Judith Barrett

Judith Barrett

Born: February 2, 1909
Died: March 10, 2000
in Venus, Texas, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judith Barrett (born Lucille Kelley, February 2, 1909 – March 10, 2000), also known as Nancy Dover, was an American film actress of the late 1920s and through the 1930s, up until 1940. At sixteen, she got on a train to Hollywood. Her first big chance came when she started in a lavish commercial film in 1928, The Sock Exchange opposite Bobby Vernon. In 1929 she starred in five films, and made a successful transition to "talking films". From 1928 to 1933 she was billed as "Nancy Dover", and from 1930 to 1933 she appeared in nine films, all credited.

In 1933, she appeared in only one film, Marriage Humor opposite Harry Langdon and Vernon Dent, while doing stage work. She would not have another role until 1936, when she starred in the crime drama Yellowstone opposite Henry Hunter, and alongside Ralph Morgan and Alan Hale. It was the first film that she was billed as "Judith Barrett". She appeared in two films that year, and five in 1937, one of which was her first uncredited role.

From 1938 to 1940, Barrett appeared in ten films, all credited, including Road to Singapore, the first "road" picture by the team of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Barrett retired from film acting following her appearance in the 1940 comedy Those Were the Days!, starring William Holden and Bonita Granville.

Noted for her beauty, the October 16, 1939 edition of the Baltimore Sun said of her: "Judith Barrett, pretty and blonde actress, is the first Telegenic Girl to go on record. In other words, she is the perfect type of beauty for television. ... She is slated for the first television motion picture." The Salt Lake Tribune noted that Barrett was "selected after months of exhaustive tests by television experts, sound engineers, photographers and make-up specialists." Paramount Pictures followed up on the selection by featuring her in its film, Television Spy (1939).

Movies for Judith Barrett...

Those Were the Days!
Title: Those Were the Days!
Character: Mirabel Allstairs
Released: July 14, 1940
Type: Movie
At a family gathering, an elderly man reflects on the follies of his youth during his freshman year at college.
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Road to Singapore
Title: Road to Singapore
Character: Gloria Wycott
Released: March 22, 1940
Type: Movie
Two playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore - until they meet Dorothy Lamour...
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Women Without Names
Title: Women Without Names
Character: Peggy Athens
Released: March 14, 1940
Type: Movie
Joyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused of murder. Railroaded into prison through the efforts of politically ambitious assistant DA Marlin, Fred awaits his doom on Death Row, while Joyce works overtime on the outside to clear her husband's name
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The Great Victor Herbert
Title: The Great Victor Herbert
Character: Marie Clark
Released: December 29, 1939
Type: Movie
In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.
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Disputed Passage
Title: Disputed Passage
Character: Winifred Bane
Released: October 25, 1939
Type: Movie
A doctor's medical studies are threatened by his infatuation with a Chinese girl. The girl returns to China, but complications ensue when she runs into him in Nanking during a Japanese bombing raid.
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Television Spy
Title: Television Spy
Character: Gwen Lawson
Released: October 20, 1939
Type: Movie
A scientist invents a television device called the Iconoscope. Foreign agents hear about it and try to steal it.
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The Gracie Allen Murder Case
Title: The Gracie Allen Murder Case
Character: Dixie Del Marr
Released: June 2, 1939
Type: Movie
The zany plot follows nitwit Gracie Allen trying to help master sleuth Philo Vance solve a murder.
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I'm from Missouri
Title: I'm from Missouri
Character: Lola Pike
Released: April 6, 1939
Type: Movie
Sweeney Bliss, champion mule raiser in Missouri, takes his prize mule Samson to London, where the British government is trying to decide whether to buy mules or tractors for its colonial troops. He is accompanied by his ritzy wife Julie who has high society aspirations and hopes to have her younger sister Lola Pike marry a British diplomat. Complicating matters is a business rival, Porgie Rowe, who is trying to sell tractors to the government and keeps knocking Sweeney's prize Missouri mules.
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Persons in Hiding
Title: Persons in Hiding
Character: Blase Blonde
Released: February 10, 1939
Type: Movie
During a stick-up, a woman is excited by the criminal and joins him on his crime spree.
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Illegal Traffic
Title: Illegal Traffic
Character: Marie Arden
Released: November 2, 1938
Type: Movie
G-Man Charles Bent Martin is sent out to break up a nationwide racket. A transport company is aiding fugitives making a getaway in exchange for the lion's share of their loot. Through an old friend, whom he once barnstormed in an air circus, Martin joins the gang as a pilot. He becomes interested in Carol Butler, a beautiful girl involved with the gang through the activities of her ne'er-do-well father.
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Behind the Mike
Title: Behind the Mike
Character: Jane Arledge
Released: September 26, 1937
Type: Movie
Complications ensue after a radio producer insults a sponsor.
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Vogues of 1938
Title: Vogues of 1938
Character: Model
Released: August 18, 1937
Type: Movie
An early Technicolor musical that concentrates on the fashions of the late 1930s, this film was reissued under the title All This and Glamour Too. The top models of the era, including several who are advertising household products, are in the cast. The plot centers around a chic boutique, whose owner, George Curson (Warner Baxter), tries hard to please his customers while keeping peace with his unhappy wife. A wealthy young woman, Wendy Van Klettering (Joan Bennett), decides to take a job as a model at the fashion house, just to amuse herself, but her presence annoys Curson, who must put together the best possible show to compete with rival fashion houses at the Seven Arts Ball. The film includes several hit songs, including the Oscar-nominated "That Old Feeling" by Sammy Fain and Lew Brown.
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Armored Car
Title: Armored Car
Character: Ella Logan
Released: June 1, 1937
Type: Movie
Larry Willis and Bill Wane are security guards who ride in the back of Banks Co. armored trucks. When they barely avoid a robbery, they return to headquarters, where their boss John Hale introduces them to detective Tom Sheridan, who will be working with them to uncover a new gang of robbers.
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Let Them Live
Title: Let Them Live
Character: Rita Johnson
Released: April 25, 1937
Type: Movie
A young man goes up against a crooked town boss.
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The Good Old Soak
Title: The Good Old Soak
Character: Ina Heath
Released: April 23, 1937
Type: Movie
A small town drunk beats a teetotal banker guilty of a shady transaction.
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Flying Hostess
Title: Flying Hostess
Character: Helen Brooks
Released: December 1, 1936
Type: Movie
The story of the training and adventures of several airline stewardesses.
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Yellowstone
Title: Yellowstone
Character: Ruth Foster
Released: September 1, 1936
Type: Movie
Murder mystery set in Yellowstone National Park.
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Running Hollywood
Title: Running Hollywood
Character: Nancy Dover
Released: January 27, 1932
Type: Movie
Running Hollywood is a comedy short.
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Big Business Girl
Title: Big Business Girl
Character: Sarah Ellen
Released: June 12, 1931
Type: Movie
A young woman goes to New York and finds success in advertising thanks to her legs while her boyfriend spends the summer in Europe with his band.
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Cimarron
Title: Cimarron
Character: Donna Cravat (as Nancy Dover)
Released: January 26, 1931
Type: Movie
When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
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The Thoroughbred
Title: The Thoroughbred
Character: Colleen Riley
Released: August 9, 1930
Type: Movie
Riley and Donovan, racehorse owners and trainers who have been rivals and enemies for years, seek to befriend Tod Taylor, a jockey, and Ham, a retainer. Tod elects to work for Riley, incurring the enmity of rival jockeys. Riley's daughter, Colleen, sympathizes with Tod and cares for his bruises. Trying to befriend Donovan, Tod wins a match between Riley's colt, Reckless, and Donovan's best horse; and many more victories bolster his confidence. His head is turned by Margie, a come-on girl for Drake, a gambler. She precipitates his dissipation, and Tod is induced to throw the race to avoid a jail sentence.
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The Big Kick
Title: The Big Kick
Character: Harry's Girl (as Nancy Dover)
Released: March 29, 1930
Type: Movie
Revenuers have been chasing a gang of bootleggers for years. They're hot on the trail near a gas station operated by Harry, a seemingly slow witted fellow with a cheery and spunky girlfriend. A shootout between treasury agents and the gang - they transport the hooch in manikins seated in a touring car - takes place in front of Harry's filling station. While Harry's gal stays outside, Harry carries the liquor-filled dummies into the station. Will there be a reward for the heroics of Harry and his honey?
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Oh Darling!
Title: Oh Darling!
Released: February 15, 1930
Type: Movie
At a small hotel, Judith Barrett and Norman Peck are eloping; John Litel and Addie MacPhail are quarreling because of his constant jealousy; and Eva Thacher and Al Thompson are tracking down their eloping daughter. It's a constant barrage of slamming doors and such trapping of the stage farce.
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The Fighting Parson
Title: The Fighting Parson
Character: The Brunette Dance Hall Girl (as Nancy Dover)
Released: February 6, 1930
Type: Movie
Harry is mistaken for "The Fighting Parson" in a tough western town.
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The Head Guy
Title: The Head Guy
Character: Nancy (as Nancy Dover)
Released: January 11, 1930
Type: Movie
Harry is made the temporary stationmaster in a small town.
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Skirt Shy
Title: Skirt Shy
Character: Nancy, the maid (as Nancy Dover)
Released: November 30, 1929
Type: Movie
Harry must pose as a woman to help the women he works for get a marriage proposal.
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Scandal
Title: Scandal
Character: Janet
Released: April 27, 1929
Type: Movie
1929 picture starring Laura La Plante, Huntley Gordon, and John Boles.
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Happy Heels
Title: Happy Heels
Character: Susan
Released: January 19, 1929
Type: Movie
Billy Dooley meets a showgirl while on leave.
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The Sock Exchange
Title: The Sock Exchange
Character: June
Released: September 22, 1928
Type: Movie
Bobby Vernon must contend with an angry Eddie Baker in this funny Al Christie production.