Known for Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leona Roberts (July 26, 1879 – January 29, 1954) was an American stage and film actress. Leona Roberts was born as Leona Celinda Doty in a small village in Illinois. She made her debut on Broadway in 1926 and appeared there in about 40 productions between 1926 and 1945, mostly in supporting roles. Roberts started her film career in 1926 in Poor Mrs. Jones, produced by the United States Department of Agriculture, where she starred in the leading role. She went to Hollywood in 1937 and played in over 40 films, mostly in motherly supporting roles. She was probably best-known for her portrayal of "society gossip" Mrs. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939), together with Harry Davenport, who played Dr. Meade. Roberts also appeared with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938) as the house servant Mrs. Gogarty, as well in Of Human Hearts (1938) with James Stewart and The Blue Bird (1940) with Shirley Temple. In 1941, she returned to Broadway, where she worked until the mid-1940s. Subsequently, Roberts worked again in Hollywood and made a few last films there, including a small part in The Loves of Carmen (1948). She made her last film in 1949.
Born
July 25, 1879
Died
January 29, 1954 (age 74)
Birthplace
Mills Township, Bond County, Illinois, USA
Filmography
38 films


Boomerang!
1947 · 1h 28m · US
When a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner in a quiet Connecticut town, the citizens are horrified and demand action from the police. All of the witnesses identify John Waldron, a nervous out-of-towner, as the killer. District Attorney Henry Harvey is then put on the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove Waldron's innocence.


The Madonna's Secret
1946 · 1h 16m · US
This drama is an updated version of Ulmer's 1944 film Bluebeard. It is set in New York and follows the exploits of an eccentric Parisian painter who has come to New York to escape a controversy surrounding his work. The trouble stems when the model he has used in all his work is found floating dead in the Seine.


Week-End in Havana
1941 · 1h 21m · US
A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast. He obtains waivers from all of the passengers with the exception of Nan Spencer, a department store salesgirl who wants her vacation now, not later. Jay is instructed to take Nan to Havana, set her up in the best hotel, and keep her entertained. She visits a nightclub where the star attraction is Rosita Rivas and meets Rosita's worthless manager, Monte Blanca, who makes a play for her. Trouble also comes in the form of Jay's fiancée, Terry McCracken, when a romance develops between Nan and Jay.


A Man Betrayed
1941 · 1h 22m · US
A bucolic lawyer takes on big-city corruption, setting out to prove that an above-suspicion politician is actually a crook - all while falling in love with the politician's daughter.


Blondie Plays Cupid
1940 · 1h 12m · US
The Bumstead family is off to see relatives in the country when Blondie runs into Charlie and Millie, an eloping couple needing her help.


Wildcat Bus
1940 · 1h 4m · US
A broke playboy signs on to help a young beauty save her ailing bus line.


Comin' Round the Mountain
1940 · 1h 3m · US
A Tennessee boy (Bob Burns) returns from the big city, runs for mayor and puts his musical kin on the radio.


Golden Gloves
1940 · 1h 6m · US
An amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster.


Queen of the Mob
1940 · 1h 1m · US
Ma Webster and her boys rob a bank on Christmas Eve; G-men stop them with Tommy guns.


Gangs of Chicago
1940 · 1h 6m · US
A criminal uses his knowledge of the law for his not-very-legal purposes, betraying friends along the way.


Ski Patrol
1940 · 1h 4m · US
In 1939, a group of Finnish soldiers defend the border from Russian invaders.


Abe Lincoln in Illinois
1940 · 1h 50m · US
Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln from his departure from Kentucky until his election as President of the United States.


The Blue Bird
1940 · 1h 28m · US
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're accompanied by the anthropomorphized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, and Bread, among other entities.


The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940 · 1h 14m · US
A man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The law is not content with his explanation, however.


Swanee River
1939 · 1h 24m · US
Swanee River is a 1940 American biopic about Stephen Foster, a songwriter from Pittsburgh who falls in love with the South, marries a Southern girl, then is accused of sympathizing when the Civil War breaks out. Typical of 20th Century Fox biopics of the time, the film is more fictional than factual biography.


Gone with the Wind
1939 · 3h 58m · US
The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.


Sued for Libel
1939 · 1h 6m · US
A New York City newspaper is sued for libel after reporting the wrong verdict in a murder trial.


The Escape
1939 · 1h 3m · US
An embittered Louie Peronni returns from prison to find that his sister, Juli Peronni, is engaged to policeman Eddie Farrell, and also finds that his secret wife Annie Qualen has placed their baby girl in a foundling home. With his old gang again, Louie plans a robbery of a fur warehouse. Louie shoots down the night watchman and is trailed home where his father Guiseppe Peronni persuades him not to fight it out with the police. Determined to let Louie take the full rap, the gang kidnaps the district attorney's daughter.


The Spellbinder
1939 · 1h 9m · US
Jed Marlowe is a brilliant, scheming, unscrupulous criminal lawyer whose specialty is defending criminal he knows is guilty but gets them off through loop-holes or bribery. Then his daughter, misled by her father’s courtroom performance, but unaware of his back-room tactics, marries the killer her father has just unjustly save from the electric chair. What’s a poor father to do?


Bachelor Mother
1939 · 1h 22m · US
Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling. Outraged at Polly's unmotherly conduct, David Merlin becomes determined to keep the single woman and "her" baby together.


They Made Her a Spy
1939 · 1h 9m · US
When her brother is killed by sabotage, Irene Eaton (Sally Eilers) joins the secret service and goes undercover to unroot the culprits.


Persons in Hiding
1939 · 1h 10m · US
During a stick-up, a woman is excited by the criminal and joins him on his crime spree.


Kentucky
1938 · 1h 36m · US
Young lovers Jack and Sally are from families that compete to send horses to the 1938 Kentucky Derby, but during the Civil War, her family sided with the South while his sided with the North--and her Uncle Peter will have nothing to do with Jack's family.


I Stand Accused
1938 · 1h 3m · US
Fred, a young lawyer fresh out of school, climbs quickly to success as the mouthpiece for a gangland mob. His friend Paul, however, reaches equally quick success - in the district attorney's office. Inevitably, they meet on opposite sides of the courtroom.


The Affairs of Annabel
1938 · 1h 8m · US
Wonder Pictures has been striking out at the box office lately, causing the seedy PR man to involve main star Annabel in ever outrageous stunts for publicity.


Crime Ring
1938 · 1h 10m · US
Fake fortunetellers win the confidence of clients and then get them to part with their money by buying mining stocks which are worthless.


Having Wonderful Time
1938 · 1h 10m · US
Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.


This Marriage Business
1938 · 1h 11m · US
A cocky reporter turns a small town marriage license clerk into a media celebrity.


Condemned Women
1938 · 1h 17m · US
A shoplifter gets sentenced to a women's prison.


Bringing Up Baby
1938 · 1h 42m · US
David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.


Of Human Hearts
1938 · 1h 43m · US
This is a story about family relationships, set in the time before and during the American Civil War. Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm. It is a rich story about striving for excellence, the tension of father-son rebellion, and the love of a mother that can never die.


Everybody's Doing It
1938 · 1h 7m · US
Gangsters are attempting to control the solutions (and winning) of the puzzles in a national newspapers picture puzzles contest craze.


Crashing Hollywood
1938 · 1h 1m · US
A true-to-life gangster movie stirs up an all out mob assault on Hollywood.


Fight for Your Lady
1937 · 1h 6m · US
Wrestling trainer puts himself in charge of a singer's love life when the singer is jilted by a rich girl.


There Goes the Groom
1937 · 1h 5m · US
After striking it rich in Alaskan gold, a young man returns to marry his fiancé only to be snubbed. Her sister, however, is worth considering, until he learns about her gold-digging family.


Super-Sleuth
1937 · 1h 10m · US
A movie actor playing a detective gets carried away with his role and starts trying to solve real-life crimes.


Border Cafe
1937 · 1h 7m · US
The spoiled, hard-partying son of a senator runs away from home after being reprimanded by his father, finds himself down-on-his luck in a tiny western town, and is rehabilitated through the friendship and wisdom of a kind and patient rancher.


Poor Mrs. Jones
1926 · 46m
Tired of her grueling and unglamorous day-to-day life as a rural housewife, Jane Jones takes a vacation to the city where she stays with her sister Hattie, and her ideals of the city are dispelled.