Close-up: Mary Astor

Mary Astor was one of the greatest character actresses in Hollywood history.

In The Maltese Falcon Mary Astor's Brigid O'Shaughnessy tells Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade, "I haven't lived a good life. I've been bad, worse than you could know." Without missing a beat Bogie's Sam Spade matter-of-factly answers her confession with, "You know, that's good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere."

Mary Astor could expertly evoke a madonna like purity and a moment later become a wry, sophisticated woman of the world. She could also be a man-hungry, gold-digging, murderess. Which is why, in the end, her O'Shaughnessy proves too dangerous and unpredictable for Spade who throws her over to the cops in the movies' classic conclusion.

Brigid O'Shaughnessy is an iconic femme fatale of Film Noir. She also represents the pinnacle of Mary Astor's career; a venerable and hugely successful career that began as an extra in 1920 ( when she was only 14) and ended more than a hundred pictures later in the mid-60's.

Astor's first credited role was in a forgotten 1922 comedy entitled John Smith. She became a star in 1924 when she played opposite John Barrymore (then at the height of his fame) in Beau Brummel as Lady Margery Alvanley. The 18-year-old Astor quickly began an affair with her 42-year-old leading man. They were one of Tinsel Towns most celebrated couples but in true Hollywood tradition their relationship was short-lived, having ended by the time they made the silent classic Don Juan together in 1926.

When the movies learned to talk Astor proved herself to be one of the few silent stars with a speaking voice that actually enhanced her talent. This kept her fan base intact and she continued making successful movies in the 1930's.

She became adept at playing the other woman and was probably the greatest second fiddle in the business. In Red Dust (1932) she loses to Jean Harlow in a contest over Clark Gable. In Convention City (1933) she plays a supporting role to star Joan Blondell. In William Wyler's classic Dodsworth (1936) she is billed after Ruth Chatterton whose career was then on the wane. In both Midnight (1939) and The Palm Beach Story (1942) she competes with Claudette Colbert over a man. Ironically in Midnight she is married to her old flame John Barrymore - who had, by then, become an alcoholic wreck.

Mary Astor may not have been the woman with the most screen-time in these movies but she was nonetheless feared by many an actress for her renowned scene-stealing abilities. Very few actresses had her versatility. She could - and often did - play everything from high drama to screwball comedy.

With middle-age came matronly parts. She played Judy Garland's mother in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and Elizabeth Taylor's in the 1949 remake of Little Women. She also played the mother in a made for television version of The Philadelphia Story in 1959. Her final screen appearance was in the small, but pivotal, role of Jewel Mayhew in the Bette Davis/Olivia de Havilland thriller Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

In retirement she wrote several successful books including her autobiography 'My Life On Film'. She spent her last years at the Motion Picture Country Home where she passed away of a heart attack on September 25th, 1987. She was 81 years old.

Mary Astor won her only Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for The Great Lie (1941). Astor plays Sandra Kovack a talented but high strung concert pianist who competes with Bette Davis for George Brent. Mary Astor, as an accomplished piano player in real life, was able to bring a real authenticity to the part. She ghost-played Tchaikovsky while celebrated classical pianist Max Rabinovitch played offstage.

In one classic scene she barks a line at Bette Davis that I think best sums up Mary Astor's celluloid presence. After getting caught raiding the refrigerator in the middle of the night, the pregnant Sandra Kovack defends her behavior this way. "I'm not one of you anemic creatures that can get nourishment from a lettuce leaf! I'm an ARTIST!"

So she was.