© 2026 The Couch Critic
"The Story of Stephen C. Foster - The Great American Troubadour"
Swanee River is a 1940 American biopic about Stephen Foster, a songwriter from Pittsburgh who falls in love with the South, marries a Southern girl, then is accused of sympathizing when the Civil War breaks out. Typical of 20th Century Fox biopics of the time, the film is more fictional than factual biography.
69 Cast Members
Don Ameche
Stephen Foster
Andrea Leeds
Jane McDowell Foster
Al Jolson
Edwin P. Christy
Felix Bressart
Henry Kleber
Chick Chandler
Bones
Russell Hicks
Andrew McDowell
Diane Fisher
Marion Foster
George P. Breakston
Ambrose
Nella Walker
Mrs. McDowell
Mae Marsh
Mrs. Jonathan Fry (uncredited)
George H. Reed
Old Joe, McDowell's Coachman
Richard Clarke
Tom Harper
Al Herman
Tambo
Charles Trowbridge
Mr. Foster
George Meeker
Henry Foster
Leona Roberts
Mrs. Foster
Charles Tannen
Morrison Foster
Clara Blandick
Mrs. Griffin
Harry Hayden
Erwin
Esther Dale
Temperance Woman
