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Bonita Granville was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1923. Her parents were actors, and she made her first movie when she was nine. After several minor roles, she was cast as the girl making false accusations in These Three in 1936, which got her noticed, but didn't lead to much better roles. In 1938 she played the lead in the very successful Nancy Drew, Detective (and three sequels the following year) and this is the role she is best remembered for. First release movie paper from any of these four movies is extremely scarce and commands premium prices! She was able to successfully make the transition from teen actress to adult actress, but while she made 26 movies between 1940 and 1948, none of them were all that notable. She had major roles in minor movies (like Hitler's Children) and minor roles in major movies (like Now, Voyager). In 1946, she was in The Guilty, which was produced by Jack Wrather, the Texas oil millionaire, who had decided to produce movies. The following year Wrather divorced his wife and married Granville. At this point she mostly retired from movies and had two children with Wrather, and worked full-time in his businesses, which had greatly expanded in the early 1950s, when he bought the rights to The Lone Ranger, and he moved into TV in a big way, producing The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and Granville herself became the producer of the Lassie TV show, and she remained producer all the way to 1973. Wrather also helped out Walt Disney by building and owning the Disneyland Hotel, when Disney could not get any more credit after building the park itself. Once the park was successful, he wanted to buy the hotel, but Wrather refused, and it wasn't until after Wrather's, Disney's, and Granville's deaths that the Disney company finally acquired the hotel, and then only by buying Wrather's entire company. Wrather passed away in 1984, and Granville four years later. She had an interesting film career, and was surely an important part of her husband's great success in television. She passed away in 1988 at the age of 65.

Important Added Info: Note that this item has been personally autographed (signed) by Bonita Granville! Miss Granville was responding to Mr. Mallery's strong lobbying that Frank Capra (Mr. Mallery's close friend) be given the next AFI tribute, and in fact, Mr. Capra was given that in 1982. She also asks Mr. Mallery if he will loan her a 16mm print of "The Mortal Storm", because it is one film she has not been able to locate and she wants to show it to her children and grandchildren. She closes with thanking him for his letter and saying that it is nice that there are people "who feel that perhaps I made some contribution to motion pictures in that particular generation"! Mr. Mallery cut out the return address from her envelope and taped it in the top right blank area of the letter. Note that this letter comes from the estate of David Mallery. He was a professor of cinematography at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, from the 1960s into the 1990s. He was a founding member of the AFI (American Film Institute), and a member of the Motion Picture Academy. He was a film critic who wrote many reviews for many publications, and hosted a TV show where he interviewed directors, actors, and others involved in the film industry.

Over the years, he developed both working and close personal relationships with many actors, actresses, and directors, including Frank Capra, Charlton Heston and others. We are currently auctioning 24 letters from directors and actors to Mr. Mallery. Almost all of them are written "from one friend to another", and are in no way "stock" replies to "fan letters", and all are personally signed, and some are entirely or partially handwritten. Most have excellent content covering a wide range of subjects, and they are a fascinating glimpse into these celebrities' personal lives!

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