Binnie Barnes

British-born actress Binnie Barnes (1903-1998) appeared in both British and American films. She found her greatest success in Hollywood in second lead roles.


British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, London, no. C 240a. Photo: Paramount.


German collector card by Ross Verlag for Cigarettenfabrik Josetti, Berlin, in the series 'Unsere Bunten Filmbilder', no. 252. Photo: Universal.

One of the half-dozen wives of Henry VIII

Binnie Barnes was born Gittel Enoyce Barnes in 1903 in Finsbury, London. She was later called Gertrude Maude Barnes. She was the daughter of Rosa Enoyce and George Barnes, a policeman.

After a variety of jobs, including nurse, chorus girl and milkmaid, Barnes entered Vaudeville. In a Vaudeville rope-twirling act, she was known as 'Texas Binnie Barnes.' Barnes began her film career in 1923, appearing in a short film made by Lee De Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

Her acting debut, with Charles Laughton, was in 1929 in 'Silver Tassie'. She appeared in 26 short comedies with comedian Stanley Lupino before making her feature debut in the English film A Night in Montmartre (Leslie S. Hiscott, 1931) with Hugh Williams.

That year, she married London art dealer Samuel Joseph. The couple divorced in 1936. Barnes achieved prominence as Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of the King, in The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda, 1933) starring Charles Laughton.

The following year, she played a part opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Private Life of Don Juan (Alexander Korda, 1934).


British postcard in the Filmshots series by Film Weekly. Photo: London Films. Charles Laughton and Binnie Barnes in The Private Life of Henry VIII. (Alexander Korda, 1933).


British postcard in the Film Weekly Series, London, no. 2.

The smart-aleck pal of the lead or as the angry 'other woman'

In 1934, Carl Laemmle Jr. invited Binnie Barnes to come to Hollywood, where she played in more than 75 films. Barnes began a career as the smart-aleck pal of the lead or as the angry 'other woman.' Barnes' main qualm in accepting roles as an actress was that she not play submissive roles. Barnes once remarked, "One picture is just like another to me, as long as I don't have to be a sweet woman". Barnes was an avid swimmer. In 1936, she saved a drowning guest at William Wyler’s pool.

Barnes played numerous leading roles, but spent most of the 1930s and 1940s in strong supporting parts, including Diamond Jim (A. Edward Sutherland, 1935) with Edward Arnold, The Adventures of Marco Polo (Archie Mayo, John Cromwell, 1938) with Gary Cooper, and The Three Musketeers (Allan Dwan, 1939) with Don Ameche.

In 1940, Barnes married football star and later Columbia producer M.J. Frankovich, and after the war, they moved to Italy. She appeared in several films her husband produced in Europe, including Decameron Nights (Hugo Fregonese, 1953) with Louis Jourdan and Malaga (Richard Sale, 1954) with Maureen O'Hara and Macdonald Carey. She retired from films in 1954, but returned for a few roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Her last film was 40 Carats (Milton Katselas, 1973), starring Liv Ullmann and Gene Kelly. She worked tirelessly with numerous charities until she died in 1998 at her home in Beverly Hills. Binnie Barnes was 95.

She was survived by her two sons, Mike Frankovich Jr. and Peter Frankovich, and her daughter, Michelle Frankovich De Motte. Her husband had died six years earlier. The couple is buried alongside Joe E. Brown in his grave site at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.


British postcard. Photo: London Films.


British postcard. Photo: Universal Pictures.

Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.