British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 512.
Spanish postcard by J.D.P., Valencia, no. 2157.
British postcard by Art Photo, no. 114. Photo: Warner Bros. and Vitaphone Pictures.
A child actress growing up
Anita Louise was born Anita Louise Fremault on the 9th of January 1915 in New York City, U.S.A.
Her first movie was Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), in an uncredited bit. As Anita Fremault, she appeared in child roles from 1924 on.
In 1929, she billed herself by her first and second names only and thus became 'Anita Louise'.
Tiffany Studios gave her her first leading roles in Just Like Heaven (1930) and The Third Alarm (1930).
In 1931, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. That same year, she notably played Robert Woolsey’s foster daughter in Everybody’s Susie (1931) and was Lew Ayres’s leading lady in Heaven on Earth (1931).
Spanish promotional postcard for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle, 1935), based on the play by William Shakespeare. Photo: Warner Bros / First National. Caption: Al sueno de una noche verano is Spanish for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 1673/1, 1937-1938. Photo: Warner Bros / Vitaphone Pictures.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 795. Photo: Warner Bros.
British postcard by Picturegoer, London, no. 512b. Photo: Warner.
An ethereal beauty
From 1934 on, her output of films increased dramatically, and the lovely young star was much in demand.
Anita Louise was featured in, among others, Are We Civilized? (1934), Cross Streets (1934), The Firebird (1934), Bachelor of Arts (1934), Here’s to Romance (1935), Brides Are Like That (1936), Call It a Day (1937), The Go-Getter (1937), Going Places (1938), Hero for a Day (1939), Main Street Lawyer (1939), …
She was Marie Antoinette in Madame du Barry (1934) and, four years later, the queen’s close friend, Princess de Lamballe, in Marie Antoinette (1938).
Her ethereal beauty won her the role of Titania, Queen of Fairies, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935).
She also played opposite Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), as his daughter, and Errol Flynn in Green Light (1937), as his love interest.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2912/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Vitaphone Pictures.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 796. Photo: Warner Bros.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2779/1, 1939-1940. Anita Louise and Errol Flynn in Green Light (Frank Borzage, 1937). Photo: Cosmopolitan Productions / First National Pictures.
Postcard from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Anita Louise and Errol Flynn in Green Light (Frank Borzage, 1937).
No Gone with the Wind and Rebecca for Anita Louise.
Anita Louise was among the actresses who screen-tested for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), which eventually went to Vivien Leigh. Selznick also considered her for the leading role in Rebecca (1940).
Director Alfred Hitchcock reckoned that, although she was very interesting and her reading was competent, she didn’t look anything like a paid travelling companion to a pompous and ageing socialite. In short, she was thought too pretty and elegant to play the mousy and unassuming character Laurence Olivier falls in love with at the beginning of the movie, and Selznick finally chose Joan Fontaine.
In the Bette Davis-Errol Flynn vehicle The Sisters (1938), she marries a wealthy man she doesn’t love, just to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, and it was a departure from her usual ingenue roles. In These Glamour Girls (1939), she played for the first time a wholly unsympathetic character, as a condescending, bitchy and ultra-sophisticated snob being nasty to Lana Turner.
A more mature Anita Louise emerged and pursued her career until 1947 with movies such as Glamour for Sale (1940), The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940), Two in a Taxi (1941), Harmon of Michigan (1941), Dangerous Blondes (1943), Nine Girls (1944), The Fighting Guardsman (1945), The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), The Devil’s Mask (1946), Shadowed (1946), Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), …
In the 1940s, Anita Louise didn’t get to appear in the same number of A-pictures as in the 1930s, but she never lacked film offers.
Postcard from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Anita Louise, Errol Flynn and Margaret Lindsay in Green Light (Frank Borzage, 1937).
Cigarette card by Godfrey Phillips Ltd. and Associated Company in the Beauties of To-Day series, no. 15, fifth series.
Small Spanish chromo by Editorial Bruguera, Barcelona, in the Cinefoto series.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3970. Photo: Warner Bros.
Later work and in private
Anita Louise came back on the big screen only once, in Retreat, Hell! (1952).
In the 1950s, she turned to television and was especially noticed as Nell McLaughlin, the young hero’s mother, in the popular series My Friend Flicka, which premiered in February 1956 and lasted 39 episodes. Her other TV appearances include Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show and Mannix.
In 1940, she married screenwriter and future producer Buddy Adler. She had a daughter, Melanie, in 1947, and a boy, Anthony, would follow thereafter. Adler died in 1960, and Anita Louise remarried businessman Henry Berger in 1962.
She was active in the film colony’s social scene and was noted for her lavish parties. She also devoted a great deal of her time to promoting charity causes such as the UCLA Medical Center, the National Haemophilia Foundation and the Children’s Asthma Research Center.
Anita Louise died of a stroke on the 25th of April 1970 in Los Angeles.
British postcard by Picturegoer, London, no. 512c. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Belgian postcard by Photo Edition, Bruxelles, no. 474. Photo: Columbia Film S.A.B.
Dutch postcard by J.S.A.
Text and postcards: Marlene Pilaete.
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