Anita Haskell

born: 23 March 1901 Los Angeles, California, United States of America

died: 18 November 1989 Rancho Mirage, California, United States of America (age 88)

American actress of the 1920s, a well-known sportswoman in California as a horsewoman, pilot, and yacht sailor/fisherwoman. As an actress, her 1989 obituary in the Desert Sun mentioned she "appeared in the original 'Rin Tin Tin' movies." In 1925, she formed a polo team of Hollywood actresses/equestriennes which included Nita Cavalier. In 1931, Anita caught a 158-pound swordfish on light line, setting that year's women's light tackle marlin record. In 1945, she moved to Palm Springs, California, where she would reside for the remaining 44 years of her life. She was a close friend of "Perry Mason" creator/author Erle Stanley Gardner, and the two frequently traveled together. Her birth records give her full name as, simply, Anna Froehlich; by the 1910 U.S. Census, she was Anita W. Froehlich, and by her first marriage in 1922, she was Anita Jocelyn Froehlich. She was married twice, first to Arnold Delbert Haskell (1895-1977) from 1922 to 1928, and to wealthy lumberman William B. Jones (1900-1972) from 1937 to 1938; both marriages ended in divorce, with the second producing a daughter, Jovana Anita (Jones) Brown (1937-2012). Despite the second divorce, she would be known thereafter as Anita Haskell Jones.

Real name: Anna Froehlich

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

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1925 In The Grease Physical culture teacher Acknowledgements: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGLW-J98R (birth report) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL7-RSNW (birth report) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4V2Y-GMMM (birth record) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVLH-GLT (1910 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9Z-62PC (1929 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZQM-N4L (1929 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCFN-SBN (1930 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24NG-2HG (1932 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZQ3-XRL (1933 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKXL-ZV4V (1933 airplane pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4KCY-GM6Z (1933 airplane pass. index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24NB-CJN (1934 pass. list) Anita J. Haskell and William B. Jones, "Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972" (Ancestry.com) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9Z-5HW7 (1938 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZQC-J5J (1938 pass. list) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K97H-X7S (1940 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XG6-WRT7 (1950 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPV4-WG6 (CA Death Index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1BY-7Z3 (Social Security Death Index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4S-BWL2 (Social Security Numident File) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380555326/ (Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb 1922) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNLA19250123.1.23 (Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 23 Jan 1925) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNLA19250123.1.28 (Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 23 Jan 1925) https://archive.org/details/sim_los-angeles-times_the-los-angeles-times_1925-02-22_44/page/n17/mode/1up?q=%22anita+haskell%22 (Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb 1925) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380342147/ (Los Angeles Times, 29 Jun 1928) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380600113/ (Los Angeles Times, 25 Jul 1928) https://archive.org/details/sim_los-angeles-times_los-angeles-times_1928-09-09_47/page/n96/mode/1up (Los Angeles Times, 09 Sep 1928) https://archive.org/details/sim_los-angeles-times_los-angeles-times_1930-05-18_49/page/n26/mode/1up?q=%22anita+haskell%22 (Los Angeles Times, 18 May 1930) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380705629/ (Los Angeles Times, 06 Jan 1937) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1938&keyword=%22jones+anita+j%22+%22william+b%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380732924/ (Los Angeles Times, 01 Apr 1945) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19891123.1.5 (Desert Sun [Palm Springs, CA], 23 Nov 1989) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/804960482/ (The Olympian, 15 Dec 1989) https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/people/2019/11/24/palm-springs-hat-parade-homemade-fun/4281991002/ (Desert Sun [Palm Springs, CA], 24 Nov 2019) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date-end=1990&date-start=1920&keyword=%22anita+haskell%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?keyword=%22anita+haskel%22&region=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://archive.org/search?tab=fulltext&query=%22anita+haskell%22&sort=date (Internet Archive, search) https://palmspringshs.pastperfectonline.com/Search?search_criteria=%22anita+haskell%22&onlyimages=false (Palm Springs Historical Society) https://palmspringshs.pastperfectonline.com/photo/957BE2A2-6BDA-4463-A8F9-745514351620 (1960 photo) https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/anita-haskell-jones-palm-springs-1787659428 (1955 letter) https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/perry-mason-signed-book-erle-stanley-4602042280 (1968 letter) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2QD-Y6D (daughter Jovana Anita Jones in CA Birth Index) Robert Demoss (cast ledgers for In The Grease) Jesse Brisson (bio notes and research; identification in In The Grease) This page was last updated on: 29 June 2026