Inez Courtney

Inez Courtney
Still for the romantic crime film It Couldn't Have Happened – But It Did (1936)
Born(1897-10-12)October 12, 1897
Amsterdam, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 1975(1975-04-05) (aged 77)
Neptune, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1930–1940 (retired)
Spouse(s)Luigi Filiasi (1935–?)
Howard "Stanley" Paschal (1931–1933)

Inez Courtney (October 12, 1897[1][2] – April 5, 1975) was an American actress on the Broadway stage and in films.

Early years

Born in Amsterdam, New York, Courtney came from a large Irish-American family. After her father's death when she was fifteen, she decided to go onto the stage.

Career

Before beginning her theatrical career, Courtney worked as an apprentice in a millinery shop in New York City. According to a 1937 newspaper account, the shop's forelady discovered her during a nightly inspection, singing a German-dialect song and tap-dancing while wearing a long-plumed hat. The incident resulted in Courtney losing her first job. Courtney later said that, had it not occurred, she might still have been designing hats.[3]

At age 16, Courtney was doing a specialty dance that earned her the nicknames of St Vitis, Mosquito and Lightning. In 1923[4] she began performing in vaudeville "after several successful engagements in musical comedy".[5] Her skit combined comedy and dancing.[5]

Courtney's first role as a singer and dancer came in the musical The Little Whopper in 1919.[6] She became known among New York theatrical audiences for her work in Good News (1927), a musical comedy about college life. Her other credits include Spring Is Here (1929) and America's Sweetheart (1931).[7] In the early 1930s, she left Broadway and went to Hollywood.[8]

Courtney's early films included Loose Ankles (1930), Song of the Flame (1930), and Spring Is Here (1930).[9] She acted in 58 films between 1930 and 1940. She secured her first movie work by asking Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures for his assistance. She made her screen debut as Cousin Betty in Loose Ankles (1930). Her movie credits include The Raven (1935), Suzy (1936), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), and Turnabout (1940), her last film.

Personal life and death

In July 1938, Courtney was injured on a film set when she sat in a chair on which there was a crochet needle. The needle became embedded in her flesh and required an operation for removal; a contemporary newspaper reported that it penetrated two inches.[10]

On June 20, 1931, Courtney married broker Howard S. Paschal in Rye, New York.[11] The marriage was not revealed publicly for one year.[12] They were divorced on May 10, 1933.[11] Courtney married Italian nobleman Marchese Luigi Filiasi, a wine merchant, in Los Angeles on September 28, 1935,[13][14] whereby she acquired the title Marchesa, but did not use it. On April 5, 1975, Courtney died at the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey.[8]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ↑ 1948 passenger list stating birth date October 12. "Ancestry. com". Ancestry.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Birth date 12 October 1897. "Social Security death index".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "Thirteenth Man Strand Wednesday". Madera Daily Tribune. September 14, 1937. p. 5.
  4. ↑ "Palace Bill Offers Inez Courtney in New Act". The Springfield Sunday Republican. July 15, 1923. p. 8 A. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 "Inez Courtney Stars". The Morning Oregonian. Oregon, Portland. April 22, 1924. p. 18. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Ibdb.com".
  7. ↑ Dietz, Dan (2018). "America's Sweetheart". The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals (hardcover) (1st ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 103–106. ISBN 978-1-5381-0276-3.
  8. 1 2 "Inez Courtney". The New York Times. April 7, 1975. p. 34. ProQuest 120584887. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Inez Courtney In 'Song of the Flame'". Calgary Albertan. November 9, 1929. p. 17. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Crochet Needle on Chair Ruins Rest". Santa Ana Journal. July 15, 1938. p. 16.
  11. 1 2 "Inez Courtney Wins Divorce". The New York Times. May 11, 1933. p. 14. ProQuest 100674670. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Inez Courtney Will Sue: Plans to Divorce Stanley Paschal, New York Broker". The New York Times. May 1, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Stage Star, Italian Nobleman Wed". Hollywood Citizen-News. September 28, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Inez Courtney to Appear In 'Hurricane' Prologue". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 25, 1937. p. 22. Retrieved August 24, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

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