Joan Leslie, who has died aged 90, was a petite, red-haired Hollywood star of the wartime years who blotted her copybook by taking on the might of Warner Bros. It once looked as though she might be destined for superstardom. But she was beginning to tire of the roles she was being offered, and the same year sued to get out of her contract with Warners, claiming that it was invalid since she had been a minor when she signed it. The case was bitterly contested and dragged on for two years, during which time she was unable to work. Although Joan Leslie finally won, she found that the big studios had lost interest. Her father was a bank clerk and her mother a pianist who encouraged her children, Joan and her two older sisters, Betty and Mary, to play musical instruments. When their father lost his job during the depression, the three sisters, billed as the Three Brodels, became vaudeville performers to help support the family, singing, dancing and performing sketches in theatres across the eastern US and Canada. Her stint at MGM was short-lived, however, and her big break came when Warner Bros signed her to a contract, changing her name to Joan Leslie, when she was As well as appearing in numerous wartime films, Joan Leslie was a big contributor to the war effort, touring defence plants and army bases. My family sheltered me.


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John was a bank clerk [2] and Agnes was a pianist. Joan's two older sisters, Betty born and Mary Brodel — , shared their mother's musical interest and started to learn how to play instruments, such as the saxophone and the banjo , at an early age. They began performing in front of audiences in acts that included singing and dancing. She was soon able to play the accordion. With her father losing his job in the mid s, the Great Depression caused financial difficulties for the family.
One of the best examples of her naive charm was as Mary, singing and dancing wife of the vaudevillian George M Cohan Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy Taught and encouraged by their mother, Joan and her two older sisters, Betty and Mary, learned to play musical instruments at an early age. When their father lost his job during the depression, the three sisters, billed as the Three Brodels, became vaudeville performers to help support the family, while still at school. Part of the act had nine-year-old Joan impersonating such stars as Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Durante.
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