Grace McDonald

Grace McDonald Green (June 15, 1918 – October 30, 1999) was an American actress and performer whose career spanned Broadway, film, and vaudeville. Born in New York City, she was active on Broadway between 1937 and 1941 and subsequently built a screen career primarily through Universal Pictures.

McDonald made her Broadway debut in 1937 alongside her brother Ray McDonald in the musical Babes in Arms, where the siblings performed as a dance team and sang "I Wish I Were in Love Again." She returned to Broadway in 1939 with credits in both One for the Money and Very Warm for May, and completed her Broadway work in 1941 with the comedy The More the Merrier.

Her performance in Babes in Arms brought her to the attention of Universal Pictures, which signed her to a film contract. She made her screen debut in Dancing on a Dime in 1940 and went on to appear in a series of films throughout the early 1940s, including Give Out, Sisters (1942), Strictly in the Groove (1942), It Ain't Hay (1943), Destiny (1944), and See My Lawyer (1945). Her film work consisted largely of B movies.

In addition to her stage and screen work, McDonald performed in vaudeville. During World War II she took part in multiple home-front public-service campaigns, including efforts related to gasoline rationing, book donations for military personnel, cooking fat collection, and rag salvage. She also served as a hostess at the Hollywood Canteen and entertained troops during tours of Army camps.

In late 1944 McDonald married Lt. Ralph Green. The couple eventually had three children, and in 1967 she relocated to Minneapolis, ending her Hollywood career. She died of pneumonia in Scottsdale, Arizona, on October 30, 1999.