This Hollywood High graduate began her career as a secretary and script girl, working for Josef von Sternberg and Charles Chaplin. A sexy and bubbly player, she was repeatedly miscast as a singer-dancer. She toured the vaudeville circuit after her career spluttered, returning to Hollywood only to get involved in a sex scandal in 1933 with her ...
Showgirl in Hollywood, Broadway Babies, Show Girl, The Naughty Flirt, Picture Snatcher, Employees' Entrance, Jimmy the Gent, Telephone Operator, Sweet Mama, Murder at Midnight, Flamingo Road, Playing Around, Annabel Takes a Tour, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Sweet Music, A Very Honorable Guy, Cross Cou...
[1958 interview] I don't mind playing a maid. Save the hearts and flowers. Show business is my racket...and right now I'm only interested in getting back to work.
2
[1958 interview] Look at that Marilyn Monroe walk. I did it first. That's an Alice White walk!
3
[1933 interview] Knocks make you stronger. My chin ought to be scarred. But it's tough, it can take 'em. I like beans so if I had to eat a tin-can diet it wouldn't kill me.
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Fact
1
Alice White was originally scheduled to co-star in the Unversal Picture Affairs of a Gentleman (1934) but was replaced by Leila Hyams.
2
In 1927 Alice had a pet chow dog named Ching-a-Ling.
3
Had a pet sheepdog in the mid-1930s named Snoots, with whom she posed for publicity photos at Universal Pictures.
4
She was once one of Hollywood's most popular actresses and received more than 30,000 fan letter a month.
5
Her real hair color was reddish brown. She dyed it blonde to stop comparisons to her rival Clara Bow.
6
In 1957 she was blinded for several months after falling off a ladder and landing on a pair of scissors.
7
One-time secretary and script girl for Josef von Sternberg who thought she lacked the temperament to be a secretary for him. She later worked for Charles Chaplin.
8
Attended Roanoke College.
9
Parents were James F. White and Marion Alexander, she being a professional actress. Her mother died while Alice was quite young and Alice and her maternal grandmother moved to Hollywood.
Returned to being a secretary after her screen career ended.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Ann Sothern Show
1958
TV Series
Anna
Flamingo Road
1949
Gracie
Girls' Town
1942
Nicky
The Night of January 16th
1941
Flashy Blonde
Annabel Takes a Tour
1938
Marcella, Hotel Manicurist
King of the Newsboys
1938
Dolly
Telephone Operator
1937
Dottie Stengal
Big City
1937
Peggy Devlin
Coronado
1935
Violet Wray Hornbostel
Sweet Music
1935
Lulu Betts Malone
Secret of the Chateau
1934
Didi Bonfee
Gift of Gab
1934
Margot
A Very Honorable Guy
1934
Hortense
Jimmy the Gent
1934
Mabel
Cross Country Cruise
1934
May
King for a Night
1933
Evelyn
Picture Snatcher
1933
Allison
Luxury Liner
1933
Milli Stern
Employees' Entrance
1933
Polly
Murder at Midnight
1931
Millie Scripps
The Naughty Flirt
1931
Miss Katherine Constance 'Kay' Elliott
The Widow from Chicago
1930
Polly Henderson
Sweethearts on Parade
1930
Helen
Sweet Mama
1930
Goldie
Show Girl in Hollywood
1930
Dixie Dugan
Playing Around
1930
Sheba Miller
The Show of Shows
1929
Performer in 'If I Could Learn to Love' Number
The Girl from Woolworth's
1929
Pat King
Broadway Babies
1929
Dee Foster
Hot Stuff
1929
Barbara Allen
Naughty Baby
1928
Rosalind McGill
Show Girl
1928
Dixie Dugan
Lingerie
1928/I
Short
Angele Ree ('Lingerie')
Three-Ring Marriage
1928
Trapeze Performer
Harold Teen
1928
Giggles Dewberry
The Big Noise
1928
Sophie Sloval
Mad Hour
1928
Aimee
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
1928
Dorothy Shaw
The Dove
1927
Bit (uncredited)
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
1927
Adraste
Breakfast at Sunrise
1927
Loulou
The American Beauty
1927
Claire O'Riley
The Satin Woman
1927
Jean Taylor
The Sea Tiger
1927
Manuella
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical
2008
Video documentary performer: "Hang Onto a Rainbow" - uncredited
Employees' Entrance
1933
music: "I Found a Million Dollar Baby In a Five and Ten Cent Store" 1931 - uncredited / performer: "I Found a Million Dollar Baby In a Five and Ten Cent Store" 1931 - uncredited
Sweethearts on Parade
1930
performer: "Dream of Me", "Misstep"
Sweet Mama
1930
performer: "Giving It This and That" - uncredited
Show Girl in Hollywood
1930
performer: "I've Got My Eye on You" 1930, "Hang On to a Rainbow" 1930 - uncredited
Playing Around
1930
"You Learn About Love Every Day" 1929, uncredited / performer: "You Learn About Love Every Day" 1929 - uncredited
The Show of Shows
1929
performer: "If I Could Learn to Love" 1929 - uncredited
The Girl from Woolworth's
1929
performer: "Crying for Love", "Someone", "Oh! Oh! Oh! What I Know About Love", "You Baby Me, I'll Baby You" - uncredited
$1.5 Million
