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Christine McIntyre
Christine McIntyre
	McIntyre in the short film Brideless Groom (1947)
Born	Christine Cecilia McIntyre; April 16, 1911; Nogales, Arizona, U.S.
Died	July 8, 1984 (aged 73); Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Alma mater	Chicago Musical College (Bachelor of Music, 1933)
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Years active	1937–1955
Spouse	John Donald Wilson (m. 1953; died 1984)

Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911 – July 8, 1984) was an American actress and singer who appeared in various films in the 1930s and 1940s. She is mainly remembered as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many of The Three Stooges shorts produced by Columbia Pictures.

Early career

A native^[1] of Nogales, Arizona,^[2] McIntyre was one of five children.^[3] A classically trained singer, McIntyre received a Bachelor of Music degree at Chicago Musical College in 1933.^[4]^[5] It was here that she developed her operatic soprano voice, which would be put to good use in several Three Stooges films in the 1940s.

McIntyre began singing in feature films at RKO Pictures, and made her film debut in 1937's Swing Fever. She then appeared in a series of B-westerns featuring the likes of Ray Corrigan and Buck Jones. She appeared with dark hair in these early roles, and also appeared occasionally in "mainstream" feature films (like 1939's Blondie Takes a Vacation). She sang songs such as "The Blue Danube" and "Voices of Spring" in a Vienna-themed short Soundies musical film, and her performance was singled out as the best of the inaugural series. Her singing in this soundie may have given the Three Stooges the idea of using "Voices of Spring" in their short film Micro-Phonies.

The Three Stooges and Columbia Pictures

In 1944, Columbia Pictures producer Hugh McCollum signed McIntyre to a decade-long contract. At Columbia, she appeared in many short subjects starring Shemp Howard, Harry Langdon, Andy Clyde, Joe Besser, Bert Wheeler, and Hugh Herbert. The Herbert comedy Wife Decoy is actually a showcase for McIntyre, who is the principal character. In this film, she appears as a brunette who dyes her hair blonde. From then on in her screen appearances, she remained a blonde. In all of her Columbia comedies she played charming heroines, scheming villains, and flighty socialites.

Her debut appearance with the Three Stooges was in Idle Roomers, followed by a solo Shemp Howard short, Open Season for Saps. McIntyre's singing voice was featured prominently in 1945's Micro-Phonies, as she sang both "Voices of Spring" and "Lucia Sextet" and was also featured in 1947’s Out West. She again sang "Lucia Sextet" in 1948’s Squareheads of the Round Table and its 1954 remake, Knutzy Knights.

Her performance as Miss Hopkins in Brideless Groom featured an acclaimed knockabout scene in which she repels suitor Shemp Howard—right through a door. Director Edward Bernds remembers:

In the story, Shemp had a few hours in which to get married if he wanted to inherit his uncle's fortune. He called on Christine McIntyre, who mistook him for her cousin (Basil) and greeted him with hugs and kisses. Then the real cousin phoned and she accused Shemp of kissing her, as it were, under false pretenses. At this point, she was supposed to slap Shemp around. Lady that she was, Chris couldn't do it right; she dabbed at him daintily, afraid of hurting him. After a couple of bad takes, Shemp pleaded with her. 'Honey,' he said, 'if you want to do me a favor, cut loose and do it right. A lot of half-hearted slaps hurts more than one good one. Give it to me, Chris, and let's get it over with.' Chris got up her courage and on the next take, let Shemp have it. 'It' wound up as a whole series of slaps—the timing was beautiful; they rang out like pistol shots. Shemp was knocked into a chair, bounced up, met another ringing slap, fell down again, scrambled up, trying to explain, only to get another stinging slap. Then Chris delivered a haymaker—a right that knocked Shemp through the door. When the take was over, Shemp was groggy, really groggy. Chris put her arms around him and apologized tearfully. 'It's all right, honey,' Shemp said painfully. 'I said you should cut loose and you did. You sure as hell did!'^[6]

McCollum and Bernds recognized McIntyre's abilities and often tailored material especially for her, allowing her to improvise as she saw fit.

McIntyre also won a feature-film contract with Monogram Pictures. After playing a newspaper publisher in News Hounds, a comedy with The Bowery Boys, she usually played opposite Monogram's cowboy stars in low-budget Westerns.

McIntyre married radio personality John Donald Wilson in 1953. By this time, McCollum and Bernds had left Columbia, leaving Jules White in charge of short subjects. White favored strenuous, extremely physical humor, and forced the ladylike McIntyre to submit to low comedy; in a single film, her character was tackled, hit with messy projectiles, covered with cake batter, and knocked into a cross-eyed stupor. When her contract at Columbia expired in 1954, she was all too happy to retire from show business, eventually developing a career in real estate. Columbia continued to use old footage of McIntyre through 1957, which is why she received billing in films made after her retirement.^[7]

Filmography

McIntyre in a still taken from the film *Rock River Renegades*.

with The Three Stooges, Andy Clyde, El Brendel, Joe DeRita, Joe Besser and Shemp Howard

His Tale is Told (1944, Short) – Mrs. A.S. Steele
Defective Detectives (1944, Short) – Mrs. Rodney Boodle
Idle Roomers (1944, Short) – Mrs. Leander
Open Season for Saps (1944, Short) – Irene
No Dough Boys (1944, Short) – Celia Zweiback
Three Pests in a Mess (1945, Short) – Cheatham's Secretary
Off Again, On Again (1945, Short) – Edith
Pistol Packin' Nitwits (1945, Short) – Queenie Lynch
Where the Pest Begins (1945, Short) – Annie Batts
Micro-Phonies (1945, Short) – Alice Andrews – aka Alice Van Doren
The Blonde Stayed On (1946, Short) – Maisie
Jiggers, My Wife! (1946, Short) – Trixie
The Three Troubledoers (1946, Short) – Nell the Blacksmith
Society Mugs (1946, Short) – Muriel Allen
Slappily Married (1946, Short) – Mrs. Bates
Three Little Pirates (1946, Short) – Rita Yolanda
Bride and Gloom (1947, Short) – Maisie Keeler
Two Jills and a Jack (1947, Short) – Betty
Out West (1947, Short) – Nell
Brideless Groom (1947, Short) – Miss Lulu Hopkins
Wife to Spare (1947, Short) – Honey Jackson
Wedlock Deadlock (1947, Short) – Betty
All Gummed Up (1947, Short) – Mrs. Serena Flint
Shivering Sherlocks (1948, Short) – Gladys Harmon
Squareheads of the Round Table (1948, Short) – Princess Elaine
Jitter Bughouse (1948, Short) – Myrtle
The Hot Scots (1948, Short) – Lorna Doone
Crime on Their Hands (1948, Short) – Bea
Who Done It? (1949, Short) – Goodrich's Niece
Fuelin' Around (1949, Short) – Hazel Sneed
Waiting in the Lurch (1949, Short) – Mae Knott
Vagabond Loafers (1949, Short) – Mrs. Ethel Allen
Punchy Cowpunchers (1950, Short) – Nell
Hugs and Mugs (1950, Short) – Lily
Dopey Dicks (1950, Short) – Louise
Love at First Bite (1950, Short) – Katrina
Three Hams on Rye (1950, Short) – Janiebelle
Studio Stoops (1950, Short) – Dolly Devore
Bubble Trouble (1953, Short) – (archive footage)
Pals and Gals (1954, Short) – Nell
Knutzy Knights (1954, Short) – Princess Elaine
Scotched in Scotland (1954, Short) – Lorna Doone
Of Cash and Hash (1955, Short) – Gladys Harmon (final film role)
Hot Ice (1955, Short) – Bea (archive footage)
Husbands Beware (1956, Short) – Lulu Hopkins (archive footage)
For Crimin' Out Loud (1956, Short) – Delores – Goodrich's Niece (archive footage)
Hot Stuff (1956, Short) – Hazel Sneed (archive footage)
Scheming Schemers (1956, Short) – Mrs. Allen (archive footage)
Fifi Blows Her Top (1958, Short) – Katrina (archive footage)
Stop! Look! and Laugh! (1960, Short) – Alice Andrews (Van Doren) (uncredited) (archive footage)

Other films

Sea Racketeers (1937) – Mrs. Wilbur Crane
The Rangers' Round-Up (1938) – Mary
Missing Daughters (1939) – Ruth (uncredited)
Blondie Takes a Vacation (1939) – Resort Singer (of 'Love in Bloom') (uncredited)
The Gunman from Bodie (1941) – Alice Borden
Forbidden Trails (1941) – Mary Doran
Man from Headquarters (1942) – Telegraph Girl
The Power of God (1942) – Charlotte Hale
Rock River Renegades (1942) – Grace Ross
Riders of the West (1942) – Hope Turner
Dawn on the Great Divide (1942) – Mary Harkins
Cinderella Swings It (1943) – Secretary
Border Buckaroos (1943) – Betty Clark
The Stranger from Pecos (1943) – Ruth Martin
Beautiful But Broke (1944) – Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Partners of the Trail (1944) – Kate Hilton
Louisiana Hayride (1944) – Christine – Female Star (uncredited)
West of the Rio Grande (1944) – Alice Darcy
Kansas City Kitty (1944) – Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Men in Her Diary (1945) – Ms. Simmons (uncredited)
The Crimson Canary (1945) – Anita's Roommate (uncredited)
Frontier Feud (1945) – Blanche Corey
Behind the Mask (1946) – Minor Role (uncredited)
The Gentleman from Texas (1946) – Flo Vickert
Valley of Fear (1947) – Joan Travers
Land of the Lawless (1947) – Kansas City Kate
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) – Miss Blair – Lingerie Dept. Manager (uncredited)
News Hounds (1947) – Jane P. Connelly
Gun Talk (1947) – Daisy Cameron
A Modern Marriage (1950) – Nurse
Corky of Gasoline Alley (1951) – Myrtle
Colorado Ambush (1951) – Mae Star
Dead or Alive (1951) – Spangles Calhoun

References

^ "Arizona, Birth Certificates and Indexes, 1855-1930", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZW41-486Z : 28 April 2020), Christine C McIntyre, 1911.
^ The Nogales Chamber.com Archived 2008-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XST6-LBS : accessed 22 May 2022), Christine Mcintyre in household of John E Mcintyre, Chicago (Districts 0251-0500), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 282, sheet 10B, line 96, family 173, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 425; FHL microfilm 2,340,160.
^ "Christine McIntyre". IMDb.
^ https://taillefer.tripod.com/ChristineMcIntyre/backstage.html (see photo and description)
^ Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook, p. 81, Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0946-5
^ Ted Okuda with Edward Watz. The Columbia Comedy Shorts, McFarland, 1986 ISBN 0-7864-0577-5