virtually saturated the cinema in 1929-1930. Munson appeared the next year in a musical comedy called Hot Heiress in which she sings several songs along with her co-star Ben Lyon. She also starred in Broadminded (1931) and Five Star Final (1931). She briefly retired from the screen, only to return in 1938.

When David O. Selznick was casting his production Gone with the Wind, he first announced that Mae West was to play Belle, but this was a publicity stunt. Tallulah Bankhead refused the role as too small. Munson herself was the antithesis of the voluptuous Belle: freckled and of slight build. But her skills as an actress electrified her screen test: it was all in the voice. She spoke deep and throaty in her test, and her voice conveyed sexiness and worldliness. The rest could be remedied by the wardrobe and makeup departments.

Munson’s career was stalemated by the acclaim of Gone with the Wind; for the remainder of her career, she was typecast in similar roles. Two years later, she played a huge role as another madam, albeit a Chinese one, in Josef von Sternberg's film noir The Shanghai Gesture.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ona Munson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6211 Hollywood Boulevard.

Munson was married three times, to actor and director Edward Buzzell in 1927, to Stewart McDonald in 1941, and designer Eugene Berman in 1949.

In 1955, plagued by ill health, she committed suicide at the age of 51 with an overdose of barbiturates in her apartment in New York. A note found next to her deathbed read, "This is the only way I know to be free again...Please don't follow me."

Movies for Ona Munson...

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Title: The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 1, 1988
Type: Movie
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
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The Red House
Title: The Red House
Character: Mrs. Storm
Released: February 4, 1947
Type: Movie
An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
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Dakota
Title: Dakota
Character: 'Jersey' Thomas
Released: December 15, 1945
Type: Movie
In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sandy, knowing that the railroad is to be extended into Dakota, plans to use their $20,000 nest egg to buy land options to sell to the railroad at a profit. On the stage trip to Ft. Abercrombie, their fellow passengers are Jim Bender and Bigtree Collins, who practically own the town of Fargo and Devlin is aware that they are prepared to protect the little empire... trying to drive out the farmers by burning their property, destroying their wheat, and blaming the devastation on the Indians. Continuing their journey north on the river aboard the "River Bird', Sandy and John meet Captain Bounce, an irascible old seafarer. Two of Bendender's henchmen, Slagin and Carp, board the boat and relieve John of his $20,000 at gunpoint. Captain Bounce, chasing the robber's dinghy..
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The Cheaters
Title: The Cheaters
Character: Florie Watson
Released: July 15, 1945
Type: Movie
An eccentric wealthy family facing bankruptcy schemes to steal an inheritance, but an alcoholic ex-actor they take in for Christmas charity complicates their plan.
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Idaho
Title: Idaho
Character: Belle Bonner
Released: March 10, 1943
Type: Movie
A deputy sets out to prove that a respected judge, who had once been a criminal, is being framed for crimes committed by a crooked saloon owner.
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Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Title: Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Released: October 5, 1942
Type: Movie
Narrator Hopper covers two war benefit affairs, a garden party and a USO fashion show, at Pickfair, "The White House of Hollywood."
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Drums of the Congo
Title: Drums of the Congo
Character: Dr. Ann Montgomery
Released: July 17, 1942
Type: Movie
A safari sets out to find a meteorite that fell in the African jungle.
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The Shanghai Gesture
Title: The Shanghai Gesture
Character: 'Mother' Gin Sling
Released: December 25, 1941
Type: Movie
A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
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Wild Geese Calling
Title: Wild Geese Calling
Character: Clarabella
Released: August 15, 1941
Type: Movie
In the 1890s lumberjack John leaves Seattle for Alaska to look for gold. After he marries dancehall girl Sally, he finds she used to be in love with his best friend Blackie.
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Lady from Louisiana
Title: Lady from Louisiana
Character: Julie Mirbeau
Released: April 22, 1941
Type: Movie
Northern lawyer John Reynolds travels to New Orleans to try and clean up the local crime syndicate based around a lottery. Although he meets Julie Mirbeau and they are attracted to each other, the fact that her father heads the lottery means they end up on opposite sides. When her father is killed, Julie becomes more and more involved in the shady activities and in blocking Reynolds' attempts at prosecution.
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Wagons Westward
Title: Wagons Westward
Character: Julie O'Conover
Released: June 19, 1940
Type: Movie
David Cook and twin brother Tom are poles apart in disposition and traits. When their father dies, Tom goes to New Mexico to live with his Uncle Hardtack while David remains behind to care for their mother. The grown Tom becomes an outlaw while brother David becomes a government lawman. David is charged with apprehending Tom...
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The Big Guy
Title: The Big Guy
Character: Mary Whitlock
Released: December 22, 1939
Type: Movie
A man is given the choice between having fabulous wealth or saving an innocent man from the death penalty.
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Gone with the Wind
Title: Gone with the Wind
Character: Belle Watling
Released: December 15, 1939
Type: Movie
The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
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Legion of Lost Flyers
Title: Legion of Lost Flyers
Character: Martha Wilson
Released: November 2, 1939
Type: Movie
A group of pilots, because of unsavory or unearned reputations, establish an outpost squadron of their own, led by "Loop" Gillian, running charter-flights and hauling supplies in the frozen wastelands of Alaska. The operation does not go without misadventures, foul-ups, and a bit of treachery tossed in.
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Scandal Sheet
Title: Scandal Sheet
Character: Kitty Mulhane
Released: October 16, 1939
Type: Movie
The crimes of a tabloid publisher are exposed by a reporter, his secret illegitimate son.
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His Exciting Night
Title: His Exciting Night
Character: Anne Baker
Released: November 11, 1938
Type: Movie
A milquetoast clerk is betrothed to the socialite whose aunt holds a big account with his company.
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Five Star Final
Title: Five Star Final
Character: Kitty Carmody
Released: September 26, 1931
Type: Movie
Searching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print a serial based on a past murder, tormenting a woman involved.
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Broadminded
Title: Broadminded
Character: Constance Palmer
Released: August 1, 1931
Type: Movie
Jack's father lowers the boom when his irresponsible rich-kid ends up in jail after a night of debauchery. The father appoints Ossie, Jack's cousin, as guardian, not realizing that Ossie is just as bad. They set off on a transcontinental trip with mischief on their minds.
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The Hot Heiress
Title: The Hot Heiress
Character: Juliette
Released: March 28, 1931
Type: Movie
Classes clash when a poor riveter and wealthy society woman fall in love with each other, much to the shock of her friends and family.
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Going Wild
Title: Going Wild
Character: Ruth Howard
Released: December 21, 1930
Type: Movie
Rollo and Lane just happen to be tossed off the train at White Beach where Robert Story -Air ace and writer- is supposed to stop. It is a case of mistaken identity as no one knows what Story looks like. So they get free room and meals at the Palm Inn and everything is going well until they want Story to fly in the race on Saturday. Rollo has never even be up in a plane, never mind fly one, so he must figure a way out. But the girls have everything bet on his winning the race. Written by Tony Fontana
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An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee
Title: An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee
Character: Self
Released: August 1, 1930
Type: Movie
Mr. and Mrs. Warner Bros. Pictures and their precocious offspring, Little Miss Vitaphone, host a dinner in honor of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee, attended by most of the major players and song writers under contract to WB at that time.
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The Head of the Family
Title: The Head of the Family
Character: (uncredited)
Released: January 18, 1928
Type: Movie
Silent Comedy film directed by Joseph C. Boyle