Alice in Wonderland (1933) is the film Ida Lupino first came over to America to be in. Once she got to Hollywood, Paramount realized that she was far too grown up looking to play the little girl part and cast Charlotte Henry instead.

Bridget is Ida Lupino’s only child. Her father is Ida’s third husband Howard Duff. Bridget was born on April 23, 1952.

Collier Young was Ida Lupino’s second husband. They were married from 1948 to 1951, but remained good friends afterwards and continued to work together in their company The Filmakers. They were so close, in fact, that Collie was Ida and Howard’s daughter’s godfather.

David Niven was one of Ida Lupino’s close friends. They were so close, in fact, that when Primmie Niven, David’s wife, died unexpectedly sending him into a deep depression, Ida took in the Niven children.

Emerald was Ida Lupino’s mother’s stage name: Connie Emerald. Before deciding on the company name The Filmakers, Ida and Collie’s company was called Emerald Productions after her mother. Connie’s birth name was actually O’Shea.

Errol Flynn was one of Ida Lupino’s good friends. When she was cast opposite him in Escape Me Never (1947), she, Flynn, and director Raoul Walsh formed a group dedicated to fun, complete with nicknames. Ida was “Little Scout,” and Errol was “The Baron.” Raoul was “Uncle.” Errol and Ida were so close that Connie, Ida’s mother, loved him like a son and is actually buried next to him at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Ida Lupino became friends with John Garfield when they costarred with Edward G. Robinson in The Sea Wolf (1941). She liked him immensely, but didn’t like director Michael Curtiz. At the wrap party, Ida and John took revenge on Curtiz by pushing him in the water tank that they had toiled in for the entire shoot.

Howard Duff was Ida Lupino’s third and final husband. They had one child, daughter Bridget, and starred on their own sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve. They were married in 1951 and got divorced in 1984 after being separated for many years.

“I LOVE A MYSTERY (1973) Starring Ida Lupino, Les Crane, David Hartman, Hagan Beggs, Jack Weston, Don Knotts, Terry-Thomas Directed by Leslie Stevens Print: color Runtime: 120 min. Genre: mystery I Love a Mystery was a campy TV revival of Phillips Lord’s old radio series. The three adventure-loving heroes are Jack, Doc and Reggie (Les Crane, David Hartman and Hagan Beggs), insurance investigators hired to tackle a mystery at a remote island mansion. Ida Lupino plays a domineering matriarch whose billionaire husband is missing, and who seems to know more than she’s letting on. The mystery’s ingredients include the eerie nocturnal sound of a crying baby and a series of related murders and kidnappings. The heroes are occasionally distracted from their work by Lupino’s nubile daughters Faith, Hope and Charity (Karen Jensen, Deanna Lund and Melodie Johnson). The script for I Love a Mystery was based on Philips Lord’s classic radio serial “The Thing That Cries in the Night,” but there’s nothing classic or even remotely entertaining about the derisive, patronizing treatment of the source material herein. This made-for-TV “busted pilot” gathered dust for seven years before its 1973 premiere, and not without just cause. A further note: Though Don Knotts is advertised as one of the “stars,” he shows up to sputter one miserable line at the end of the film!”

While Ida Lupino wasn’t sure what to make of Joan Fontaine when they first met, she eventually became so close with ex-husband Collier Young’s wife, that she made her Bridget’s godmother.

This one is more of a stretch… Kathy Revere is the character Ida Lupino played on Barnaby Jones. 2028. The Deadly Jinx (01/13/74) ; PN 9765 After several boyfriends of rich orphaned Jenny Sutherland have been killed or crippled, the housekeeper Kathy Revere asks Barnaby to investigate. Jenny believes she is a jinx, but Barnaby tries to find out whether these were accidents or murder was involved. w. Robert W. Lenski, d. Robert Douglas Ida Lupino (Kathy Revere), Meredith Baxter (Jenny Sutherland), Christopher Connelly (Doug Wingate), Mark Miller (Cal Medford, Lawyer), Richard Evans (Buck, Mechanic), Richard O’Brien (Sheriff), Jim Gammon (Lester Watkins), Joshua Bryant (Stan Porter), Jana Bellan (Waitress #2), Suzanne Cohane (Waitress #1), Jerry Summers (Greg Larkin).

Louis Hayward was Ida Lupino’s first husband. They starred together in the film Ladies in Retirement (1941). After they were married, he went off to war, and when he returned, he was a changed man (it sounds like he had PTSD), and try as she might, Ida couldn’t help him. They remained friends. They were married from 1938 to 1945.

Ida Lupino had the cast and crew of the movies she directed call her “Mother,” in order to help the male crew not feel threatened by her giving them direction. Instead of ordering them about like a boss, she gave them maternal instructions. She even had “Mother of Us All” on her director’s chair.

“The Balloon Ladies”

(Airdate 2/12/71)

Ida Lupino and character actress Marjorie Bennett star as “The Balloon Ladies,” two of Nanny’s loveable aunts who draw a mob of reporters, tourists and Fem Libbers when they descend on the Everetts, quite literally, in a balloon.  Guest cast: Justine: Ida Lupino. Agatha: Marjorie Bennett. Mrs. Fowler: Patsy Garrett. Miss Millstone: Jeanne Cooper. Pennybrook: Maurice Dallimore. Also Don Beddoe.

Ida Lupino and Olivia de Havilland costarred in the film Devotion (1946) about the Bronte sisters. As they were both opinionated and strong willed, they were both unhappy that the film didn’t stick to the real story, but the studio ignored them. They weren’t really friends at this time, and didn’t become friends until much later, but in their old age they reconciled and were very close. (How Joan let this happen is beyond me…)