Girona museum acquires Madeleine Carroll personal archive

The Museum of Cinema in Girona, northern Catalonia, has acquired the personal archive of British actress Madeleine Carroll, one of Hollywood’s most coveted stars during the 1930s and 40s.

The acquisition includes more than 400 pictures, as well as 748 letters and telegrams, among other documents.

The donation was made on Friday by Narcís Ponsatí, the brother of Anita, Carroll’s friend and confidant during the last 30 years of her life.

Some pieces were already part of an exhibit in 2006 featuring the actress’ stay in Madeleine Castle, her house in the seaside town of Calonge, near Girona, which became her resting place at her death in 1987.

Born in West Bromwich, England, in 1906, Carroll became the highest-paid actress in the world at the peak of her career, earning $250,000 in 1938.

She starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The 39 Steps’ in 1935, and appeared in major movies alongside Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, and Tyrone Power.

During World War II, at the height of her success, she left Hollywood for Europe to help the allies. Carroll joined the Red Cross in Italy after her sister was killed by a German air raid.