Mamie Van Doren born 6 February 1931

Mamie Van Doren (February 6, 1931) is an American actress. A blonde bombshell, she is one of the "Three M's" along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were friends and contemporaries. 

Born Joan Olander in South Dakota, Van Doren’s family moved to Los Angeles during her childhood. In early 1946, Van Doren began working as an usher at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The following year, she had a bit part on an early television show. She also sang with Ted Fio Rito's band and entered several beauty contests. She was married for a brief time at seventeen when Van Doren and her first husband, Jack Newman, eloped to Santa Barbara. The marriage was dissolved quickly, upon her discovery of his abusive nature. 

In the summer of 1949, at age 18, she won the titles "Miss Eight Ball" and "Miss Palm Springs," attracting the attention of Howard Hughes. The pair dated for several years. Hughes launched her career by placing her in several RKO films.  She changed her name to Mamie Van Doren, taking her name from First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and the surname of celebrated scholars Carl and Mark Van Doren. Hughes provided Van Doren with a bit part in Jet Pilot at RKO Radio Pictures, which was her film debut. The following year, 1951, she posed for famous pin-up girl artist Alberto Vargas, the painter of the glamorous "Vargas Girls." 

                                   

Van Doren did a few more bit parts in movies at RKO, including His Kind of Woman (1951) starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and Vincent Price. About her appearance in that one, Van Doren has said, "If you blinked you would miss me. I look barely old enough to drive." She then began working on the stage and was a showgirl in New York in Monte Proser's nightclub version of Billion Dollar Baby. Songwriter Jimmy McHugh discovered her for his musicals, then decided she was too good for the chorus line and should have dramatic training. She studied with Ben Bard and Bliss-Hayden. While appearing in the role of Marie in a showcase production of Come Back, Little Sheba, Van Doren was seen by Phil Benjamin, a casting director at Universal International. 

On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal Studios and broke off her engagement to boxer Jack Dempsey. Universal had big plans for her, hoping she would bring the same kind of success that 20th Century Fox had with Marilyn Monroe. Van Doren, signing day coincided with the inauguration of President Eisenhower. Universal first cast Van Doren in a minor role as a singer in Forbidden, starring Tony Curtis. Interested in Van Doren's allure, Universal then cast her in The All American (1953) but her breakout period came in the mid to late 1950s, when she starred in a string of movies that made her a drive-in icon. In Untamed Youth, she played a defiant teen caught up in a juvenile detention scheme and became the first actress to sing rock 'n roll in an American musical film. This resulted in a string of singles with backing by the Les Baxter, Warren Baker and Billy Vaughn Orchestras. 

In High School Confidential, she turned heads as a sultry figure. She showed off her comedic side opposite Clark Gable and Doris Day in Teacher’s Pet, a role she later said was one of her personal favorites. Other memorable titles from that era included Girls Town, The Beat Generation, Born Reckless and Running Wild. After Universal chose not to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren continued working steadily as an independent actress. She appeared in cult favorites such as 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. In 1966, she even shared the screen with Mansfield in The Las Vegas Hillbillys, a rare moment that brought two of the era’s most famous blondes together.

Her career slowed in the 1970s and 1980s, but she never fully vanished. Van Doren made television appearances on shows including Fantasy Island, Vega$ and L.A. Law. Much later, she popped up in minor roles in projects like Slackers (2002) and the 2012 video release The American Tetralogy. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 and a Golden Palm Star in Palm Springs in 2005, honors that celebrate her unique place in film history. Documentaries and retrospectives frequently feature her as one of the last living links to a glamorous, long-gone era of show business. Family has also remained central to her life. Van Doren has one son, Perry Ray Anthony, from her marriage to bandleader Ray Anthony. In 2007, she launched her own wine brand at age 76. 

These days, Van Doren lives quietly in California with her husband of more than four decades, actor Thomas Dixon, whom she married in 1979. One of the biggest surprises of Van Doren’s later years has been how active she remains online where she runs what appears to be her own Instagram account, regularly posting throwback photos and candid updates about her life. 

(Edited from Uncle Sam @ Ronin’s Fortress & Remind Magazine)