Ann Sheridan was a popular 1940s actress and pin-up known as The Oomph Girl
She was born Clara Lou Sheridan on February 21, 1915 in Denton, Texas. Her father, George Sheridan, was a garage mechanic. Ann was the youngest of five children. After graduating from Denton High School she enrolled at North Texas State Teachers College. In 1933 she won a beauty contest and was given a bit part in the film Search For Beauty. Paramount offered the nineteen year old a contract for $75 a week. She was given small roles in numerous films including Enter Madame, Rumba, and The Glass Key. On August 16, 1936 she married actor Edward Norris. They separated a year later. The beautiful redhead left Paramount and was signed by Warner Brothers in 1936. Anne co-starred with James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces and with Humphrey Bogart in San Quentin. While filming Dodge City in 1939 she began an on-again off-again love affair with Errol Flynn. During the 1940s she became a popular pin-up and was nicknamed The Oomph Girl. She hated being called that saying "They nicknamed me "The Oomph Girl" and I loathe that nickname! Just being known by a nickname indicates that you're not thought of as a true actress."
Ann married George Brent, her costar in Honeymoon For Three, in January of 1942. They split up a year later when she cheated on him with Errol Flynn. Then she started dating her publicist Steve Hannagan. Her success continued with starring roles in Shine On Harvest Moon, The Unfaithful, and Nora Prentiss. Unhappy with the scripts she was being offered she left Paramount in 1948. The following year she co-starred with Cary Grant in the hit comedy I Was A Male War Bride. Then she starred in and produced the film noir Woman On The Run. Sadly her longtime boyfriend Steve died in 1953. Ann began an affair with Rodolfo Acosta her co-star in Appointment In Honduras. He left his wife and the couple lived together in Mexico for several years. She continued appear in films like Come Next Spring and The Opposite Sex. In 1966 she married actor Scott McKay. That same year she began starring in the television western Pistols 'n' Petticoats. During filming she became ill during and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Tragically on January 21, 1967 she died at the age of fifty-one. Ann was cremated and her ashes are at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
