Ann Sheridan was a popular actress from Hollywood’s Golden Age, with some of
her best performances being from films such as 1938’s Angels with Dirty Faces and 1943’s Edge
of Darkness. The latter film saw Ann starring alongside Errol Flynn, whom she had multiple
affairs with over the course of her lifetime. One of these affairs came during Ann’s marriage
to actor George Bent, though there were other reasons that Ann and George couldn’t make things
work as a couple. Join Facts Verse as Ann Sheridan revealed why her marriage to George Brent failed.
Ann Sheridan’s Early Life Ann Sheridan was born on February 21,
1915, in Denton, Texas. At the time of her birth, the future star was given the name Clara Lou. When
she ventured into show business, she changed it to Ann to keep things simple. As she was growing up,
Ann was an active young girl who spent more time playing with the boys than she did with the girls.
Some of her favorite activities were horseback riding and playing football, and she could be
found spending her free time fixing cars as a teenager. Despite these tomboyish proclivities,
there was always a part of Ann Sheridan that was fascinated by the glamorous
life when she was growing up. In the back of her mind, Ann daydreamed of becoming a star.
Whenever Ann’s parents picked up on the fact that their tomboyish daughter was holding onto vague
aspirations of stardom, they would do whatever they could to quell them. The young girl’s parents
felt that there was no future for her in show business, and would’ve preferred
for her to have pursued a career that was more practical. In most cases, Ann’s parents would’ve
been right. However, it seems that Ann was one of the lucky few that was destined for stardom.
In her daydreams, Ann was a singer with a big band. However, the star ended up finding her
calling in front of the cameras. Ann’s journey to Hollywood started when her older sister enrolled
her in a beauty pageant. This older sister likely wanted to see Ann stretch beyond her tomboy
origins, and this beauty pageant proved just the venue. The beauty pageant was being held by
Paramount Pictures, and 30 winners ended up being chosen. The prize was a short-term contract with
the studio that would pay $50 a week. Ann was one of the winners, and she was thus brought out to
Hollywood. Though 30 girls were chosen, Ann Sheridan was the only one of the girls whose
time with Paramount Pictures lasted beyond the initial length of the prize contract.
Ann’s Early Hollywood Days Paramount Pictures placed
Ann Sheridan into around 30 films before letting the actress go from her contract in 1935.
Some of the numerous films that she appeared in while working for the studio included Come
on Marines! and Rumba. The studio ended up letting Ann go from her contract because
they didn’t believe she had a bright future. Thankfully, Paramount Pictures was wrong!
At the time that she was let go from her Paramount Pictures contract, Ann Sheridan was still only
19 years old. Warner Bros. Pictures subsequently swept the young star up as soon as she became
available, and the studio made much better use of the actress than Paramount Pictures had. After
taking on roles in numerous B pictures such as Black Legion and The Great O’Malley, Ann
finally struck it big in 1938 when she was cast as the love interest of James Cagney’s character
in the film Angels with Dirty Faces. The film made Ann a mainstream superstar,
and she would remain as such over the course of the 1940s.
In 1939, she appeared alongside Errol Flynn in the Western film Dodge City.
Ann would go on to work with Errol in many more pictures, and the two would also spark up an
on-and-off-again relationship that would overlap with several of the stars’ multiple marriages.
Ann Sheridan Was Married Multiple Times
Ann Sheridan was married three times over the course of her lifetime,
with her first husband being an actor by the name of Edward Morris. The two married in
1936 and divorced in 1938. Though Dodge City was released in 1939, it was being filmed while Ann
was still with Edward. However, this didn’t stop Ann from developing romantic feelings for Errol.
Though Ann and Errol were romantically involved to a significant degree over the course of their
lives, the two never married. Instead, Ann went on to marry a completely different actor
after divorcing from Edward Norris, and that actor was a man by the name of George
Brent. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the
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How Ann Met George Brent During Ann Sheridan’s time
with Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio put on a contest to have the public come up with
a nickname for the actress that could be used during advertising campaigns. The nickname that
ended up winning was “the Ooomph Girl”. Ann went into the 1940s being known by this silly nickname,
and it actually helped her career quite a bit! The public already knew Ann as the Ooomph Girl
when she met her second husband George Brent. George was better known at the time for being
the preferred leading man of Warner Bros. Picture’s biggest star. Though Ann was working
her way up at the studio, the biggest female star there at the time was actually Bette Davis.
Bette Davis always asked for George Brent to be her leading man on the screen,
but it was Ann Sheridan who ended up securing George Brent as her leading man in real life.
Sadly, the pair’s marriage was even shorter than Ann’s first marriage had been. Ann and
George met while working together in the 1941 release Honeymoon for
Three. They subsequently tied the knot in 1942 and were divorced just a year later.
Ann and George’s 1943 divorce came for a number of reasons. Though the divorce may have shocked the
public, it didn’t shock those who knew the couple best. In fact, those who were close
to the pair were more shocked by the fact that the two had gotten married in the first place!
Between Ann Sheridan and George Brent, George was the older and more experienced of the two.
George had already seen his career peak and was a veteran star. Meanwhile, stardom was a relatively
new thing for Ann Sheridan. George wanted a wife that was going to stick by his side during the
encroaching second half of his life, while Ann Sheridan was arguably just going along for the
ride when she accepted the actor’s proposal of marriage. George had rocketed to stardom around
a decade prior to marrying Ann. The actor had been helped in his career by marrying an actress by the
name of Ruth Chatterton, who was much more popular than him at the time. Being married to Ruth gave
George certain perks, and it allowed him to blossom into a popular star himself. George
ended up saying goodbye to Ruth Chatterton, but Hollywood stardom stayed by his side.
Why Ann and George Brent Got Divorced There were numerous reasons that Ann Sheridan and
George Brent’s marriage failed after only a year, and the fact that the two were at completely
different stages in their lives was only one of them. Other reasons included the fact that Ann
cheated on George with the aforementioned Errol Flynn numerous times, as well as the fact that
Ann and George simply didn’t get along entirely well. George was apparently incredibly antisocial,
and he would constantly be coming up with reasons that he and Ann needed to cancel plans that they
had made with friends. This began to grow on Ann’s nerves over the course of the short marriage.
If George Brent was antisocial, then Ann Sheridan could’ve been viewed as the exact
opposite. The actress was the perfect socialite, and she took every opportunity to get out on the
town and experience new things. This certainly got in the way of Ann’s marriage to George.
In fact, Ann realized after divorcing George that marriage might not be her thing.
She remained unmarried for over two decades after divorcing George Brent in 1943, though
she did try her hand at marriage for a third and final time in the 1960s.
Ann Sheridan’s final marriage was to an actor by the name of Scott McKay. They
tied the knot in 1966, though their marriage was doomed to be just as short-lived as Ann’s
previous two. This time, however, the failure of the marriage wasn’t due to irreconcilable
differences. Instead, the end of Ann and Scott’s marriage came as a result of Ann’s 1967 death.
In the years leading up to her death, Ann had been cast in a Western comedy television
series by the name of Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats. On the day that Ann passed away, the series aired
its 19th episode. Ann passed away on January 21, and she was only 51 years old at the time.
Ann Sheridan’s Legacy and Later Work Ann Sheridan starred in numerous notable
pictures after divorcing George Brent. Towards the end of the 1940s, Ann was let go from her contract
with Warner Bros. Pictures after the studio began having some trouble finding roles for the slightly
aging actress. Ann, who was entering her late 30s around the time, ended up having much more luck as
a freelance actress. Her biggest film after the 1940s was Howard Hawks’ I Was a Male War Bride.
Though the public was shocked when it was announced that Golden Age stars Ann Sheridan
and George Brent were divorcing after less than a year of marriage, those who knew the couple were
more surprised that they had gotten married in the first place. Now it’s time to hear from you:
did you know that Ann Sheridan had numerous affairs with costar Errol Flynn over the
course of her lifetime and that she was known to the public as “the Oomph Girl”? As always,
like this video to show your support, subscribe, and hit the notification bell if
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