Christine McIntyre

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 of Nogales, Arizona, McIntyre was one of five children. A classically trained singer, McIntyre received a Bachelor of Music degree at Chicago Musical College in 1933. 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!'"

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.

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