Loretta Young

Lore & Background

Young began acting as a child in silent films, including an uncredited role in *Sweet Kitty Bellairs* (1916). She was signed by John McCormick, who gave her the name Loretta after his wife’s favorite doll. She eloped with actor Grant Withers in 1930, but the marriage was annulled the next year. Young won the Academy Award for Best Actress for *The Farmer’s Daughter* (1947), learning a Swedish accent for the role, and received a second nomination for *Come to the Stable* (1949). She also starred in notable films such as *Born to Be Bad* (1934), *Call of the Wild* (1935), *The Crusades* (1935), *Eternally Yours* (1939), *The Stranger* (1946), *The Bishop’s Wife* (1947), and *Key to the City* (1950). In the 1950s, she transitioned to television with her own dramatic anthology series, *The Loretta Young Show* (1953–1961), which earned three Primetime Emmy Awards and was later rerun successfully. She returned to television in the 1980s with two NBC movies, winning a Golden Globe for *Christmas Eve* (1986). Young was born Gretchen Michaela Young in Salt Lake City, Utah, of Luxembourgish descent. Her parents separated when she was two, and her mother moved the family to Hollywood, where a priest helped establish a boarding house. Young and her sisters, Polly Ann and Sally Blane, all worked as child actresses, with Young becoming the most successful. She was educated at Ramona Convent Secondary School in Alhambra, California.

Reader's Guide

Loretta Young’s career began in childhood, when she and her sisters took small roles in silent films to help support the family after her parents separated. She was signed by John McCormick, husband of actress Colleen Moore, who gave her the stage name Loretta after a favorite doll. Young appeared in silent films as Gretchen Young before adopting the name Loretta in 1928. That same year, she co-starred with Lon Chaney in *Laugh, Clown, Laugh*. In 1929, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star. At age 17, she eloped with actor Grant Withers, but the marriage was annulled the following year. She worked steadily through the 1930s, appearing opposite Cary Grant in the pre-Code drama *Born to Be Bad* and starring with Clark Gable in *The Call of the Wild*. She played Berengaria in Cecil B. DeMille’s *The Crusades*, which won Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival. During World War II, she starred in *Ladies Courageous*, a fictionalized story of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. Her 1940s films included *The Stranger*, where she played a woman unknowingly married to a Nazi war criminal. Young won the Academy Award for Best Actress for *The Farmer’s Daughter* (1947) and earned a second nomination for *Come to the Stable* (1949). She successfully moved to television with *The Loretta Young Show*, a dramatic anthology that ran from 1953 to 1961, winning three Primetime Emmy Awards. The show was later rerun in daytime and syndication. She returned to television in the 1980s, winning a Golden Globe for the TV movie *Christmas Eve* (1986). Her legacy includes two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, reflecting her adaptability across film and television.

Did You Know?

• Young was born Gretchen Michaela Young in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Farmer's Daughter (1947).
• Her television series The Loretta Young Show ran for eight years in prime time.
• She had two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for film and television.