Occupation Actress Years active 1928–1961 | Name Minna Gombell Role Film actress | |
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Other names Nancy GardnerWinifred Lee Spouse Myron Coureval Fagan (m. ?–1972) Parents William Gombell, Emma Gombell Movies The Thin Man, Block‑Heads, Bad Girl, The Merry Widow, High Sierra Similar People John G Blystone, Frank Borzage, Harold Huber, W S Van Dyke, Robert Alton |
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Minna Gombell (May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress.
Contents
- 1 of 2 scenes from hello sister 1933 james dunn boots mallory zasu pitts minna gombell
- 2 of 2 scenes from hello sister 1933 james dunn boots mallory zasu pitts minna gombell
- Early years
- Life and work
- Personal life
- Death
- Filmography
- References

2 of 2 scenes from hello sister 1933 james dunn boots mallory zasu pitts minna gombell
Early years

She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William Gombel and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father was a doctor who came to the United States from Germany in 1880. Her mother was from Baltimore and was of German descent.
Life and work
Gombell was active in stock theater, starring with troupes in Albany, Atlanta, Cleveland, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Her Broadway credits include Indiscretion (1928), The Great Power (1928), Ballyhoo (1926), Alloy (1924), Mr. Pitt (1923), Listening in (1922), On the Hiring Line (1919), The Indestructible Wife (1917), Six Months' Option (1917), and My Lady's Garter (1915).
She had a very successful stage career from 1912 as Winifred Lee before being signed by the Fox Film Corporation in the late 1920s. Her first film was Doctors' Wives (1931) in which she played under the name Nancy Gardner, a name given to her by Fox. After this, she spent a time coaching several young actresses before returning to film under her real name.

She appeared in some fifty Hollywood films including: Laurel and Hardy's Block-Heads, The Merry Widow, The First Year, Boom Town, High Sierra, Hoop-La, The Thin Man, and The Best Years of Our Lives.
Personal life
Gombell married Howard Chesham Rumsey on March 9, 1916, in New York City. They divorced in 1921.:68 In 1933, Gombell married Joseph W. Sefton Jr., described as "a millionaire banker.":67 They were divorced in 1954.:70 Gombell's third husband was the film writer, producer, and director Myron Coureval Fagan. (In the book Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood, Axel Nissen disputes the idea of Gombell's being married to Fagan because "Fagan already had a wife (and a son) at home in Pelham Manor, New York. He and Florence M. Fagan were married for nearly 50 years, until her death in 1966."):70
Death
On April 14, 1973, Gombell died in Los Angeles. She was buried in Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.:70