Dorothy Lamour
|
|
Dorothy Lamour (December 10, 1914 - September 22, 1996) was a motion picture actress, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, died in Hollywood, California.
Lamour's birth name was Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; Lamour came from the name of her step-father. After winning the title of Miss New Orleans in a beauty pageant she moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1931, hoping to become a professional singer. She got a job as a chorus girl in the Busby Berkeley musical Footlight Parade (1933) and singing with the band of Herbie Kay, who became her first husband. She also sang on the popular Rudy Vallee radio show.
In 1936 she moved to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in films for Paramount Pictures, first in bit parts. The role that made her a star was Ulah (a sort of female Tarzan) in The Jungle Princess (1936). She wore a sarong, which would become associated with her, and captivated many viewers with her sensuous exotic attractive appearance. While she first achieved stardom as a sex symbol, Lamour also showed talent as both a comic and dramatic actress.
She appeared in a series of road movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the 1940s and 1950s.
Some of Dorothy Lamour's other notable films include The Hurricane (1937), Disputed Passage (1939), Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), Dixie (1943), and On Our Merry Way (1948).
Dororthy Lamour died at her home in North Hollywood, California at the age of 81. She is interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Quotes
- "Glamour is just sex that got civilized."
Filmography
- Footlight Parade (1933) (rumored unconfirmed bit)
- The Stars Can't Be Wrong (1936) (short subject)
- College Holiday (1936)
- The Jungle Princess (1936)
- Swing High, Swing Low (1937)
- The Last Train from Madrid (1937)
- High, Wide, and Handsome (1937)
- The Hurricane (1937)
- Thrill of a Lifetime (1937)
- The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
- Her Jungle Love (1938)
- Hollywood Handicap (1938) (short subject)
- Tropic Holiday (1938)
- Spawn of the North (1938)
- St. Louis Blues (1939)
- Man About Town (1939)
- Disputed Passage (1939)
- Moon Over Burma (1940)
- Road to Singapore (1940)
- Johnny Apollo (1940)
- Typhoon (1940)
- Chad Hanna (1940)
- Road to Zanzibar (1941)
- Caught in the Draft (1941)
- Aloma of the South Seas (1941)
- The Fleet's In (1942)
- Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942)
- Road to Morocco (1942)
- Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
- They Got Me Covered (1943)
- Show Business at War (1943) (short subject)
- Dixie (1943)
- Riding High (1943)
- And the Angels Sing (1944)
- Rainbow Island (1944)
- A Medal for Benny (1945)
- Duffy's Tavern (1945)
- Masquerade in Mexico (1945)
- Road to Utopia (1946)
- My Favorite Brunette (1947)
- Variety Girl (1947)
- Unusual Occupations: Film Tot Holiday (1947) (short subject)
- Wild Harvest (1947)
- Road to Rio (1947)
- On Our Merry Way (1948)
- Lulu Belle (1948)
- The Girl from Manhattan (1948)
- The Lucky Stiff (1949)
- Slightly French (1949)
- Manhandled (1949)
- Here Comes the Groom (1951) (Cameo)
- The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
- Road to Bali (1952)
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Shower of Stars (1955) (short subject)
- The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
- Donovan's Reef (1963)
- Pajama Party (1964)
- The Phynx (1970) (Cameo)
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
- Creepshow 2 (1987)