Acting

Esther Howard

Born April 2, 1892 · Butte, Montana, USA

Died March 8, 1965 · aged 72

Esther Howard (April 4, 1892 – March 8, 1965) was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career. From 1940 to 1949, Howard was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges…

Known For

I Married a Witch

I Married a Witch · 1942

I Married a Witch

MovieRomanceFantasy

A 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch hunter who burned her, but runs afoul of her father when she discovers that her mischief might have found her true love.

Murder, My Sweet

Murder, My Sweet · 1944

Murder, My Sweet

MovieCrimeDrama

After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels · 1941

Sullivan's Travels

MovieComedyRomance

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

Detour

MovieDramaThriller

The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.

June Bride

June Bride · 1948

MovieRomanceComedy

A magazine's staff, including bickering ex-lovers Linda and Carey, cover an Indiana wedding, which goes slightly wrong.

Dead End

Dead End · 1937

MovieCrimeDrama

The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.

Caged

MovieCrimeDrama

A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.

Song of the Thin Man

Song of the Thin Man · 1947

Song of the Thin Man

MovieComedyCrime

Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.

Filmography

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I Married a Witch

I Married a Witch · 1942

I Married a Witch

MovieRomanceFantasy

A 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch hunter who burned her, but runs afoul of her father when she discovers that her mischief might have found her true love.

Extra (uncredited)

Murder, My Sweet

Murder, My Sweet · 1944

Murder, My Sweet

MovieCrimeDrama

After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.

Jesse Florian

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels · 1941

Sullivan's Travels

MovieComedyRomance

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

Miz Zeffie

Detour

MovieDramaThriller

The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.

Hedy

June Bride

June Bride · 1948

MovieRomanceComedy

A magazine's staff, including bickering ex-lovers Linda and Carey, cover an Indiana wedding, which goes slightly wrong.

Mrs. Mitchell

Dead End

Dead End · 1937

MovieCrimeDrama

The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.

Neighbor with Coarse Voice (uncredited)

Caged

MovieCrimeDrama

A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.

Grace (uncredited)

Song of the Thin Man

Song of the Thin Man · 1947

Song of the Thin Man

MovieComedyCrime

Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.

Sadie (uncredited)

My Favorite Blonde

My Favorite Blonde · 1942

My Favorite Blonde

Larry Haines, a mediocre vaudeville entertainer, boards a train for Los Angeles. Aboard, he meets an attractive, blonde British agent carrying a coded message hidden in a brooch—and is being pursued by Nazi agents.

Mrs. Topley

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette · 1938

Marie Antoinette

MovieDramaHistory

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.

Streetwalker (uncredited)

The Virginian

The Virginian · 1946

Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.

Born to Kill

Born to Kill · 1947

MovieCrimeDrama

A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.

Mrs. Kraft

The Lady Gambles

The Lady Gambles · 1949

The Lady Gambles

When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the time while he is doing a story. Encouraged by the casino manager, she gets hooked on gambling, to the point where she "borrows" David's expense money to pursue her addiction. This finally breaks up their marriage, but David continues trying to help her.

Gross Lady

The Crooked Way

The Crooked Way · 1949

The Crooked Way

MovieCrimeDrama

A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.

Hotel Proprietess (uncredited)

Without Reservations

Without Reservations · 1946

Without Reservations

MovieComedyRomance

Kit Madden is traveling to Hollywood, where her best-selling novel is to be filmed. Aboard the train, she encounters Marines Rusty and Dink, who don't know she is the author of the famous book, and who don't think much of the ideas it proposes. She and Rusty are greatly attracted, but she doesn't know how to deal with his disdain for the book's author.

Sarah (uncredited)

Champion

Champion · 1949

An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.

Mrs. Kelly

The Palm Beach Story

The Palm Beach Story · 1942

The Palm Beach Story

MovieComedyRomance

A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.

Wife of Wienie King

The Velvet Touch

The Velvet Touch · 1948

The Velvet Touch

MovieDramaThriller

Stage actress Valerie Stanton is locked in a bitter feud with her producer and ex Gordon Dunning. When he attempts to blackmail her into remaining under contract with his company, Stanton, in a fit of passion, clubs Dunning with a statuette, killing him. Her gloves have prevented fingerprints but her perfect alibi quickly unravels as Captain Danbury begins investigating.

Pansy Dupont

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek · 1944

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

MovieComedyRomance

A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember.

Sally (uncredited)

Broadway Serenade

Broadway Serenade · 1939

Broadway Serenade

MovieRomanceDrama

A married singer, pianist/composer team are struggling to hit it big in New York. Finally, they audition before a Broadway producer, but the producer only wants the singer, leaving the husband without a job and feeling a failure.

Mrs. Fellows

Merrily We Go to Hell

Merrily We Go to Hell · 1932

Merrily We Go to Hell

MovieComedyDrama

A drunken newspaperman, Jerry Corbett, is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress, Joan Prentice, whose love sobers him up and encourages him to write a play, but he lapses back into dipsomania.

Vi

Hail the Conquering Hero

Hail the Conquering Hero · 1944

Hail the Conquering Hero

Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge.

Mrs. Everett J. Noble (uncredited)

No Man of Her Own

No Man of Her Own · 1950

No Man of Her Own

MovieDramaCrime

A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.

Frowsy Woman in boardinghouse (uncredited)

The Great McGinty

The Great McGinty · 1940

The Great McGinty

Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan...

Madame Juliette La Jolla