Daughter of Bernard Bunny Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. Its not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series.After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrathers death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities.Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrathers and Walt Disneys deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties.Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrathers first marriage).
Nancy Drew
Film 1939
June Vale
Film 1942
Estelle Mitchell / Linda Mitchell
Film 1947
Kay Wilson
Film 1946
Opal 'Snip' Madvig
Film 1942
Nancy Drew
Film 1939
Amy's Classmate (uncredited)
Film 1933
Vicky Sherwood
Film 1940
Mary Tilford
Film 1936
Kay Wilson
Film 1944
Mary Pulham
Film 1941
Kit Latimer
Film 1942
Anna Miller
Film 1943
Gracie Kane
Film 1937
Doris
Film 1940
Welcome Kilgore
Film 1956
Sally Ward
Film 1938
Ursula
Film 1940
Anne Porter
Film 1942
Frances Marlowe
Film 1941
Dorothy Larson
Film 1946
Jen as a Child
Film 1936
Francine 'Frankie' Diamond
Film 1941
Self
Film 1941
Martha Scroggs
Film 1940
Roberta Morgan
Film 1938
Kate Pendleton
Film 1940
Bonnie
Film 1944
Christine Allen
Film 1946
Connie Richards
Film 1938
Little Olivia Allen (age 9)
Film 1932
Gwen Colbrook
Film 1938
Stephanie Varna
Film 1950
Joan Shadwell as a Child (uncredited)
Film 1934
Ann
Film 1937
Alice
Film 1945
Passenger
Film 1942
Mollser Gogan
Film 1936
Julie Ann Brady
Film 1948
Mildred Miller
Film 1935
Isabella
Film 1937
Jeannie Blake
Film 1945
Betty Haines
Film 1941
Woman (uncredited)
Film 1981
Carmen (uncredited)
Film 1933
Convent Girl (uncredited)
Film 1936
Liddy (uncredited)
Film 1932
Mrs. Kirkley
Film 1959
Nancy Drew (archive footage) (uncredited)
Film 1938
Self
Film 1982
Ann
Tv 1948
Tv 1954
Kitty
Tv 1950
Ellen Morison
Tv 1951
Laura Jordan
Tv 1954
Joan
Tv 1950
Self
Tv 1971
Self
Tv 1961
Molly
Tv 1954