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Joan Leslie (born January 26, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American film and television actress. Leslie was born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, and raised Roman Catholic. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters; Betty and Mae Brodel. She later began her Hollywood acting career while still a child, performing under her real name in several movies, beginning with her debut in the MGM movie Camille (1936) with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. The talented young actress soon signed a contract with... MORE

Joan Leslie (born January 26, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American film and television actress. Leslie was born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, and raised Roman Catholic. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters; Betty and Mae Brodel. She later began her Hollywood acting career while still a child, performing under her real name in several movies, beginning with her debut in the MGM movie Camille (1936) with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. The talented young actress soon signed a contract with Warner Bros. In 1941, Leslie got her first major role in the thriller High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart, playing a crippled girl under her new billing as "Joan Leslie". She also starred in Sergeant York and The Wagons Roll at Night in that same year. Later in 1942 she appeared as James Cagney's wife in Yankee Doodle Dandy, and at the age of 18 in 1943, she starred in The Sky's the Limit with Fred Astaire. She starred in many more movies until 1950, when she married Dr. William Caldwell. Her last movie role was in The Revolt of Mamie Stover in 1956, and she eventually retired from acting altogether to LESS