Gwili Andre (4 February 1908 – 5 February 1959) was a Danish actress who had a brief career in Hollywood films.

Film career

Born Gurli Andresen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Andre came to Hollywood in the early 1930s with the intention of establishing herself as a film star. She appeared in the 1932 RKO Studio films Roar of the Dragon and Secrets of the French Police and began to attract attention for her striking good looks. These films provided her with starring roles playing against such established actors as Richard Dix, ZaSu Pitts and Frank Morgan, and RKO began using her glamorous looks to promote her. A widespread publicity campaign ensured that her name and face became well known to the American public, but her next role in No Other Woman (1933 opposite Irene Dunne), was not the success the studio expected. Over the next few years she was relegated to supporting roles which included the Joan Crawford picture A Woman's Face (1941). Her final role was a minor part in one of the popular Falcon series, The Falcon's Brother in 1942.

She did not return to the screen, although she spent the rest of her life trying to orchestrate a comeback. As she faced further rejection, she found solace in alcohol.

Private life

Andre was married twice. She was married to realtor Stanislaw Mlotkowk in 1929. They separated in 1930, and divorced in 1935. Andre then married engineer William Dallas Cross, Jr. 1943.They had a son, Peter Lance Cross, in 1943. They divorced in 1948.

Death

On 5 February 1959, Andre died in a fire at her Venice, California home