Biography

Famous as the "Woman in Red", Ana Cumpanas aka Anna Sage reached the status of cultural icon in the United States in the years following John Dillinger(1903-1934)'s death, because she assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in tracking down the 'Public Enemy No.1' at the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, USA where he was killed on July 22, 1934 after having seen Manhattan Melodrama (1934). Ana Cumpanas was a native of Comlosu Mare, a village of Banat (then part of Austria-Hungary, now in Timis County, Romania). She married in 1909 and the couple moved to the United States. They had a son, but their marriage did not last and by the end of the decade, Cumpanas was working as a prostitute, and later became a madam. She opened a brothel on Halsted Street in Chicago. By 1934, Cumpanas was facing deportation to Romania, after the authorities deemed her to be "of low moral character". On July 4, 1934, John Dillinger began frequenting Cumpanas and her circle of friends. Cumpanas was reportedly close to Polly Hamilton, who was Dillinger's lover. Once Cumpanas became aware of Dillinger's real identity, she considered turning him in as a way of obtaining permanent US residence and getting a large reward that had been offered for his capture. On July 22, after contacting the FBI through the Chicago Police, Cumpanas identified Dillinger to the FBI agent Melvin Purvis, resulting in Dillinger's shooting outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. Despite the famous nickname "Woman in Red" and her alleged promise to wear red as a distinctive mark, Cumpanas is said to have actually worn orange that night. She received a US$ 5,000 reward, only half of what she had been allegedly promised, and still had to leave the United States in 1936. She lived then in Timisoara, Romania (close to where she was born) an ordinary life until her death from liver disease in 1947.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Films focusing on John Dillinger mostly include references to Ana Cumpanas. She was portrayed by many actresses, but not always the name Anna Sage was used: Ann Morriss (as 'Mildred Jaunce') in _"Gang Busters: Dillinger {#2.4}" (1952)_ and Guns Don't Argue! (1957); Jean Willes in The FBI Story (1959); Jane Rose in Dillinger (1960), Diane Webster in The Last Days of John Dillinger (1971), Cloris Leachman in Dillinger (1973); Bernadette Peters (as 'Nellie') in Love, American Style (1969); Louise Fletcher in The Lady in Red (1979); Lucy Childs in Dillinger (1991), Debi A. Monahan in Dillinger and Capone (1995), Elena Albu in The Woman in Red (1997) and Branka Katic in Public Enemies (2009).

In Romania, new interest in the life of Ana Cumpanas was sparked by Mircea Veroiu's film The Woman in Red (1997)("The Woman in Red"). It is based on a 1990 book co-authored by three writers - Adriana Babeti, Mircea Mihaies and Mircea Nedelciu - reputedly suggested by Banat Swabian author William Totok. The book is a fictionalized account, depicting real and imagined events occurring in Romania after her return from America. The narrative moves beyond genre boundaries, mixing in metafictional elements and unrelated episodes involving, among others, writer Elias Canetti and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. The postmodern novel was a bestseller in Romania and propelled Cumpanas back to iconic status.