Madeleine Carroll

1. Overview

Marie-Madeleine Bernadette O'Carroll (February 26, 1906 - October 2, 1987), known professionally as Madeleine Carroll, was an English actress who achieved widespread popularity in both Britain and the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her career in 1938, she held the distinction of being the world's highest-paid actress. Carroll is notably remembered for her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film The 39 Steps, a performance that established the iconic "Hitchcock blonde" archetype. Her unique trajectory in life saw her largely abandon her highly successful acting career following the tragic loss of her sister, Marguerite, during the London Blitz in World War II. This personal tragedy spurred her to dedicate herself to extensive humanitarian efforts, aiding wounded servicemen and children displaced or maimed by the war. For her significant contributions with the Red Cross, she was awarded both the Legion d'Honneur and the Medal of Freedom, cementing her legacy not only as a film star but also as a profound humanitarian. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1943.

2. Early Life and Education

Madeleine Carroll was born Marie-Madeleine Bernadette O'Carroll on February 26, 1906, at 32 Herbert Street (now numbered 44) in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England. Her father, John Carroll, was an Irish professor of languages from County Limerick, and her mother, Helene, was French. From a young age, she was immersed in a multilingual environment, which would later influence her academic pursuits.

She attended the University of Birmingham, where she successfully earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in languages. During her time at the university, Carroll also participated in various productions staged by the Birmingham University Dramatic Society, demonstrating an early inclination towards performance. Following her graduation, she briefly pursued a career in education, working for a year as a French mistress at a girls' school located in Hove, England. Despite her father's initial reservations about her entering the acting profession, her mother provided support, leading Carroll to leave her teaching position and move to London to seek opportunities in theater.

3. Acting Career

Madeleine Carroll's acting career spanned over two decades, evolving from her early British stage and screen appearances to international stardom in Hollywood, and later encompassing significant work in radio and occasional television.

3.2. Collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock

Madeleine Carroll garnered significant attention from director Alfred Hitchcock, leading to her iconic role in his 1935 film The 39 Steps. In this spy thriller, based on the espionage novel by John Buchan, Carroll portrayed the director's earliest prototypical cool, glib, and intelligent blonde heroine. The film quickly became a sensation, and with it, so did Carroll's international renown.

The New York Times lauded her performance as "charming and skillful," further increasing her demand in the industry. Film critic Roger Ebert, in discussing Hitchcock's heroines, described them as "blonde," "icy and remote," and often "imprisoned in costumes that subtly combined fashion with fetishism." He noted that these characters "mesmerised the men, who often had physical or psychological handicaps," and that "sooner or later, every Hitchcock woman was humiliated," a typology exemplified by Carroll. The filmmaker and actor Orson Welles hailed The 39 Steps as a "masterpiece," and screenwriter Robert Towne famously remarked that "It's not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps." The film's lasting impact was recognized at the end of the century when it was ranked fourth in the BFI Top 100 British films.

Building on this success, Hitchcock had intended to reunite Carroll with her 39 Steps co-star Robert Donat in the following year's spy thriller, Secret Agent, which was based on a work by W. Somerset Maugham. However, Donat's persistent health issues prevented his participation, leading to a pairing between Carroll and John Gielgud instead. Between these two major films, she also appeared in the short drama The Story of Papworth (1935).

3.3. Hollywood Career

With the international success of The 39 Steps, Madeleine Carroll became the first British actress of her stature to be offered a significant contract by a major American film studio. She accepted a lucrative deal with Paramount Pictures, making her Hollywood debut opposite George Brent in The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936). She followed this with The General Died at Dawn (1936).

Her talents were then sought by 20th Century Fox, who borrowed her to play the female lead in Lloyd's of London (1936), a film that also helped launch the career of Tyrone Power. She remained at Fox to star in On the Avenue (1937), a musical co-starring Dick Powell and Alice Faye. Carroll then moved to Columbia Pictures for It's All Yours (1937) before being cast by David O. Selznick as Ronald Colman's love interest in the highly successful 1937 film The Prisoner of Zenda.

Walter Wanger featured her in Blockade (1938) with Henry Fonda, a film centered around the Spanish Civil War. Returning to Paramount, she starred in several comedies alongside Fred MacMurray, including Cafe Society (1939) and Honeymoon in Bali (1939). Edward Small gave her top billing in My Son, My Son! (1940), where she reunited with Brian Aherne.

In 1940, she starred in Safari and appeared opposite Gary Cooper in North West Mounted Police, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Paramount continued to pair Carroll with MacMurray in Virginia (1941) and One Night in Lisbon (1941). Virginia also featured Sterling Hayden, who would later co-star with Carroll again in Bahama Passage (1941). Her final film before largely dedicating herself to humanitarian work was My Favorite Blonde (1942), in which she played Bob Hope's love interest.

4. Wartime Humanitarian Work

Madeleine Carroll made a profound decision to largely abandon her highly successful acting career after the tragic death of her only sister, Marguerite, during the London Blitz in World War II. This personal loss spurred her to dedicate herself fully to humanitarian efforts, focusing on aiding wounded servicemen and children displaced or maimed by the ongoing conflict.

She became a Red Cross nurse, serving in field hospitals and working on troop trains for the Red Cross in Italy. In 1944, having become a naturalized American citizen in 1943, she served at the American Army Air Force's 61st Station Hospital in Foggia, Italy. Here, she provided care for wounded airmen who had flown from the area's air bases. For her dedicated nursing service, she earned the rank of captain and was awarded the American Medal of Freedom.

Beyond direct medical care, Carroll also utilized her personal resources for the war effort. She donated one of her properties, a château she owned outside Paris, to serve as a home for more than one hundred and fifty orphans. She also organized efforts for groups of young people in California to knit clothing for these children. An RKO-Pathe News bulletin filmed her at the château, showing the children and staff wearing the donated clothes and expressing their gratitude to the contributors. For her extensive efforts, France awarded her the Légion d'Honneur. Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower privately remarked that, among all the movie stars he encountered in Europe during the war, he was most impressed by Carroll's dedication, alongside Herbert Marshall who worked with military amputees.

After the war, Carroll remained in Europe, where she continued her humanitarian work. She hosted a radio program aimed at fostering French-American friendship and actively participated in the rehabilitation of victims from concentration camps. It was during this period that she met her future third husband, the French producer Henri Lavorel. In late 1946, she briefly traveled to Switzerland to film a British film, White Cradle Inn (also known as High Fury), but her primary focus remained on peace and relief efforts.

Upon her return to Paris, she and Lavorel formed a production company. Together, they produced several two-reel documentaries promoting peace. One of these, Children's Republic, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Filmed in a small orphanage in the town of Sèvres, southwest of Paris, this documentary highlighted the devastating impact of war on children's lives across Europe. It gained wide distribution in Canada, becoming a significant source of funds for the manufacture of artificial limbs for children wounded by the conflict. Carroll articulated her philosophy to The Christian Science Monitor, stating that "wars are started at the top but can be prevented at the bottom, if all men and women will rid themselves of distrust and suspicion of that which is foreign."

In 1947, Carroll returned to the United States with Lavorel, intending for her to resume her acting career to fund their production company. However, they soon separated. While she appeared in three more films until 1949 and made her Broadway debut in 1948, her post-war life saw her largely retired from acting, dedicating her energies primarily to her humanitarian convictions.

5. Personal Life

Madeleine Carroll's personal life included four marriages and one daughter. Her first marriage was in 1931 to Colonel Philip Reginald Astley, an estate agent, big-game hunter, and soldier; they divorced in 1939. In 1941, she co-starred with Sterling Hayden in the film Virginia, and the following year, they married. This marriage lasted until their divorce in 1946.

In 1943, Carroll became a naturalized American citizen. Following her extensive wartime humanitarian work, during which she met French producer Henri Lavorel, they married. This union, however, was brief, and they separated before 1949. Her fourth marriage was in 1950 to Andrew Heiskell, who was the publisher of Life magazine. They had a daughter, Anne Madeleine, born in 1951. Carroll and Heiskell divorced in 1965.

Carroll had a long-standing connection with Spain. She first visited the country's Costa Brava in 1934. The following year, she purchased an estate in Calonge, where her seaside home, named Castell Madeleine, was constructed. However, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and World War II prevented her from residing there. She eventually moved to Marbella in 1949. Although her original Castell Madeleine home was later demolished, one tower remains intact, and a housing development in the area was named Urbanización Castell Madeleine in its honor. After divorcing Heiskell, Carroll moved to Paris. Later, she relocated to Spain, sharing an estate with her mother and daughter. Her mother passed away in 1975, and her daughter, who had moved to New York, died in 1983.

6. Awards and Recognition

Madeleine Carroll received several significant honors and recognitions throughout her life, particularly acknowledging her extensive humanitarian contributions during and after World War II.

In 1946, France bestowed upon her the prestigious Legion d'Honneur. This award recognized her vital overseas work during World War II, which included acting as a liaison between the forces of the United States Army and the French Resistance. It also honored her post-war efforts in fostering amity and cooperation between France and the United States. Furthermore, for her dedicated nursing service as a Red Cross volunteer, notably on troop trains in Italy after her sister's death in the London Blitz, she was awarded the American Medal of Freedom. This medal specifically acknowledged her courage and commitment in working close to the line of fire.

For her substantial contributions to the film industry, Madeleine Carroll was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960. Her motion pictures star is prominently located at 6707 Hollywood Boulevard. In commemoration of the centenary of her birth, a commemorative monument and plaques were unveiled in her birthplace, West Bromwich, England. These recognitions collectively celebrate her remarkable career and her exceptional dedication to humanitarian causes.

7. Death

Madeleine Carroll passed away on October 2, 1987, at the age of 81. She died in Marbella, Spain, due to pancreatic cancer. Her remains are interred in the cemetery of Sant Antoni de Calonge, located in Catalonia, Spain.

8. Filmography

9. Radio Appearances

10. Legacy and Influence

Madeleine Carroll's legacy is dual-faceted, encompassing both her significant contributions to cinema and her profound impact as a humanitarian. In film history, she is widely recognized as the prototype of the "Hitchcock blonde," a character archetype characterized by intelligence, coolness, and enigmatic charm, which Alfred Hitchcock would continue to explore with other actresses throughout his career. Her performances in films like The 39 Steps set a standard for the sophisticated heroine in thrillers.

Beyond her cinematic achievements, Carroll's most enduring legacy lies in her extraordinary dedication to humanitarian work during and after World War II. Her decision to largely abandon her highly successful acting career following the personal tragedy of her sister's death to devote herself to aiding war-affected individuals is a testament to her profound commitment to social welfare and human rights. Her service as a Red Cross nurse, her efforts to house and clothe orphans, and her active role in promoting peace and rehabilitation for concentration camp victims reflect a unique contribution that transcended the typical career path of a Hollywood star. Her humanitarian efforts continue to inspire, showcasing her as a figure whose compassion and activism left a lasting positive impact on the world, solidifying her status as more than just an actress but as a remarkable champion for humanity.