Genevieve Tobin

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Genevieve Tobin November 29 1899 July 21 1995 was an American actress The daughter of a vaudeville performer Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Toms Cabin as Eva She appeared in a few films as a child and formed a double act with her sister Vivian Their brother George also had a brief acting career Following her education in Paris and New York Tobin concentrated on a stage career in New York Although she was seen most often in comedies Tobin also played the role of Cordelia in a Broadway production of King Lear in 1923 Popular with audiences she was often praised by critics for her appearance and style rather than for her talent however in 1929 she achieved a significant success in the play Fifty Million Frenchmen She introduced and popularized the Cole Porter song You Do Something to Me and the success of the role led her back to Hollywood where she performed regularly in comedy films from the early 1930s She played prominent supporting roles opposite such performers as Jeanette MacDonald Nelson Eddy Cary Grant Barbara Stanwyck Claudette Colbert Joan Blondell and Kay Francis but occasionally played starring roles in films such as Golden Harvest 1933 and Easy to Love 1934 She played secretary Della Street to Warren Williams Perry Mason in The Case of the Lucky Legs 1935 One of her most successful performances was as a bored housewife in the drama The Petrified Forest 1936 opposite Leslie Howard Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart She married the director William Keighley in 1938 and made only a couple more films her final film before her retirement was No Time for Comedy 1940 with James Stewart and Rosalind Russell Description above from the Wikipedia article Genevieve Tobin licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia