Genevieve Tobin

American actress Genevieve Tobin (1899-1995) appeared in a few silent films as a child and formed a double act with her sister, Vivian. Her peak years as a film actress were in the 1930s. She mostly played smaller roles in screwball comedies.


British postcard in the Cameo series, London, no. KC 25. Photo: Fox.


British postcard by Valentine's in the Film Stars and Their Pets series, no. 7113B. Photo: Fox. Caption: Genevieve Tobin. This attractive Fox film player now starring in Pleasure Cruise began her career in Vaudeville, winning fame in 'The Trial of Mary Duncan'. Her film career began with The Lady Surrenders and she has appeared in The Gay Diplomat, One Hour With You and Gloria Swanson's Perfect Understanding. She is 5 feet 31/2 inches in height, and has light reddish-brown hair, and green eyes.

Her chic looks and cheerful personality

Genevieve Alice Tobin was born in 1899 in New York, NY. She was the daughter of Thomas Tobin, a bank clerk who later became a racetrack bookmaker.

As a child, Tobin started treading the boards and debuted in 'Disraeli' (1912). She appeared as Little Eva in the silent short Uncle Tom's Cabin (J. Stuart Blackton, 1910) with Florence Turner and Mary Fuller.

Her older brother George Tobin and younger sister Vivian Tobin also became stage and film actors. With Vivian, she formed a double act. By her teens Genevieve was appearing as a sparkling blonde ingénue on Broadway, steadily gaining notice with her chic looks and cheerful personality.

Considered a medium-weight talent, she tackled roles as Cordelia in 'King Lear' (1923) and her usual frothy comedies and musicals such as 'Polly Preferred' (1923).

Her breakthrough was her New York performance in Cole Porter's musical 'Fifty Million Frenchmen' in 1929 where she introduced the popular song 'You Do Something to Me'. The success led her back to Hollywood, where she focused particularly on Screwball farces.


Dutch postcard, no. 180. Photo: Universal. Genevieve Tobin and Conrad Nagel played together in Free Love (Hobart Henley, 1930) and A Lady Surrenders (John M. Stahl, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 6490/1, 1931-1932. Photo: RKO Radio Pictures. Ivan Lebedeff and Genevieve Tobin in The Gay Diplomat (Richard Boleslawski, 1931).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6732/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Paramount. Roland Young, Genevieve Tobin, Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour with You (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932).

The arch or self-involved 'other woman'

Genevieve Tobin started with a couple of glamorous leading lady roles in two early talkies, the drama A Lady Surrenders (John M. Stahl, 1930) and the comedy Free Love (Hobart Henley, 1930), both co-starring Conrad Nagel.

Genevieve moved into second leads as the 1930s flew by, often playing the arch or self-involved 'other woman' role. She appeared in fine form as the problematic third wheel in One Hour With You (George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch, 1932) with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.

She did the same in Goodbye Again (Michael Curtiz, 1933) co-starring Warren William and Joan Blondell, Kiss and Make-Up (Harlan Thompson, 1934) with Cary Grant and Helen Mack, and The Goose and the Gander (Alfred E. Green, 1935) with Kay Francis and George Brent.

She starred as the bored wife of a wealthy businessman in the drama The Petrified Forest (Archie L. Mayo, 1936) with Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Tobin married director William Keighley in 1938 and he directed her last film, No Time for Comedy (William Keighley, 1940) with James Stewart and Rosalind Russell.

After marrying Keighley, Genevieve abandoned her career for high society and never looked back. Her marriage lasted 46 years until Keighley died in 1984. Genevieve Tobin herself would live to become a nonagenarian, dying of cardiac arrest in 1995 in Pasadena, California.


British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly, London. Photo: First National. Edward G. Robinson and Genevieve Tobin in I Loved a Woman (Alfred E. Green, 1933).


British postcard in the Film Shots series by Film Weekly. Photo: Radio. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Genevieve Tobin in Success at Any Price (J. Walter Ruben, 1934).


British postcard in the Cameo Series, London, no. K. 25. Photo: Fox.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.