Anne Kramer, born Pearce, was a multifaceted individual with a career spanning across motion pictures, education, literature, and psychiatry. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to June and Perce Pearce, a Disney cartoonist.
Anne started her career as an actress, featuring in several films, often playing multi-ethnic characters due to her striking exotic looks. She later transitioned to the theatre in New York.
Anne met her husband, Stanley Kramer, and they formed a working partnership on most of his early remarkable films. They had two children together, actress Casey Kramer and script editor and academic Lawrence (Larry) Kramer.
Anne worked in various aspects of motion picture production, including distribution, casting, editing, and marketing, on films such as "Cyrano de Bergerac," "High Noon," "Member of the Wedding," and "The Defiant Ones." She was involved in the development of several projects, including "Million Dollar Baby," "Face of Fear," and "Little Me."
During the filming of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," Anne survived a severe fire, resulting in third-degree burns covering her body. She later returned to a successful academic career, earning two PhD's in Comparative Literature and Film.
Anne held various academic positions, including Professor of Comparative Literature and Film at California State University Long Beach, Senior Lecturer on literature and film at the University of Southern California, and lecturer at New York University, Orange Coast College, and University of California, Berkeley. Her students included Jim Morrison of The Doors and director George Lucas.
Anne authored, co-authored, and contributed to several books, including "Directors at Work," "Comparative Metamorphoses in Ovidian Myth," "Modern Literature and the Arts," and "Focus on Film and Theatre." She was proficient in five languages.
In the community, Anne created the communications consultancy, Cathexis 3, chaired "The University Forum" for the University of Southern California, and participated as Educational Consultant and teacher at Camarillo State Mental Hospital.
