Binnie Barnes
Gertrude Maud Barnes, known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. She was known as a leading lady in films such as The Private Life of Henry VIII, The Last of the Mohicans, and In Old California.
Early life
Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Sarah Rose Noyce and George Barnes, a policeman; 16 children were in her family. Before moving to Hollywood to become an actress, Barnes worked a series of jobs, such as chorus girl, nurse, and dance hostess.
Career
Barnes began her acting career in films in 1923, appearing in a short film made by Lee De Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Her film career continued in Great Britain, most notably in The Private Life of Henry VIII as Katherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife. Barnes' main qualm in accepting roles as an actress was that she not play submissive roles. Barnes once remarked, "One picture is just like another to me, as long as I don't have to be a sweet woman". After she married Mike Frankovich, she moved to Europe with Frankovich and appeared in several films he produced there, including Decameron Nights with Louis Jourdan and Malaga with Maureen O'Hara and Macdonald Carey. Later, her career continued in Hollywood, until 1973, when she appeared in the comedy 40 Carats, her last acting role.
Barnes's first husband was London art dealer Samuel Joseph. Her second marriage was to film producer Mike Frankovich, and later she was a naturalised United States citizen. The couple adopted three children.
Barnes was an avid swimmer. In 1936, she saved a drowning guest at William Wyler’s pool.
Binnie Barnes died on 27 July 1998 of natural causes, aged 95, in Beverly Hills. She was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.
For her contributions to the film industry, Barnes received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Her star is located at 1501 Vine Street.
Complete filmography
Phonofilm A Night in Montmartre as ThereseLove Lies as JunettaDoctor Josser K.C. as Rosa WoppMurder at Covent Garden as GirlThe Innocents of Chicago as Peg GuinanPartners Please as BillieStrip! Strip! Hooray!!! as Spanish LadyDown Our Street as Tessie BernsteinThe Last Coupon as Mrs. MeredithOld Spanish Customers as CarmenTaxi to Paradise as Joan MelhuishCounsel's Opinion as LeslieHeads We Go as Lil PickeringThe Private Life of Henry VIII as Katherine Howard, the Fifth WifeThe Silver Spoon as Lady PerivaleTheir Night Out as LolaNine Forty-Five as Ruth JordanNo Escape as Myra FenglerThe Lady Is Willing as Helene DupontOne Exciting Adventure as Rena SorelGift of Gab as MaidThe Private Life of Don Juan as Rosita, a Maid Pure and SimpleForbidden Territory as Valerie PetrovnaThere's Always Tomorrow as Alice VailDiamond Jim as Lillian RussellRendezvous as Olivia KerloffLa Fiesta de Santa Barbara as HerselfSutter's Gold as Countess Elizabeth BartoffskiSmall Town Girl as Priscilla HydeThe Last of the Mohicans as Alice MunroThe Magnificent Brute as Della LaneThree Smart Girls as Donna LyonsBreezing Home as Henrietta FairfaxBroadway Melody of 1938 as Caroline WhippleOut of the Blue as RosaThe Divorce of Lady X as Lady MereThe First Hundred Years as Claudia WestonThe Adventures of Marco Polo as NazamaHoliday as Mrs. Laura CramThree Blind Mice as Miriam HarringtonAlways Goodbye as Harriet MartinTropic Holiday as Marilyn JoyceGateway as Mrs. Fay SimsThanks for Everything as Kay SwiftThe Three Musketeers as Milady De WinterWife, Husband and Friend as Cecil CarverMan About Town as Lady ArlingtonFrontier Marshal as JerryDay-Time Wife as Blanche'Til We Meet Again as Comtesse de BresacThis Thing Called Love as Charlotte CampbellAngels with Broken Wings as Sybil BartonTight Shoes as Sybil AshThe Great Awakening as Countess Marie DuvarreThree Girls About Town as Faith BannerSkylark as Myrtle VantineCall Out the Marines as Violet 'Vi' HallIn Old California as Lacey MillerI Married an Angel as PeggyThe Man from Down Under as Aggie DawlinsUp in Mabel's Room as Alicia LarchmontThe Hour Before the Dawn as May HeathertonBarbary Coast Gent as Lil DamishIt's in the Bag! as Eve FloogleThe Spanish Main as Anne BonneyGetting Gertie's Garter as BarbaraThe Time of Their Lives as Mildred DeanIf Winter Comes as Natalie BagshawThe Dude Goes West as Kiki KellyMy Own True Love as GeraldineThe Pirates of Capri as Queen Maria CarolinaFugitive Lady as Esther ClementiShadow of the Eagle as Catherine, Empress of RussiaDecameron Nights as Contessa di Firenze / Nerina the Chambermaid / The Old WitchMalaga as FriscoThe Trouble with Angels as Sister CelestineWhere Angels Go, Trouble Follows as Sister Celestine40 Carats as Maud Ericson