The Bonita Granville Dollhouse

The Bonita Granville Dollhouse

Born in New York, N.Y., Bonita Granville was the daughter of stage actors and made 

her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage (1933). Over the next couple 

of years, she played uncredited supporting roles in such films as Little Women 

(1933) and Anne of Green Gables (1934) before playing the role of Mary in the 1936 

film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's 1934 stage play The Children's Hour. Renamed 

These Three, the film told the story of three adults, played by Miriam Hopkins, 

Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea, who find their lives almost destroyed by the 

malicious lies of an evil attention-seeking child. For her role as that child, 

Granville was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, then the 

youngest person to be nominated for that award. Despite this success, and although 

she continued to work, the next few years brought her few opportunities to build 

her career.

In 1938, she starred as the saucy mischievous daughter in the multi-Academy Awards 

nominated hit comedy film Merrily We Live and as girl detective Nancy Drew in the 

hit film Nancy Drew, Detective". The Nancy Drew film success led to Granville 

reprising the role in three sequels from 1938 to 1939, including Nancy Drew... 

Reporter (1939).

She was the heroine of the novel Bonita Granville and the Mystery of Star Island 

written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1942. 

The novel's subtitle is "An original story featuring BONITA GRANVILLE famous 

motion-picture player as the heroine". The story was probably written for a young 

teenage audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of 

a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941-

1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.

Bonita Granville has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6607 Hollywood 

Boulevard, for her contributions to motion pictures. She was honored at the 

Disneyland Hotel, which Jack Wrather owned until it was sold to the Walt Disney 

Company. The Bonita Tower and Granville's Steak House were named in her honor.

Collect your Bonita Granville Dollhouse Today!