Binnie Barnes - Biography

Gertrude Maud "Binnie" Barnes (25 May 1903 – 27 July 1998) was an English-American actress. She was born in Islington to a Jewish father and an Italian mother and was brought up Jewish, although she converted to Catholicism later in life.

She 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 (1933) as Katherine Howard, Henry's misfortunate fifth wife. Later her career continued in Hollywood, until 1973, when she appeared in the comedy 40 Carats, her last acting role.

Family

She was married, secondly, to film producer Mike Frankovich, a Roman Catholic, for whom she converted and became a Catholic, and later a naturalized United States citizen. The couple adopted three children.

Death

She died of natural causes, aged 95, in Beverly Hills, California, in 1998, survived by her three children, including production manager, Mike Frankovich, Jr. and producer Peter Frankovich. She was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.

Partial filmography

• Down Our Street (1932)
• Murder at Covent Garden (1932)
• Counsel's Opinion (1933)
• The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
• The Silver Spoon (1934)
• The Private Life of Don Juan (1934)
• Diamond Jim (1935)
• Rendezvous (1935)
• La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
• Three Smart Girls (1936)
• Small Town Girl (1936)
• Broadway Melody of 1938 (1938)
• The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
• The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
• Tropic Holiday (1938)
• The Three Musketeers (1939)
• Wife, Husband and Friend (1939)
• Man About Town (1939)
• Frontier Marshal (1939)
• 'Til We Meet Again (1940)
• Skylark (1941)
• In Old California (1942)
• The Man from Down Under (1943)
• Barbary Coast Gent (1944)
• It's in the Bag (1945)
• The Spanish Main (1945)
• The Time of Their Lives (1946)
• If Winter Comes (1947)
• Decameron Nights (1953)
• Malaga (1954)
• The Trouble with Angels (1966)
• Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1969)
• 40 Carats (1973)

External links

• Photographs and literature