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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
February 2, 1923
Died
October 11, 1988
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As
- Bonita Granville Wrather
- Bonita Gloria Granville Wrather
Bonita Granville
0.3 Popularity
Biography
Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award. In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series. After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities. Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties. Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).
Known For
0.0
Self
Hollywood’s Children
1982
4.9
Woman (uncredited)
The Legend of the Lone Ranger
1981
🎬
7.5
Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
5.4
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
0.0
Mrs. Kirkley
The Velvet Alley
1959
6.1
Welcome Kilgore
The Lone Ranger
1956
3.3
Laura Jordan
Climax!
1954
3.3
Molly
Climax!
1954
6.1
Lassie
1954
7.2
Ellen Morison
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Credits
Hollywood’s Children
as Self
1982
0.0
The Legend of the Lone Ranger
as Woman (uncredited)
1981
4.9
🎬
V.I.P. Schaukel
as Self
1971
7.5
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
1961
5.4
The Velvet Alley
as Mrs. Kirkley
1959
0.0
The Lone Ranger
as Welcome Kilgore
1956
6.1
Climax!
as Laura Jordan
1954
3.3
Climax!
as Molly
1954
3.3
Lassie
1954
6.1
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Ellen Morison
1951
7.2
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Kitty
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Joan
1950
6.3
Guilty of Treason
as Stephanie Varna
1950
6.0
Strike It Rich
as Julie Ann Brady
1948
0.0
Studio One
as Ann
1948
5.0
The Guilty
as Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell
1947
5.4
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
as Kay Wilson
1946
5.5
Suspense
as Ronnie
1946
6.0
The Truth About Murder
as Christine Allen
1946
4.0
Breakfast in Hollywood
as Dorothy Larson
1946
5.0
Senorita from the West
as Jeannie Blake
1945
5.0
The Beautiful Cheat
as Alice
1945
0.0
Youth Runs Wild
as Toddy Jones
1944
4.2
Song of the Open Road
as Bonnie
1944
0.0
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
as Kay Wilson
1944
5.8
Hitler's Children
as Anna Miller
1943
5.9
Seven Miles from Alcatraz
as Anne Porter
1942
4.5
Now, Voyager
as June Vale
1942
7.4
The Glass Key
as Opal 'Snip' Madvig
1942
6.6
Syncopation
as Kit Latimer
1942
6.2
🎬
Soaring Stars
as Passenger
1942
0.0
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
as Mary Pulham
1941
7.1
Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1
as Self
1941
0.0
Down in San Diego
as Betty Haines
1941
5.5
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
as Frances Marlowe
1941
6.8
The Wild Man of Borneo
as Francine 'Frankie' Diamond
1941
6.5
Gallant Sons
as Kate Pendleton
1940
7.2
Escape
as Ursula
1940
7.4
Third Finger, Left Hand
as Vicky Sherwood
1940
6.8
Those Were the Days!
as Martha Scroggs
1940
0.0
The Mortal Storm
as Elsa
1940
7.3
Forty Little Mothers
as Doris
1940
6.2
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
as Nancy Drew
1939
6.8
Angels Wash Their Faces
as Peggy Finnegan
1939
6.4
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
as Nancy Drew
1939
6.0
Nancy Drew... Reporter
as Nancy Drew
1939
6.0
Breakdowns of 1938
as Nancy Drew (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
4.7
Nancy Drew… Detective
as Nancy Drew
1938
6.3
Hard to Get
as Connie Richards
1938
6.0
My Bill
as Gwen Colbrook
1938
6.2
White Banners
as Sally Ward
1938
5.8
The Beloved Brat
as Roberta Morgan
1938
6.4
Merrily We Live
as Marian Kilbourne
1938
6.9
It's Love I'm After
as Gracie Kane
1937
7.0
Call It a Day
as Ann Hilton
1937
5.0
Quality Street
as Isabella
1937
5.8
Maid of Salem
as Ann
1937
5.9
The Plough and the Stars
as Mollser Gogan
1936
5.8
The Garden of Allah
as Convent Girl (uncredited)
1936
5.8
These Three
as Mary Tilford
1936
7.1
Song of the Saddle
as Jen as a Child
1936
7.0
Ah, Wilderness!
as Mildred Miller
1935
6.5
The Life of Vergie Winters
as Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited)
1934
5.2
Cradle Song
as Carmen (uncredited)
1933
0.0
Cavalcade
as Young Fanny
1933
5.5
Silver Dollar
as Liddy (uncredited)
1932
5.7
Westward Passage
as Little Olivia Allen (age 9)
1932
5.8