# Bonita Granville
**Bonita Granville** (February 2, 1923 – 1988), later Bonita Granville Wrather, was an American character actress and producer who began as a child star in 1930s Hollywood, received an Academy Award nomination at 13 for *These Three* (1936), and played [Nancy Drew](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-drew) in four films before marrying the businessman Jack Wrather and becoming a producer of the *Lassie* television series.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | February 2, 1923; sources give Chicago, Illinois, or New York City[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) • [2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf) |
| Film debut | *Westward Passage* (1932), as the daughter of Laurence Olivier's character[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) |
| Oscar nomination | Best Supporting Actress for *These Three* (1936), at age 13, in the first year the category existed[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/) |
| Nancy Drew | Title role in four Warner Bros. films, 1938–1939[4](https://immortalephemera.com/7514/bonita-granville-bullet-bio/) |
| Feature films | More than 55 films across her acting career[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) |
| Marriage | Married oilman and producer Jack Wrather on February 5, 1947; two children of her own and two stepchildren[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335748) • [3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/) |
| Producing | Associate producer of *Lassie* from 1959, producer from 1971; produced *The Magic of Lassie* (1978)[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/) |
| Honors | Disney Legends induction, 2011, Parks & Resorts category[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) |
## Early life and child career
Granville was the daughter of stage performers. [The Walt Disney Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-walt-disney-company)'s D23 archives state she was born in Chicago on February 2, 1923, and that her family moved west when she was 7, where she gravitated toward the film business[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/). The inventory of her papers at the [Harry Ransom Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-ransom-center) instead gives New York City as her birthplace and identifies her parents as Rosina Timponi Granville and Bernard Granville[2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf).
Her film debut came in 1932's *Westward Passage*, in which she played the daughter of the character played by [Laurence Olivier](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-olivier)[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/). As a child she appeared in *Cavalcade* (1933), uncredited roles in *Little Women* (1933) and *Anne of Green Gables* (1934), and *Ah, Wilderness!* (1935)[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). A 1937 [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune) profile described her as a Warner Brothers player "equally skillful in 'mean brat' or sympathetic roles"[6](https://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib07181937/trib07181937002.pdf).
## These Three and the Oscar nomination
Her breakthrough was [William Wyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-wyler)'s *These Three* (1936), the first film version of [Lillian Hellman](https://www.edgepedia.org/lillian-hellman)'s play *The Children's Hour*. Granville played the schoolgirl Mary Tilford, whose malicious lie about two teachers disrupts their lives, and film critic [Leonard Maltin](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-maltin) called it "a restrained, genuinely chilling performance"[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/). The role brought a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at age 13, in the first year in which that category was recognized[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). The typecasting followed her: after *These Three* she played a run of roles described as the "snotty kid," including *The Beloved Brat* (1938)[4](https://immortalephemera.com/7514/bonita-granville-bullet-bio/) • [2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf).
## Nancy Drew and adult roles
In 1938 Warner Bros. cast her as the title character of *Nancy Drew – Detective*, hoping to build a juvenile mystery series to rival MGM's Andy Hardy films. She starred in four Nancy Drew pictures: *Nancy Drew – Detective* (1938), followed in 1939 by *Nancy Drew – Reporter*, *Nancy Drew – Troubleshooter*, and *Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase*[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) • [3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). She was the first actress to play Nancy Drew on film[7](https://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf/film/reviews/nancydrew.htm). Ironically, she later appeared in two [Andy Hardy](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-hardy) films herself, *Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble* (1944) and *Love Laughs at Andy Hardy* (1946), as Kay Wilson[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) • [4](https://immortalephemera.com/7514/bonita-granville-bullet-bio/).
As a young adult she took supporting roles in prestige pictures, including *The Mortal Storm* (1940) with [Margaret Sullavan](https://www.edgepedia.org/margaret-sullavan) and [James Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-stewart), *The Glass Key* (1942) with [Alan Ladd](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-ladd), and *Now, Voyager* (1942) with Bette Davis[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/) • [3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). In 1943 she starred opposite Tim Holt in *Hitler's Children*, a film about the Hitler Youth[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). Across her career she appeared in more than 55 films[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/), and she also performed on radio, the stage, and television[2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf).
## Marriage and the Wrather enterprises
On February 5, 1947, Granville married Jack Wrather, an oilman and film producer, and gave up her acting career to become a key figure in his expanding entertainment business[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335748) • [1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/). The couple had two children of their own, and she adopted his two children from a previous marriage[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/).
Wrather owned the film and television rights to *The Lone Ranger* and *Lassie*. The *Lassie* television series ran from 1954 to 1973, with Granville becoming its associate producer in 1959 and producer in 1971; she also acted in thirteen episodes between 1960 and 1972[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). In 1978 she produced the theatrical film *The Magic of Lassie*, starring James Stewart, Mickey Rooney, and [Alice Faye](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-faye)[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/).
A few weeks after [Disneyland](https://www.edgepedia.org/disneyland) opened in July 1955, the Wrathers opened the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, which they owned for decades[8](https://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-centennial-tribute-to-bonita-granville.html). After Granville's death the Wrather Company was sold to the Walt Disney Company[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/).
## Later years and legacy
Granville's last screen appearance was a bit part, uncredited, in *The Legend of the Lone Ranger* (1981)[3](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/). She died in 1988[2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf). In 2011 Disney posthumously inducted Bonita and Jack Wrather into the [Disney Legends](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-legends), in the Parks & Resorts category, recognizing their role in the Disneyland Hotel[1](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/).
Her career is documented in the Bonita Granville Wrather and Jack Wrather Papers at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas: 70 document boxes and 26 oversize boxes, about 43.4 linear feet of photographs, clippings, scrapbooks, scripts, posters, and lobby cards, acquired as a gift in 2020 and open for research[2](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf).
## References
1. [Bonita Granville Wrather, D23 (Walt Disney Company)](https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/bonita-granville-wrather/)
2. [Bonita Granville Wrather and Jack Wrather Papers: An Inventory, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin](https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/pdf/00155.pdf)
3. [Oscar Profile #439: Bonita Granville, Cinema Sight](https://www.cinemasight.com/oscar-profile-439-bonita-granville/)
4. [Bullet Bios: Bonita Granville, Immortal Ephemera](https://immortalephemera.com/7514/bonita-granville-bullet-bio/)
5. [Bonita Granville, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335748)
6. [Film Children Earn Fortunes, Chicago Sunday Tribune, July 18, 1937](https://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib07181937/trib07181937002.pdf)
7. [Nancy Drew (1938) review, University of Missouri–St. Louis](https://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf/film/reviews/nancydrew.htm)
8. [A Centennial Tribute to Bonita Granville, Laura's Miscellaneous Musings](https://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-centennial-tribute-to-bonita-granville.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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