Sidney Fox was a promising 1930s starlet who tragically took her own life
She was born Sarah Leifer on December 10, 1907 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary. When she was four years old her family immigrated to New York City. Soon after her parents divorced and her mother remarried. To help the family make money she worked as a stenographer and a seamstress. Sidney began studying acting and joined a theatrical touring company. In 1929 she made her Broadway debut in It Never Rains. Carl Laemmle Jr, the head of Universal. saw her and offered a long term contract. She and Carl also began a serious romance. Sidney was given a starring role in the 1931 drama Bad Sister. The cast included Humphrey Bogart, Zasu Pitts, and Bette Davis in her film debut. Then she appeared in the films Murders In The Rue Morgue, Once In A Lifetime, and Strictly Dishonorable. She was chosen to be one of the Wampas Baby Stars of 1931 along with Joan Blondell and Constance Cummings. The petite actress was just four feet eleven inches tall, weighed ninety-four pounds, and had hazel eyes. Sidney was injured in May of 1932 when she lost control of her car and crashed into a tree. Her relationship with Carl ended in 1932 and she left Universal soon after.
In an interview she said "People expect me to be an ingénue, a baby doll, and they're terribly disappointed when they find I'm not. Men, in Hollywood especially, don't like intelligent women." She married Charles Beahan, a literary agent, on December 16, 1932. Sidney appeared in the films Don Quixote and Midnight but her career quickly stalled. Her final movie was the 1934 adventure Down To Their Last Yacht. Unfortunately her marriage to Charles was rocky and they seperated numerous times. She claimed that he drank excessively and physically abused her. In 1937 she returned to the New York stage in a production of Having A Wonderful Time. Sidney auditioned for the lead in The Good Earth but Luise Rainer got the part. She filed for divorce from Charles in October of 1940. They reconciled soon after and moved into a modest home in Los Angeles. Tragically on November 15, 1942 she committed suicide by taking an overdose of pills. Sidney was only thirty-four years old. She was buried at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Glendale, New York.
