Dorothy Dell was an American film actress

Dorothy Dell (January 30, 1915 – June 8, 1934) was an American film actress. Born Dorothy Dell Goff in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to entertainers, she moved with the family to New Orleans, Louisiana, at age 13. She was born into a socially prominent family, and her mother was a descendant of Jefferson Davis. Initially desiring to become a singer, she was discovered by composer Wesley Lord, and soon signed a radio contract. She began entering and winning beauty pageants and at the age of 15 won the title of "Miss New Orleans" in 1930. That same year she attended the International Pageant of Pulchritude in Galveston, Texas, and won. With this success. she established a successful vaudeville act. Although she had received better offers, she decided to enter the vaudeville circuit, because she believed it would enable her to help her friend Dorothy Lamour rise to fame, a promise she had made shortly before winning the Miss Universe title. After working on the vaudeville circuit for 32 weeks, she moved to New York in 1931. One night, she sang at a benefit and was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, who arranged for her to appear on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies, and she followed this success with her role in the production of Tattle Tales in 1933. During this time she was closely associated with Russ Colombo, and her celebrity status was elevated by the media attention she received while denying rumors of an impending marriage. Dell and Columbo had met at her Ziegfeld audition; Columbo's manager, Con Conrad, was determined to end their relationship and did so with a series of "publicity only" romances between Columbo and other, more famous actresses. She moved to Hollywood in December 1933 and was signed to a contract by Paramount Pictures. Initially being contracted for bit parts, she won her first film role over such established contenders as Mae Clarke and Isabel Jewell and made her debut in Wharf Angel (1934). The film was a success and the reviews for Dell were favorable; Paramount began to consider her as a potential star. Her most important and substantial role followed in the Shirley Temple film Little Miss Marker. Her next film Shoot the Works led to comparisons with Mae West, and her rendition of the ballad "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming" in the film became a hit record. Paramount scheduled her to play opposite Gary Cooper and Shirley Temple in Now and Forever in what was to have been her first major starring role as a romantic lead. On June 8, 1934, Dell agreed to a car ride to Pasadena with 38-year-old Dr. Carl Wagner, because he insisted that she take some time for relaxation between retakes of Shoot the Works, and to meet his mother, whom he wanted to show "how sweet a little movie star can be." After the meeting, they went to an all-night party at an inn in Altadena, California. Afterward they were going to Pasadena when the car left the highway, hit a telephone pole, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder. Dell was killed instantly. Wagner, who was driving between 50 and 70 miles an hour, died six hours later in a hospital. It has been claimed that she was engaged to Wagner, but this was dismissed by different sources, who believed that she was to be married to caricaturist Nat Carson, whom she met while performing as a chorus girl in Earl Carroll's Vanities. A week before her death, Carson left for work in London and proposed over the telephone. Dell planned on taking off six months for an extended honeymoon vacation. When Carson found out about her death, he decided not to return to Broadway, and he remained in London. According to news reports, a day before her death, Dell mused: "You know, they say deaths go in cycles of three. First it was Lilyan Tashman, then Lew Cody. I wonder who'll be next?" Dell was interred in Metairie Cemetery, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her final role in Now and Forever was taken by Carole Lombard, and provided Lombard with one of her earliest significant successes. Dorothy Lamour, a childhood friend of Dell, later credited Dell as the person responsible for the beginning of her own film career. Lamour also won the title of "Miss New Orleans" in 1931, succeeding her friend Dell who had won the title the previous year. During her life, Dell had several encounters with near-death experiences. As a child, she narrowly escaped death when being attacked by a dog. The dog was killed by her father to save Dell's life. In 1931, while at the Follies, she was invited to board a yacht for a party of Harry Richman. She declined, and the girl who took her place, died in an explosion on board. A few weeks later, she was critically injured following a car accident, and she was hospitalized for two months. Furthermore, she fell ill with influenza shortly after and broke a leg during a Follies performance

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Dorothy Abbott was an American actress who appeared in many films between the 1940s and 1960s

Dorothy Abbott (December 16, 1920 – December 15, 1968) was an American actress. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Abbott appeared in many films between the 1940s and 1960s as an extra. In Las Vegas she was a showgirl at the Flamingo Hotel and was known as "the girl with the golden arm". She also appeared in guest roles on The Ford Television Theatre, Leave It to Beaver, and Dragnet as Sergeant Joe Friday's girlfriend Ann Baker.[1] When she could not find work as an actress, she modeled and sold real estate. Depressed about the end of her marriage to police officer and actor Rudy Diaz, Abbott committed suicide in Los Angeles on December 15, 1968, a day before her 48th birthday. Abbott is buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

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Doris Packer was an American actress known for her aristocratic and intellectual bearing and precise use of the English language

Doris Packer May 30, 1904 – March 31, 1979 was an American actress, possibly best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's elementary school principal in the television series, Leave It to Beaver. Packer portrayed the mother of millionaire playboy Chatsworth Osborne, Jr., on CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, with Dwayne Hickman in the title role. Prior to playing Chatsworth's mother, she had been cast as Clarice Armitage, mother of Milton Armitage, whose character on the series Chatsworth replaced. In most of her screen roles, she was known for her aristocratic and intellectual bearing and precise use of the English language

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Doris Merrick, best known for her roles in The Big Noise, Sensation Hunters, The Counterfeiters, Untamed Women, and The Neanderthal Man

Doris Merrick, best known for her roles in The Big Noise, Sensation Hunters, The Counterfeiters, Untamed Women, and The Neanderthal Man, was an integral part of Hollywood’s film noir era. Her film career spanned from 1942-1955, where she graced the screen in over twenty motion pictures. A dedicated fanbase follows Merrick’s career and personal life; she corresponds with fans from the US and all over Europe. This site is the only officially sanctioned site devoted to her life and work, and serves as the center of her ongoing legacy.

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Doris Day was an American actress and singer

Doris Day born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922, is an American actress, singer, and animal rights activist. Day began her career as a big band singer in 1939. Her popularity began to rise after her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", in 1945. After leaving Les Brown & His Band of Renown to try a solo career, she started her long-lasting partnership with Columbia Records, which would remain her only recording label. The contract lasted from 1947 to 1967, and included more than 650 recordings, making Day one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. In 1948, after being persuaded by Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne and her agent at the time, Al Levy, she auditioned for Michael Curtiz, which led to her being cast as the female lead in Romance on the High Seas. Over the course of her career, Day appeared in 39 films. She was ranked the biggest box-office star, the only woman on that list, for four years ranking in the top 10 for ten years. She became the top-ranking female box-office star of all time and is currently ranked sixth among the top 10 box office performers, as of 2012. She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Pillow Talk, won three Henrietta Awards, received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award and, in 1989, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. Day made her last film in 1968

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Donna Reed was an American film and television actress With appearances in over 40 films

Donna Reed (January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American film and television actress. With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lorene Burke in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also well known for her role as Mary Hatch in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. She worked extensively in television, notably as Donna Stone, an American middle class mother in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show, in which she played a more prominent role than many other television mothers of the era and for which she received the 1963 Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star - Female. Later in Reed's career she replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing in the 1984 season of the television melodrama, Dallas, and sued the production company for breach of contract when she was abruptly fired upon Bel Geddes' decision to return to the show. Donna Reed died of pancreatic cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on January 14, 1986, 13 days shy of her 65th birthday. She had been diagnosed with the terminal illness three months earlier. Her remains are interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles

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Donna Douglas is an American actress, best known for her role as Elly May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies 1962-1971

Donna Douglas (born September 26, 1933) is an American actress, best known for her role as Elly May Clampett in the CBS television series, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971). Douglas was born Doris Smith in the community of Pride in East Baton Rouge Parish, near Zachary, Louisiana. She was the only daughter of Emmett Ratcliff Smith, Sr. (1907–1988)] and his wife, the former Elma Robinson (1910–2003). Douglas attended St. Gerard High School, a Roman Catholic school, where she played softball and basketball. She was a member of the school's first graduating class. She married Roland Bourgeois in 1949; they divorced shortly after the birth in 1954 of their son, Danny P. Bourgeois. She was a "Miss Baton Rouge" and was named "Miss New Orleans" in 1957. Douglas moved to New York City to pursue a career in entertainment and started out as an illustration model for toothpaste advertisements. She was featured as the “Letters Girl” on NBC's The Perry Como Show in 1957, and as the “Billboard Girl” on NBC's The Steve Allen Show in 1959. These and other television appearances led New York photographers and newspaper reporters to award her the “Miss By-line” crown, which she wore on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show. Producer Hal Wallis saw the Sullivan episode and cast her in the role of Marjorie Burke in the movie drama, Career (1959), starring Anthony Franciosa, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine. This was followed by a bit part in the musical comedy, Li'l Abner (1959) and the role of a secretary in the comedy/romance Lover Come Back (1961) starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. She made numerous television appearances in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including a notable episode of The Twilight Zone, entitled "The Eye of the Beholder" (1960). She was cast as Barbara Simmons in four 1961 episodes of the CBS detective series, Checkmate. Her other credits, among others, were in U.S. Marshal, Tightrope, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Bachelor Father, and Route 66. Douglas also appeared in Thriller, season 1, episode 16, "The Hungry Glass," which also starred William Shatner, Russell Johnson, and Boris Karloff. The turning point in Douglas’ career came when she was chosen to play the role of the tomboy Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies. She starred on the program for all nine seasons, along with Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Nancy Kulp, Raymond Bailey, and Max Baer, Jr. The Beverly Hillbillies became the number one show in the United States in its first two years. During the 1966 summer hiatus for the show, Douglas made her only starring motion picture appearance, cast as Frankie in Frederick de Cordova's Frankie and Johnny (1966), opposite Elvis Presley. The film proved popular, and is among Presley’s most frequently televised movies, but it did little to advance Douglas's big-screen career. In 1981, she returned for a made-for-TV reunion movie, The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies

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Dona Drake was an American singer, dancer and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s

Dona Drake (born Eunice Westmoreland; November 15, 1914 – June 20, 1989) was an American singer, dancer and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She also toured in an all-girl orchestra in the early 1940s. She was born Eunice Westmoreland in Miami, Florida, in 1914 to Joseph Andrew Westmoreland of Arkansas and his wife, Novella Smith of Alabama. She was one of their five children. Entering show business in the 1930s, she used the names Una Velon, Rita Rio and Rita Shaw. She settled on the stage name Dona Drake in the early 1940s. Studio publicity during her heyday incorrectly stated that Drake was of Mexican origin and was born Rita Novella. (Novella was actually her mother's first name.) Because of her dark hair and Latin-looking features, Drake generally played Latin or other "ethnic" types. She is perhaps best known for playing the American Indian maid of Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest. She also appeared as an Arab girl opposite Bob Hope in Road to Morocco in 1942. Her biggest "non-ethnic" role was the second female lead in the 1949 comedy The Girl from Jones Beach, playing opposite Eddie Bracken. She died in 1989. In the early 1940s, Drake toured with an all-girl orchestra called "The Girl Friends" throughout the United States. Fellow actresses Marie Wilson, Toby Wing, and Faith Bacon were also part of the orchestra. In 1936, Drake was questioned by the FBI about the murder of her then-boyfriend and known mobster, Louis Amberg. She claimed to only know him as "Mr. Cohen" and had no idea what he did for a living. Drake married fashion designer William Travilla August 19, 1944. They were married until her death and had one daughter, Nia (b. August 16, 1951). Drake died in Los Angeles, California on June 20, 1989 at the age of 74 of pneumonia and respiratory failure. She was cremated and her ashed scattered at sea

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Dolores Reed was an american model and actress of the 1950s

Dolores Reed was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962), Hit and Run (1957) and Party Girl (1958). Location of Death Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Build Voluptuous Height 5' 9" (175 cm) Hair Color Dyed Red, Nationality American Occupation Actress, model Claim to Fame Modern Man Cover Girl

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Dolores Moran was an American film actress and model of the 1940s

Dolores Moran (January 27, 1926 – February 5, 1982) was an American film actress and model. Moran's brief career as a film actress began in 1942 with some uncredited roles in such films as Yankee Doodle Dandy. By 1943, she had become a popular pin-up girl and appeared on the cover of such magazines as Yank. She was given supporting roles in films such as Old Acquaintance (1943) with Bette Davis and Warner Bros. attempted to increase interest in her, promoting her along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality when they co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944). The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran languished and her subsequent films did little to further her career; this probably had something to do with Howard Hawks' decision to marginalize Moran in order to boost the screen presence of Bacall, excising some of Moran's scenes. The Horn Blows at Midnight gave her a leading role with Jack Benny and Alexis Smith, but her film appearances after this were sporadic, and she suffered ill health that reduced her ability to work. Her film career ended in 1954 with a featured role in the John Payne and Lizabeth Scott western film Silver Lode. She was married to the film producer Benedict E. Bogeaus in Salome, Arizona, in 1946. Their son, Brett Benedict, born August 30, 1948, in Hollywood, later became a successful businessman. They divorced in 1962; he died of a heart attack in 1968. Moran had an affair with director Howard Hawks while filming To Have and Have Not, which Hawks undertook mainly as revenge for his rejection by Bacall in favor of Bogart. In 1982, Dolores Moran died of cancer. She was survived by her son, sister, and mother.

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