Born in New York City. The daughter of stage comic Eddie Blondell (one of the original Katzenjammer Kids), she spent her childhood touring the US, Europe, China, and Australia, performing in vaudeville numbers with her parents. At the age of 17 she joined a stock company in Dallas, Texas. After winning a Miss Dallas beauty contest, she came to New York, where she appeared in the Broadway productions of Tarnished and The Trial of Mary Dugan, and in the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1929 she was teamed with another unknown, James Cagney, in the stage musical Penny Arcade. The following year the production was transformed to the screen, with both performers, under the title SINNER'S HOLIDAY (1930). Blondell remained in Hollywood, enjoying a tremendously productive career, both as a leading lady and as a second lead, typically playing cynical, wisecracking broads with hearts of gold. Her busiest years were the 30s, when she was known as a virtual workhorse at Warner Bros., appearing in as many as 10 films a year. She spent most of the 50s on stage, then returned to films in character parts. Among her most memorable roles (she appeared in more than 80 films) was that of Aunt Sissy in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945). She was married three times, to cameraman George Barnes (1933-35), actor Dick Powell (1936-45), and producer Mike Todd (1947-50). She is the author of a novel Center Door Fancy (1972), loosely based on her own life and career.    Nominated for Supporting Actress 1951: THE BLUE VEIL 1 nomination