Mamie Van Doren

Biography

Mamie Van Doren (; born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American retired actress. The last living blonde bombshell from the Golden Age of Hollywood, she is one of the "Three M's", a group formed by Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were contemporaries. In 1953, Van Doren, then named Joan Lucille Olander, signed a seven-year contract with Universal, which hoped that she would be their version of Monroe. She starred in teen dramas, exploitation, musical, comedy, and rock and roll films, among other genres, many of which have gone on to become cult classics. She was one of the leading sex symbols in the 1950s. Van Doren was born and raised in Rowena, South Dakota, but her parents moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and eventually to Los Angeles in 1942 before she married Jack Newman. In 1949, at the age of eighteen, she won Miss Palm Springs and Miss Eight Ball. As Miss Eight Ball, she was discovered by film producer Howard Hughes, who put her in the RKO films His Kind of Woman (1951), Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), and Jet Pilot (1957) in minor roles. In 1950 she was dating the heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey, over thirty-five years her senior, in New York City and was engaged to him. However, she left him to go back to Los Angeles. On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal, who wanted her to be Universal's equivalent of Monroe. While at Universal, Van Doren changed her name to Mamie Van Doren, the "Mamie" from then–First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and the "Van Doren" from Universal's telling Van Doren she was more Dutch than Swedish. During her time at Universal, Van Doren starred in movies such as The Second Greatest Sex (1955), Running Wild (1955), and The All American (1953). Outside of Universal she starred in Untamed Youth (1957), Teacher's Pet (1958), High School Confidential (1958), Born Reckless (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), and Sex Kittens Go To College (1960). She starred on television shows such as What's My Line?, The Jack Benny Program, and The Bob Cummings Show. After Universal failed to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren struggled to find work as a free agent. She starred in many B movies, such as Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) with Mansfield, and 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964), a film which challenged the Hays Code. The same year, she appeared in the June 1964 Playboy magazine with nude photos of her on the set of the film. Van Doren has married five times and had intimate affairs with many other Hollywood actors. She went to Vietnam in the 1970s to entertain troops during the Vietnam War. Partially because of the sudden deaths of Mansfield and Monroe, she decided to retire from acting. In 1987 Van Doren released her autobiography, Playing the Field: My Story. On February 1, 1994, she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, she created her website, describing herself as “the first authentic kitten on Cyberspace".

== Early life ==

Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander on February 6, 1931, in Rowena, South Dakota, a small community about nine miles (14 km) from Sioux Falls. She was the only child of Warner Carl Olander (1908–1992) and Lucille Harriet Bennett (1912–1995), who had met through a Swedish Lutheran congregation in the Rowena area and married in August 1930. Her mother named her Joan after actress Joan Crawford, whom she admired. Van Doren later described her ancestry as predominantly Swedish, with Irish and German branches on her mother's side; her maternal grandmother was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Olanders lived modestly during the Great Depression. Warner Olander worked at a local rock quarry, where, according to his daughter, he was paid by the load and could earn about seven dollars on a good day. Van Doren recalled Rowena as a small rural community centered on a church, school, railroad station and a cluster of businesses, including a filling station, grocery store, grain elevator and hardware store operated by a relative. Her childhood was closely connected to her extended family and to the surrounding farm community. In 1939, when Van Doren was eight, her parents moved to Sioux City, Iowa, after her father obtained work as a mechanic. Van Doren remained for a period on the 160-acre (65 ha) farm of her maternal grandparents in Rowena. She recalled her grandmother, whom she called "Dah", as the dominant figure in the household and her grandfather, "Pa", as the relative who regularly took her into town. She also spent time with a maternal uncle on the farm. In her memoir, Van Doren recalled walking roughly a mile and a half to a two-room schoolhouse regardless of weather and described an early experience of flying in an airplane over the ranch. She later characterized her childhood in this period as one shaped by the economic difficulties of the Depression. Van Doren also described herself as frequently ill during childhood. According to her recollections, she underwent three operations before the age of seven and suffered a severe hemorrhage at about four years old. She also recalled having a growth removed from her face, leaving a small scar that became a source of teasing at school. These accounts come primarily from Van Doren's memoir and later biographical interviews and should therefore be understood as recollections rather than independently documented medical records. In 1939, Van Doren's parents began establishing a home in Sioux City, and in May 1942 the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father sought better employment opportunities during the wartime economy. The move brought Van Doren, then eleven, into the environment of the American film industry. She later recalled becoming fascinated by performers including Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow, Mae West and Ginger Rogers. In her autobiography, she described the movies as presenting both glamour and the promise of romantic fulfillment, and recalled that they helped inspire her ambition to become a Hollywood actress. The family's first years in Los Angeles were comparatively unsettled. Van Doren recalled living in a boarding house before the family moved into an apartment on Raymond Avenue and subsequently into a larger residence. During her adolescence she became increasingly interested in the entertainment business. She later recalled an incident in which a man exposed himself to her while she was riding in a car; she wrote that the experience temporarily contributed to a distrust of men. The incident is described in her 1964 memoir My Naughty, Naughty Life! and has not been independently corroborated. At about thirteen, Van Doren persuaded the management of the Hollywood Pantages Theatre to employ her as an usherette. The job gave her an opportunity to watch films regularly and brought her into closer contact with Hollywood's theatrical environment. She also frequented a nearby drugstore, influenced by the contemporary Hollywood story that Lana Turner had been discovered at Schwab's Pharmacy. By this time, Van Doren had begun bleaching her naturally dark hair platinum blonde, an appearance she associated with the screen stars she admired. Van Doren's first exposure to television came while she was still a teenager. She obtained a small part on a local television program associated with impresario Nils Granlund, who was known professionally as N. T. G. Granlund reportedly remarked on her resemblance to Jean Harlow. Van Doren later recalled appearing on the program in heavy makeup and being introduced as "Little Joanie, the Flower Girl." She described Granlund's program as resembling an early version of the television talk show and recalled that she and her mother became friendly with him. She also performed as a singer with the orchestra led by Ted Fio Rito, giving her an early connection to the Los Angeles nightclub and entertainment circuit. Van Doren's parents were concerned about her entering show business while she was still young. She later recalled that they feared the dangers of Hollywood, particularly after the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, who became known as the Black Dahlia. Van Doren subsequently maintained that she and her mother had known Short socially. This account was elaborated in her 2026 memoir You Thought I Was Dead, which describes a friendship between the two young women during Van Doren's early years in Los Angeles. Contemporary reporting on the memoir likewise describes Van Doren's account of a close friendship with Short, although the details remain primarily based on Van Doren's recollections. By the late 1940s, Van Doren was combining entertainment work with appearances in beauty contests. In the summer of 1949, at age eighteen, she entered the Miss Palm Springs competition at the Montecito Hotel in Palm Springs, California, and won the title. She was subsequently selected as the Los Angeles Press Club's beauty queen, receiving the title "Miss Eight Ball". The pageant success brought her increased attention in the Los Angeles entertainment community and helped move her from amateur beauty contests toward professional opportunities in film and television. She left Los Angeles High School around this time, later recalling that she had disliked school and had become more interested in pursuing a career in show business. Her success at Palm Springs also brought her to the attention of film producer Howard Hughes, marking the beginning of the transition from Joan Olander, an aspiring young performer, to the actress who would later be known professionally as Mamie Van Doren.

== Acting career ==

=== 1949–1953: Beginnings === Film producer Howard Hughes pursued Van Doren after she was crowned Miss Palm Springs, and, according to Van Doren, his first question was, "Are you a virgin?" Van Doren said that he was controlling when they dated. She said in a 2005 interview that Hughes took her to a spot on Vermont Avenue for a braless photoshoot in a white sweater. Van Doren would often meet Howard Hughes at the Garden of Allah Hotel. Hughes signed Van Doren a four-film contract with RKO. In 1950 Hughes gave Van Doren an uncredited bit part in Jet Pilot (1957) at RKO Radio Pictures, which was filmed from 1949 to 1950 but released in 1957. The title, which starred John Wayne and Janet Leigh, was her film debut. She said that she had a good experience with Leigh, who allowed Van Doren to fly in her jet. Her line of dialogue consisted of one word, "Look!". Van Doren had a small role in Footlight Varieties (1951) as the girl in the theater in the final scene of the film. Van Doren appeared uncredited in Two Tickets to Broadway (1951). The film starred Tony Martin and former co-star Janet Leigh. 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. The film was shot on the back lot of the David O. Selznick Studio. About her appearance in this movie, Van Doren said, "If you blinked, you would miss me. I looked barely old enough to drive." She was on the film for three months and, because of the money she earned, bought an MG car. Van Doren also met Gloria Swanson who asked her, "Is that your real color of hair?" Van Doren was coached by Natasha Lytess, who had also coached Marilyn Monroe. The two actresses met several times when Van Doren was being coached by Lytess. However, Van Doren stopped her lessons with Lytess because "Natasha spent most of our lessons talking, however, and there was very little time left, after her long-winded speeches on the art of acting, to actually perform for her". In her memoir, Van Doren tells of her relationship with Charles Fischetti, an American mobster and the cousin of Al Capone, whom she met in Las Vegas who often sent money to Van Doren from Chicago. He died of a heart attack in 1951. Danielle Cory, an RKO worker and friend of Van Doren, suggested that Van Doren work on stage for the play Billion Dollar Baby, which began her stage career as a showgirl. The show was held at the Proser Cafe Theatre, near Jack Dempsey's restaurant. Cory additionally suggested that Van Doren should audition for Alberto Vargas to be one of the "Vargas Girls" in Esquire. Vargas ended up picking Van Doren as one of his models. In New York City Van Doren met boxer Jack Dempsey at the Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant. Dempesy frequented the Billion Dollar Baby show and held a celebration for the cast. Dempsey requested to have dinner with Van Doren, which they later had at the Stork Club, and they had a conversation with Sherman Billingsley, the founder of the venue. Since Dempsey was treated as a celebrity, the couple wentto many other clubs, such as the Copacabana and the 21 Club. Dempsey got engaged to Van Doren, then decided to move back to Hollywood because she thought it would be better for her career. According to Barry Lowe, Van Doren was, "Near penniless, out of work, and frightened for the future" due to Billion Dollar Baby not being successful.

At the request of Sammy Fain, Van Doren met songwriter Jimmy McHugh. McHugh had an interest in Van Doren's career and became her manager. Van Doren has stated that since she was managed by McHugh, who was dating gossip columnist Louella Parsons, that Parsons disliked her. McHugh told Van Doren that he would enroll her in a drama school and additionally arranged for her to be at Ben Bard's Theater. Bard had an acting school and put on plays that were attended by film scouts, casting agents, and directors. Van Doren was in Bard's theater productions, such as Once in a Lifetime and At War with the Army. At Bard's school Van Doren was given advice by Carolyn Jones, and she was taught by Aaron Spelling in private, which broke Bard's school rules. Van Doren also went to many of McHugh's parties, attended by Darryl F. Zanuck, Louis B. Mayer, and Buddy Adler. This allowed Van Doren to have a screen test for Paramount Pictures..Van Doren says in her autobiography, Playing the Field, that she decided to do a scene from The Big Knife for her Paramount screen test. Van Doren later stated that during the audition, "I played the scene with as much intensity as I had ever played a role, feeling the character's pain and anguish so acutely that it became my own.” After the audition, according to Van Doren, McHugh told her, "They're going to offer you a contract.", Paramount decided not to sign Van Doren a few days later. Van Doren stated that Paramount gave the reason of her looking too similar to Marilyn Monroe, and she believes that it was because Parsons pressured Paramount into not signing her.

Van Doren performed in the Bliss-Hayden Theater. McHugh had called the Harry Hayden, manager of the theater, and made time for Van Doren to perform. While performing, Van Doren caught the attention of Phil Benjamin, a Universal casting director, who was in the audience. Benjamin called McHugh, and Van Doren met Benjamin at Universal Studios. Benjamin believed that Van Doren was fit for the role of a singer in the upcoming Universal film Forbidden (1953), starring Tony Curtis. Van Doren met the director of Forbidden, Rudolph Maté, and requested that Van Doren sing "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby", one of McHugh's songs. Maté approved, and Van Doren filmed the scene shortly after. On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a seven-year contract with Universal. Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the Inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, was given the first name "Mamie" after Eisenhower's wife, Mamie Eisenhower. She was given the last name "Van Doren" after Van Doren was told by the studio that she looked more Dutch than Swedish. Universal had intended for Van Doren to be their "answer to Marilyn Monroe." However, unlike other Marilyn Monroe lookalikes, Van Doren did not portray the "dumb blonde" role in films.

In January 1953 Van Doren took college courses from professors at University of California while training to be an actress at Universal. She also took lessons for horseback riding, diction, scene study, and ballet. On February 26, 1953, Van Doren went on a date with Rock Hudson, arranged by Universal, for the 10th Golden Globe Awards. According to Van Doren herself, she had an encounter with Joan Crawford, who "drunkenly tried to flirt with Rock [Hudson]." Midway through the event, Van Doren had a conversation with Monroe while doing her lipstick. In her autobiography, Van Doren describes engaging in sexual activity with Hudson at her parents' house after the event had ended.