- Born
- Died
- Nicknames
- Queen of the Hollywood Extras
- Queen of the Dress Extras
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Bess Flowers was born on November 23, 1898 in Sherman, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for We Faw Down (1928), The Shadow (1937) and Sinister Hands (1932). She was married to William S. Holman and Cullen Tate. She died on July 28, 1984 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- SpousesWilliam S. Holman(August 1929 - 1930) (divorced)Cullen Tate(September 2, 1923 - 1928) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenPatricia E. Tate
- She appeared in five Best Picture Academy Award winners: It Happened One Night (1934), You Can't Take It with You (1938), All About Eve (1950), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). In addition to those five films, she also appeared in 20 others which were nominated for Best Picture: One Hour with You (1932), Anthony Adverse (1936), Dodsworth (1936), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), In Old Chicago (1938), Love Affair (1939), Ninotchka (1939), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Watch on the Rhine (1943), Double Indemnity (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Razor's Edge (1946), Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Robe (1953), Giant (1956), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).
- Her only child, a daughter Patricia E. Tate, died on August 1, 1972 at age 48.
- Flowers is on record as saying Frank Capra, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and Gregory La Cava are the directors she admires most.
- Her first husband, Cullen Tate, was Cecil B. DeMille's assistant director. After their divorce, she married William S. Holman, a studio manager at Columbia Studios.
- She is believed to have been the most prolific actress in Hollywood, having appeared in over 800 films, including 25 Best Picture nominees, of which 5 were Best Picture winners. Her career lasted 41 years, and she was affectionately known as the 'Queen of the Hollywood Extras'.
- [Asked about her career philosophy] I made a good living. I'm lazy, from the South, so I never took anything that was hard. I was always good to Bess.
- I was always clothes-conscious. I wanted to be an individual always, never one of the horde. Mitch Leisen started making clothes for me at Paramount, when he was head designer there. He used to rave about my figure, and he introduced me to Walter Plunkett at MGM as a wearer of beautiful clothes
- I admired Chaplin so extravagantly. He introduced me to Rupert Brooke's poetry. If he couldn't start a scene, he'd go back in the flaps and play the violin until he got an inspiration. Then he'd come out and do the scene.
- My father was very strict, and when I had a date, my poppa came in and just bawled the boy out, and I was furious with my father. My momma used to keep extra money in the sugar bowl, and I thought to myself, 'Well, I'm going to take that money, and I'm going to New York', because I wanted to be an actress. As I went to the station, I saw a great big sign with oranges growing which said California, and I said, 'What the devil! I'll go to California and get in pictures!' And so I did. I got a job the first day I went on an interview.
- Once I rushed to go for an interview at some studio, and the man had his feet up on the desk. Well, I walked out - I wouldn't even stay and talk to him because I don't approve of a man meeting a woman with his feet up on the desk. I have principles and ethics for myself, and I don't cut them one damn bit to work.
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