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Joan Blondell

Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 - December 25, 1979) was an American actress. Born into a vaudeville family in New York City, Blondell was a sexy, wisecracking, blonde pre-Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers who appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions.

Her father, known as Eddie Joan Blondell, was a vaudeville comedian who was one of the original Katzenjammer Kids. Her younger sister, Gloria Blondell (1910-1986), also was an actress.

She was married first in 1932 to the cinematographer George S. Barnes (1892-1953); they divorced in 1936.

Her second husband, married on September 19, 1936, was the actor, director, and singer Dick Powell (Richard Ewing Powell); they were divorced on July 14, 1944, and had two children, Ellen Powell and Norman S. Powell (who became an actor, producer, and director). After their divorce, Dick Powell married actress June Allyson.

She married as her third husband, in 1947, the producer Michael Todd (nee Avram Goldbogen), who divorced her in 1950. He later married actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Blondell died of leukemia in Santa Monica, California.

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