Dorothy Lamour
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to...
movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby
and Bob Hope
(see Timeline of major beauty pageants
) .
, the daughter of Carmen Louise (née
LaPorte) and John Watson Slaton, both of whom were waiters. Lamour was of French Louisiana
n, Spanish
and Irish
descent. Her parents' marriage lasted only a few years, with her mother re-marrying to Clarence Lambour, and Dorothy took his last name. That marriage also ended in divorce when Dorothy was a teenager.
In 1935, she had her own fifteen-minute weekly musical program on NBC Radio. She also sang on the popular Rudy Vallee
radio
show and the Chase and Sanborn Hour.
Early in her career, Lamour met J. Edgar Hoover
, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
. According to Hoover's biographer Richard Hack
, Hoover pursued Lamour romantically, but she was initially interested only in friendship with him. Hoover and Lamour remained close friends to the end of Hoover's life, and after his 1972 death, Lamour did not deny rumors that she'd had an affair with him in the years after she divorced Kay. However, this appears nowhere in her memoirs "My Side of the Road" (Prentice-Hall ISBN 0-13-218594-6).
. 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. While she first achieved stardom as a sex symbol
, Lamour also showed talent as both a comic and dramatic actress. She was among the most popular actresses in motion pictures from 1936 to 1952.
She starred in the "Road to...
" movie series with Bing Crosby
and Bob Hope
in the 1940s and 1950s. The movies were enormously popular during the 1940s, and they regularly placed among the top moneymaking films each year. While the films centered more on Hope and Crosby, Lamour held her own as their "straight man", looked beautiful, and sang some of her most popular songs. Her contribution to the films was considered by the public and theater owners of equal importance to that of Crosby and Hope during the series' golden era, 1940-1952. The series essentially ended with the release of Road to Bali
in 1952, with her career declining while co-stars Hope and Crosby remained major show business figures.
During the World War II
years, Lamour was among the most popular pinup girls among American servicemen, along with Betty Grable
, Rita Hayworth
, Lana Turner
and Veronica Lake
. Lamour was also largely responsible for starting up the war bond
tours in which movie stars would travel the country selling U.S. government bonds to the public. Lamour alone promoted the sale of over $21 million dollars worth of war bonds, and other stars promoted the sale of a billion more.
Some of Lamour's other notable films include John Ford
's The Hurricane (1937), Spawn of the North
(1938; with George Raft
, Henry Fonda
, and John Barrymore
), Disputed Passage
(1939), Johnny Apollo
(1940; with Tyrone Power
), Aloma of the South Seas
(1941), Beyond the Blue Horizon
(1942), Dixie
(1943; with Bing Crosby),
A Medal for Benny
(1945), My Favorite Brunette
(1947; with Bob Hope), On Our Merry Way
(1948) and the best picture Oscar-winner The Greatest Show on Earth
(1952; with Charlton Heston
). Her other leading men included William Holden
, Ray Milland
, James Stewart
, Jack Benny
, and Fred MacMurray
.
Dorothy Lamour starred in a number of movie musicals and sang in many of her comedies and dramatic films as well. She introduced a number of standards, including "The Moon of Manakoora", "I Remember You
", "It Could Happen to You
", "Personality
", and "But Beautiful
".
Lamour's film career petered out in the early 1950s, and she began a new career as a nightclub entertainer and occasional stage actress. In the 1960s, she returned to the screen for secondary roles in three films and became more active in the legitimate theater, headlining a road company of Hello Dolly!
for over a year near the end of the decade.
. He died in 1978. Lamour published her autobiography My Side of the Road in 1980, revived her nightclub act, and performed in plays and television shows such as Hart to Hart
, Crazy Like a Fox
, Remington Steele
and Murder, She Wrote
.
During the 1990s, she made only a handful of professional appearances but she remained a popular interview subject for publications and TV talk and news programs. In 1995, the musical Swinging on a Star
, a revue of songs written by Johnny Burke
opened on Broadway and ran for three months; Lamour was credited as a "special advisor". Burke wrote many of the most famous "Road to..." movie songs as well as the score to Lamour's And the Angels Sing
. The musical was nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award
and the actress playing "Dorothy Lamour" in the Road movie
segment, Kathy Fitzgerald, was also nominated.
. She was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California
.
. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941-1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.
The real Lamour's autobiography, My Side of the Road, was published by Prentice-Hall in 1980.
She also had a brief print run of 2-3 issues during the 1950s in "Dorothy Lamour Jungle Princess Comics" - A series of comic books dedicated to her movie Jungle Princess persona. (featuring screen shots from past movies as the covers.)
Road to...
Road to ... refers to a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as the "Road" pictures or the "Road" series. The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, romance, and music...
movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
(see Timeline of major beauty pageants
Timeline of major beauty pageants
-Pre 1900s:*early 19th century: Bathing Beauty Pageant of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware begin.*1854: P.T. Barnum was the man behind the first American pageant.-1920s:...
) .
Early life
Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, the daughter of Carmen Louise (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
LaPorte) and John Watson Slaton, both of whom were waiters. Lamour was of French Louisiana
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France; and,...
n, Spanish
Spanish American
A Spanish American is a citizen or resident of the United States whose ancestors originate from the southwestern European nation of Spain. Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565.-Immigration waves:...
and Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
descent. Her parents' marriage lasted only a few years, with her mother re-marrying to Clarence Lambour, and Dorothy took his last name. That marriage also ended in divorce when Dorothy was a teenager.
In 1935, she had her own fifteen-minute weekly musical program on NBC Radio. She also sang on the popular Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show and the Chase and Sanborn Hour.
Early in her career, Lamour met J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. According to Hoover's biographer Richard Hack
Richard Hack
Richard Hack is an American writer best known for his biographical books and screenplays. He is a frequent guest on talk shows and an outspoken critic of bias in television news.- Background :...
, Hoover pursued Lamour romantically, but she was initially interested only in friendship with him. Hoover and Lamour remained close friends to the end of Hoover's life, and after his 1972 death, Lamour did not deny rumors that she'd had an affair with him in the years after she divorced Kay. However, this appears nowhere in her memoirs "My Side of the Road" (Prentice-Hall ISBN 0-13-218594-6).
Career
In 1936, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in films for Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. The role that made her a star was Ulah (a sort of female Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
) in The Jungle Princess
The Jungle Princess
The Jungle Princess is a 1936 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures, directed by William Thiele, and starring Dorothy Lamour in her film debut, Ray Milland, and Ray Mala....
(1936). She wore a sarong
Sarong
A sarong or sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist and worn as a kilt by men and as a skirt by women throughout much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric most often has woven plaid or...
, which would become associated with her. While she first achieved stardom as a sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
, Lamour also showed talent as both a comic and dramatic actress. She was among the most popular actresses in motion pictures from 1936 to 1952.
Road to...
Road to ... refers to a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as the "Road" pictures or the "Road" series. The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, romance, and music...
" movie series with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
in the 1940s and 1950s. The movies were enormously popular during the 1940s, and they regularly placed among the top moneymaking films each year. While the films centered more on Hope and Crosby, Lamour held her own as their "straight man", looked beautiful, and sang some of her most popular songs. Her contribution to the films was considered by the public and theater owners of equal importance to that of Crosby and Hope during the series' golden era, 1940-1952. The series essentially ended with the release of Road to Bali
Road to Bali
Road to Bali is a 1952 comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. It was released by Paramount Pictures and is the sixth of the seven Road to … movies...
in 1952, with her career declining while co-stars Hope and Crosby remained major show business figures.
During the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
years, Lamour was among the most popular pinup girls among American servicemen, along with Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
, Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
, Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
. Lamour was also largely responsible for starting up the war bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
tours in which movie stars would travel the country selling U.S. government bonds to the public. Lamour alone promoted the sale of over $21 million dollars worth of war bonds, and other stars promoted the sale of a billion more.
Some of Lamour's other notable films include John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's The Hurricane (1937), Spawn of the North
Spawn of the North
Spawn of the North is a 1938 film about rival fishermen in Alaska starring George Raft and featuring Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, and John Barrymore...
(1938; with George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
, Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, and John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
), Disputed Passage
Disputed Passage
Disputed Passage is a 1939 American film starring John Howard, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff, Judith Barrett, and William Collier, Sr. Set in war-torn China, the film was described by the New York Times as a "lavish soap opera". The 87 minute-long film was based on the best-selling novel of the...
(1939), Johnny Apollo
Johnny Apollo (film)
Johnny Apollo is a 1940 crime film starring Tyrone Power as a man who resorts to crime to buy a pardon for his embezzler father . Lloyd Nolan plays the gangster he works for, while Dorothy Lamour portrays the boss's girlfriend....
(1940; with Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
), Aloma of the South Seas
Aloma of the South Seas (1941 film)
Aloma of the South Seas is a 1941 island romance adventure starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall and directed by Alfred Santell. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the 1925 Broadway play by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer. It is a remake of the 1926 film of the same name...
(1941), Beyond the Blue Horizon
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Beyond the Blue Horizon is a 1971 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released by CTI Records.- Track listing :# "So What" – 9:15# "The Gentle Rain" – 9:09...
(1942), Dixie
Dixie (film)
Dixie is a 1943 Technicolor biographical film of American songwriter Daniel Decatur Emmett, starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. The movie is a musical directed by A. Edward Sutherland.The movie was only a moderate success and received mixed reviews...
(1943; with Bing Crosby),
A Medal for Benny
A Medal for Benny
A Medal for Benny is a 1945 American film directed by Irving Pichel. The story was conceived by writer Jack Wagner, who enlisted his longtime friend John Steinbeck to help him put it into script form. The film was released by Paramount Pictures.-Cast:...
(1945), My Favorite Brunette
My Favorite Brunette
My Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style. Starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it also features Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1947; with Bob Hope), On Our Merry Way
On Our Merry Way
On Our Merry Way is an American comedy film, produced by Benedict Bogeaus and Burgess Meredith, and released by United Artists. At the time of its release, King Vidor and Leslie Fenton were credited with its direction, although the DVD lists John Huston and George Stevens, who assisted with one of...
(1948) and the best picture Oscar-winner The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture...
(1952; with Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
). Her other leading men included William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
, James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
, Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, and Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
.
Dorothy Lamour starred in a number of movie musicals and sang in many of her comedies and dramatic films as well. She introduced a number of standards, including "The Moon of Manakoora", "I Remember You
I Remember You (1941 song)
"I Remember You" is a popular song. The music was written by Victor Schertzinger, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was published in 1941.The song was one of several introduced in the movie The Fleet's In...
", "It Could Happen to You
It Could Happen to You (song)
"It Could Happen to You" is a popular standard with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written in 1944 and was introduced by Dorothy Lamour in the Paramount musical comedy film, And the Angels Sing....
", "Personality
Personality (1946 song)
Personality is a song written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for Dorothy Lamour to perform in the 1946 film Road to Utopia. The song became a number one Billboard hit for Johnny Mercer in 1946 .Forty years later the song was rewritten as a...
", and "But Beautiful
But Beautiful (song)
"But Beautiful" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947.One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures movie Road to Rio , it was introduced by Bing Crosby and is also associated with...
".
Lamour's film career petered out in the early 1950s, and she began a new career as a nightclub entertainer and occasional stage actress. In the 1960s, she returned to the screen for secondary roles in three films and became more active in the legitimate theater, headlining a road company of Hello Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
for over a year near the end of the decade.
Later career
Lamour's good humor and lack of pretension allowed her to have a remarkably long career in show business for someone best known as a glamour girl. She was a popular draw on the dinner theatre circuit of the 1970s. In the 1960s and 1970s, she lived with her longtime husband William Ross Howard III (whom she married in 1943), in the Baltimore suburb of Sudbrook ParkSudbrook Park
Sudbrook Park is a historic neighborhood near Pikesville, Maryland located just northwest of the Baltimore City limits in Baltimore County.The community dates to 1889 when it was designed by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and developed by the Sudbrook Company...
. He died in 1978. Lamour published her autobiography My Side of the Road in 1980, revived her nightclub act, and performed in plays and television shows such as Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
, Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy Like a Fox (TV series)
Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.-Overview:...
, Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
.
During the 1990s, she made only a handful of professional appearances but she remained a popular interview subject for publications and TV talk and news programs. In 1995, the musical Swinging on a Star
Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...
, a revue of songs written by Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke (lyricist)
Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...
opened on Broadway and ran for three months; Lamour was credited as a "special advisor". Burke wrote many of the most famous "Road to..." movie songs as well as the score to Lamour's And the Angels Sing
And the Angels Sing
And the Angels Sing is a classic example of a film musical written to capitalize on the title of a previously popular song; in this case Benny Goodman's 1939 number one hit song, "And the Angels Sing" by Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer, and sung by Martha Tilton although the song is not sung in the...
. The musical was nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and the actress playing "Dorothy Lamour" in the Road movie
Road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main character or characters leave home to travel from place to place. They usually leave home to escape their current lives.-History:...
segment, Kathy Fitzgerald, was also nominated.
Death
Lamour died at her home in North Hollywood, California at the age of 81 from a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. She was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Features
- Footlight ParadeFootlight Parade-Cast:*James Cagney as Chester Kent, creator of musical prologues*Joan Blondell as Nan Prescott, his secretary*Ruby Keeler as Bea Thorn, dancer turned secretary turned dancer*Dick Powell as Scott 'Scotty' Blair, juvenile lead, former protege of Mrs...
(19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
) - College HolidayCollege HolidayCollege Holiday is a 1936 Paramount comedy with a plot elements related to eugenics. The film stars Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Martha Raye. It was directed by Frank Tuttle....
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - The Jungle PrincessThe Jungle PrincessThe Jungle Princess is a 1936 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures, directed by William Thiele, and starring Dorothy Lamour in her film debut, Ray Milland, and Ray Mala....
(1936) - Swing High, Swing LowSwing High, Swing Low (film)Swing High, Swing Low is a 1937 American romantic musical film starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.This is the second film adaptation, after The Dance of Life and before When My Baby Smiles at Me , of the popular Broadway play Burlesque, by George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins.-Cast:*...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - The Last Train from Madrid (1937)
- High, Wide, and HandsomeHigh, Wide, and HandsomeHigh, Wide, and Handsome is a 1937 American musical film starring Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Alan Hale, Sr., Charles Bickford, and Dorothy Lamour....
(1937) - The HurricaneThe Hurricane (1937 film)The Hurricane is a 1937 film set in the South Seas, directed by John Ford and produced by Samuel Goldwyn, about a Polynesian who is unjustly imprisoned. The climax features a special effects hurricane. It stars Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall, with Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond...
(1937) - Thrill of a Lifetime (1937)
- The Big Broadcast of 1938The Big Broadcast of 1938The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures film featuring W.C. Fields and Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Her Jungle LoveHer Jungle LoveHer Jungle Love is a 1938 adventure film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:* Dorothy Lamour - Tura* Ray Milland - Bob Mitchell* Lynne Overman - Jimmy Wallace* J. Carrol Naish - Kuasa...
(1938) - Tropic HolidayTropic HolidayTropic Holiday is a 1938 American musical film directed by Theodore Reed and starring Bob Burns, Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland.The film was nominated for the Academy Award's Best Original Score.-Cast:* Bob Burns as Breck Jones...
(1938) - Spawn of the NorthSpawn of the NorthSpawn of the North is a 1938 film about rival fishermen in Alaska starring George Raft and featuring Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, and John Barrymore...
(1938) - St. Louis BluesSt. Louis Blues (1939 film)St. Louis Blues is a 1939 musical film directed by Raoul Walsh that was set on a Mississippi River showboat. Although the plot was not related to the song, the "St. Louis Blues" was sung as one of the numbers. Artists included jazz singer Maxine Sullivan and composer/singer/actor Hoagy Carmichael...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Man About TownMan About Town (1939 film)Man About Town is a 1939 musical comedy film starring Jack Benny and Dorothy Lamour. A producer tries to get his leading lady take him seriously romantically by pursuing other women.-Cast:*Jack Benny as Bob Temple*Dorothy Lamour as Diana Wilson...
(1939) - Disputed PassageDisputed PassageDisputed Passage is a 1939 American film starring John Howard, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff, Judith Barrett, and William Collier, Sr. Set in war-torn China, the film was described by the New York Times as a "lavish soap opera". The 87 minute-long film was based on the best-selling novel of the...
(1939) - Road to SingaporeRoad to SingaporeRoad to Singapore is a 1940 Paramount Pictures film starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, and Bob Hope, which marked the debut of the long-running and popular "Road to …" series of pictures spotlighting the trio.-Plot:...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Johnny ApolloJohnny Apollo (film)Johnny Apollo is a 1940 crime film starring Tyrone Power as a man who resorts to crime to buy a pardon for his embezzler father . Lloyd Nolan plays the gangster he works for, while Dorothy Lamour portrays the boss's girlfriend....
(1940) - Typhoon (1940)
- Moon Over Burma (1940)
- Chad HannaChad HannaChad Hanna is a 1940 film directed by Henry King, and was adapted from a bestseller of sorts that was published that same year. The novel was written by Walter Dumaux Edmonds It stars Henry Fonda and Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:*Henry Fonda as Chad Hanna*Dorothy Lamour as...
(1940) - Road to ZanzibarRoad to ZanzibarRoad to Zanzibar is a 1941 Paramount Pictures comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, and marked the second picture in the popular "Road to …" series made by the trio....
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - Caught in the DraftCaught in the DraftCaught in the Draft is a 1941 comedy/war film, directed by David Butler.-Plot:Don Bolton is a famous Hollywood star who tries to get married in order to avoid the draft, as he feels it will interfere with his career...
(1941) - Aloma of the South SeasAloma of the South Seas (1941 film)Aloma of the South Seas is a 1941 island romance adventure starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall and directed by Alfred Santell. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the 1925 Broadway play by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer. It is a remake of the 1926 film of the same name...
(1941) - The Fleet's InThe Fleet's InThe Fleet's In is a movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 Paramount film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, it was not a remake...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942)
- Road to MoroccoRoad to MoroccoRoad to Morocco is an 1942 American comedy film about two fast-talking guys tossed up on a desert shore and sold into slavery to a beautiful princess...
(1942) - Star Spangled RhythmStar Spangled RhythmStar Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1942) - They Got Me CoveredThey Got Me CoveredThey Got Me Covered is a 1943 film starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The comedy movie was directed by David Butler. Otto Preminger appears in a supporting role.-Cast:*Bob Hope as Robert Kittredge*Dorothy Lamour as Christina Hill...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - DixieDixie (film)Dixie is a 1943 Technicolor biographical film of American songwriter Daniel Decatur Emmett, starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. The movie is a musical directed by A. Edward Sutherland.The movie was only a moderate success and received mixed reviews...
(1943) - Riding High (1943)
- And the Angels SingAnd the Angels SingAnd the Angels Sing is a classic example of a film musical written to capitalize on the title of a previously popular song; in this case Benny Goodman's 1939 number one hit song, "And the Angels Sing" by Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer, and sung by Martha Tilton although the song is not sung in the...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) - Rainbow Island (1944)
- A Medal for BennyA Medal for BennyA Medal for Benny is a 1945 American film directed by Irving Pichel. The story was conceived by writer Jack Wagner, who enlisted his longtime friend John Steinbeck to help him put it into script form. The film was released by Paramount Pictures.-Cast:...
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Duffy's TavernDuffy's TavernDuffy's Tavern was a popular American radio situation comedy which ran for a decade on several networks , concluding with the December 28, 1951 broadcast....
(1945) - Masquerade in MexicoMasquerade in MexicoMasquerade in Mexico is a 1945 comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen. It stars Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de Córdova.-Cast:*Dorothy Lamour as Angel O'Reilly*Arturo de Córdova as Manolo Sergovia*Patric Knowles as Thomas Grant*Ann Dvorak as Helen Grant...
(1945) - Road to UtopiaRoad to UtopiaRoad to Utopia, filmed in 1943 but not released until 1946, is the fourth film of the "Road to …" series starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.-Plot:After the credits we see Sal and Chester Hooton, an old married couple...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - My Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style. Starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it also features Lon Chaney, Jr...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Variety GirlVariety GirlVariety Girl is an all-star movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby...
(1947) - Wild HarvestWild HarvestWild Harvest is a 1947 film directed by Tay Garnett. It stars Alan Ladd and Dorothy Lamour.-Cast:*Alan Ladd as Joe Madigan*Dorothy Lamour as Fay Rankin*Robert Preston as Jim Davis*Lloyd Nolan as Kink*Richard Erdman as Mark Lewis...
(1947) - Road to RioRoad to RioRoad to Rio is a 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney, Bob Hope as "Hot Lips" Barton, and Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade. It was the fifth of the "Road to …" series.-Plot:...
(1947) - On Our Merry WayOn Our Merry WayOn Our Merry Way is an American comedy film, produced by Benedict Bogeaus and Burgess Meredith, and released by United Artists. At the time of its release, King Vidor and Leslie Fenton were credited with its direction, although the DVD lists John Huston and George Stevens, who assisted with one of...
(19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) - Lulu Belle (film)Lulu Belle (film)Lulu Belle is a film released by Columbia Pictures starring Dorothy Lamour, George Montgomery, and Glenda Farrell.Directed by Leslie Fenton, the film was an adaption of a sensational 1920s hit play by Charles MacArthur and Edward Sheldon, about a mulatto songstress, a "man-trap" who bewitched...
(1948) - The Girl from Manhattan (1948)
- The Lucky Stiff (19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - Slightly French (1949)
- ManhandledManhandledManhandled is a 1949 film noir produced by Paramount Pictures and its B-unit Pine-Thomas. The film stars Dorothy Lamour, Dan Duryea, and Sterling Hayden and is based on the novel The Man Who Stole a Dream by L. S. Goldsmith.-Featured cast:...
(1949) - Here Comes the GroomHere Comes the GroomHere Comes the Groom is a 1951 musical romantic comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. Directed and produced by Frank Capra, the film was released by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) (Cameo) - The Greatest Show on EarthThe Greatest Show on EarthThe Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - Road to BaliRoad to BaliRoad to Bali is a 1952 comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. It was released by Paramount Pictures and is the sixth of the seven Road to … movies...
(1952) - The Road to Hong KongThe Road to Hong KongThe Road to Hong Kong starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Joan Collins, was the last in the long-running Road to … series and the only episode not produced by Paramount Pictures, though reference to the other films in the series are shown in Maurice Binder's opening title sequence...
(19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
) (cameo) - Donovan's ReefDonovan's ReefDonovan's Reef is a 1963 American film starring John Wayne. It was directed John Ford and filmed on location on Kauai, Hawaii.The cast included Elizabeth Allen, Lee Marvin, Dorothy Lamour, and Cesar Romero. The film marked the last time Ford and Wayne ever worked together on a...
(19631963 in filmThe year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
) - Pajama PartyPajama Party (film)Pajama Party is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures...
(19641964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
) - The PhynxThe PhynxThe Phynx is a 1970 comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to the country of Albania to locate hostages.-Cast:*The Phynx... Themselves...
(19701970 in filmThe year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
) - Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodWon Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodWon Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood is a 1976 film directed by Michael Winner and starring Madeline Kahn, Bruce Dern, Teri Garr, and Art Carney...
(19761976 in filmThe year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
) (cameo) - Creepshow 2Creepshow 2Creepshow 2 is an American horror comedy anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, who was George A. Romero's cinematographer on the original Creepshow. Released in 1987, the screenplay for Creepshow 2 was penned by Romero , and once again based upon stories by Stephen King...
(19871987 in film-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
)
Short subjects
- The Stars Can't Be Wrong (19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - Hollywood Handicap (19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Meet the Stars #1: Chinese Garden Festival (19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Show Business at WarShow Business at WarShow Business at War is a short film made in 1943 to tout the United States film industry's contribution to the war effort. Several studios collaborated on the production and approximately 70 stars, producers, directors and studio executives appeared in it....
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - Unusual Occupations: Film Tot Holiday (19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Shower of Stars (19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
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Books
Lamour was the heroine of a novel, Dorothy Lamour and the Haunted Lighthouse (1947, by Matilda Bailey), where "the heroine has the same name and appearance as the famous actress but has no connection ... it is as though the famous actress has stepped into an alternate reality in which she is an ordinary person." The story was written for a young teenage audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy DrewNancy Drew
Nancy Drew is a fictional young amateur detective in various mystery series for all ages. She was created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm. The character first appeared in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published...
. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941-1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.
The real Lamour's autobiography, My Side of the Road, was published by Prentice-Hall in 1980.
She also had a brief print run of 2-3 issues during the 1950s in "Dorothy Lamour Jungle Princess Comics" - A series of comic books dedicated to her movie Jungle Princess persona. (featuring screen shots from past movies as the covers.)