Trivia

Attempted to have her Warner Brothers contract terminated over financial issues, after finding out that she made the same money as the five-year-old who played her son in Une allumette pour trois (1932).

She was an avid bibliophile and had a large and valuable collection of first editions dating back to 1703.

Moved to England during World War II and, between film gigs, worked as an ambulance driver to support the war effort.

Direct descendant of U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun (1825-1832).

Her parents divorced when she was 8. She did not hear from her father after that for fourteen years, when she put out a letter in 1934 asking for information leading to his whereabouts. Six other men responded claiming to be her father before he did. He was living in Philadelphia at the time and had no idea she was in the movies.

A dispute over salary had Warner Brothers putting her in bad pictures or standard roles. She later moved to England.

Her friend Joan Crawford was the one who introduced her to Howard Hughes, who in turn was looking for a girl for his production of Scarface (1932). She made $250 a week.

During her time in England during World War II, she worked as a stringer for the weekly news periodical Illustrated.

During World War II in England, she served in the Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC), a uniformed female civilian organization operating with the support of the Ministry of Transport. In this unit, she drove an ambulance around London in addition to trucks. She resigned her position in the Spring of 1941 when her husband Leslie Fenton was wounded during Operation Chariot, the legendary raid on St. Nazaire while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. While he was convalescing, she joined the Women's Land Army, a civilian organization whose members worked in the fields to harvest enough crops to keep the nation fed.

Attended St. Catherine's Convent in Manhattan on Madison Avenue followed by the Clark School For Girls on West End Avenue. Later she was enrolled at the Page School for Girls in Highland Park, California, located at North Pasadena (now Figueroa) and Avenue 45. Dvorak graduated in 1927 at 15 years of age.

Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" by Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).

Daughter of actress Anna Lehr and Biograph director/actor Edwin McKim.

Although most sources give Ann Dvorak's birth date as August 2, 1912, the New York City Birth Index confirms that Anna McKim was born on August 2, 1911. Throughout her career, Ann would claim 1912 as the year of her birth, though in later years she would begin listing 1911.

Her surname is pronounced with a silent 'D'.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6321 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Taught Mary Carlisle how to dance which helped her to land studio contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him.

In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute.

She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films.

In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl.

Ann Dvorak was considered for the lead role in the 1932 Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists picture "Cynara", to be borrowed from Warner Bros. She ultimately did not appear in the movie.

In late 1950, columnist Erskine Johnson stated that Dvorak was given the role of David's first wife, Michal, in David et Bethsabée (1951). The part was later recast with Jayne Meadows.