The Truth About Chris Pine's Legendary Grandmother
A beloved member of "the Chrises of Hollywood," Chris Pine became a household name thanks to his breakout roles as young Captain James Kirk in the Star Trek series and as Steve Trevor in the Wonder Woman films. Those are but two of his many notable gigs: Pine has been acting since the early '00s, and has enjoyed a successful career that's also included performances in 2018's A Wrinkle In Time, 2012's Rise of the Guardians, 2004's The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and 2016's Hell or High Water.
But a lot of people don't know too much about the actor's personal life. Pine's parents are also accomplished actors; his father, Robert Pine, and his mother, Gwynne Gilford, have each enjoyed successful careers of their own. And Pine's maternal grandmother, Anne Gwynne, was an icon of the horror film industry of the 1940s.
In a People slideshow about present-day stars who just so happen to be the grandkids of celebrities, Anne's career was highlighted. The outlet noted that she starred in several horror classics, including 1940's Black Friday. Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen also adds theater productions to her resume, including roles in Stage Door and The Colonel's Lady.
Anne Gwynne mostly stopped acting when she had kids
As Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen noted, "Universal [put Anne] under contract without a screen test" in 1939, and she continued to pick up roles in various projects and movies. She also worked as a pin-up girl, and as the Los Angeles Times noted, she "was voted the No. 1 pinup girl of World War II servicemen in 1943-44 by Yank magazine."
In that same Los Angeles Times piece, author and horror film expert Tom Weaver explained that Anne's near-universal appeal is what propelled her to stardom in the genre. "[T]o the fans of Universal horror films of the 1940s, Anne was one of the best and most popular leading ladies," Weaver told the outlet. "Anne was the spunky, bubbly, very American girl-next-door type — the stuff of instant crushes for these movies' mostly male audiences."
The Los Angeles Times pointed out that Anne eventually slowed down with the acting gigs after she got married and began to have children, which was typical of the times. The final role of her impressive, decades-spanning career arrived when she appeared alongside Michael Douglas in 1970's Adam at 6 AM.