Mamie Van Doren

Mamie Van Doren
At the launch of her new wine in 2007
Born	Joan Lucille Olander February 6, 1931 (1931-02-06) (age 80) Rowena, South Dakota
Years active	1950 – present
Spouse	Jack Newman (1950) Ray Anthony (1955–61) Lee Meyers (1966–69) Ross McClintock (1972–73) Thomas Dixon (1979–present)
Website
http://www.mamievandoren.com/

Mamie Van Doren (born February 6, 1931) is an American actress and singer; who rose to popularity as Universal Pictures's version of 20th Century Fox's Marilyn Monroe.

She starred in several cult classic Hollywood films including Untamed Youth (1957); High School Confidential (1958); Born Reckless (1958); Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959); Girls Town (1959); Vice Raid (1960); and, College Confidential (1960). These films earned Van Doren two nicknames: "Hollywood's Bad Girl" and one of "The Three M's". The other two were, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

Early life

Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander in Rowena, South Dakota, the daughter of Warner Carl Olander (March 30, 1908 – June 4, 1992) and Lucille Harriet Bennett (January 21, 1912 – August 27, 1995). She is of three-quarters Swedish ancestry; the remainder is mixed English and German. Her mother named her after Joan Crawford. In 1939, the family moved to Sioux City, Iowa. In May 1942, they moved to Los Angeles.

In early 1946, Joan 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 beauty contests. Van Doren was married for a brief time at seventeen. She and first husband, Jack Newman, eloped to Santa Barbara. The marriage 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." She was also engaged to marry legendary boxer Jack Dempsey, but broke off the engagement when she signed her first contract with Universal.

Joan was discovered by famed producer Howard Hughes on the night she was crowned Miss Palm Springs. The pair dated for several years. Hughes launched her career by placing her in several RKO films.

Early career

Hughes provided Van Doren with a bit part in Jet Pilot at RKO, which was her motion picture debut. Her line of dialogue consisted of one word, "Look!" and she appears uncredited in the film. Though production of the movie was from 1949 to 1953 (delays by Hughes), it was not released until 1957. The following year, 1951, she posed for famous pin-up girl artist Alberto Vargas, the painter of the glamorous "Vargas Girls." His painting of Van Doren was on the July cover of Esquire.

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."

Van Doren then began working on the stage. She 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.

Career

On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal Studios. The studio had big plans for her, hoping she would bring the same kind of success that 20th Century Fox had with Marilyn Monroe. Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the inauguration of President Eisenhower, was given the first name Mamie for Ike's wife, Mamie Eisenhower. Other Van Dorens, who were unrelated to Mamie, were a prominent and noted family of American intellectuals; these Van Dorens included two Pulitzer Prize winning brothers, Carl (biographer) and Mark (poet), and Mark's wife Dorothy, an academic and historian. Mark and Dorothy's son, Charles Van Doren, made front page news both by winning $129,000 on a television game show in 1957, then admitting in 1959 that the program was rigged. The publicity around this scandal kept the 'Van Doren' name in the newspapers and tabloids.

Van Doren's first movie role for Universal was in the Tony Curtis film Forbidden (1953), playing a bit part as a singer. She then made The All American (1953), (also starring Tony Curtis), playing her first starring role as Susie Ward, a wayward girl who is the man-trap at a campus beer joint. In Yankee Pasha (1954), starring Jeff Chandler and Rhonda Fleming, she played a slave girl, Lilith. In 1955, Van Doren was cast in Ain't Misbehavin', a musical comedy starring Rory Calhoun; and starred in the crime-drama film, Running Wild.

In 1956, she played opposite a young "unknown" at the time Clint Eastwood in Star in the Dust. The film starred John Agar and Richard Boone. Van Doren (second billed in the opening credits), appears in a rather small role as a daughter of a ranch owner. Star in the Dust was Van Doren's last film with Universal, for she was tired of being cast in small non-"breakthrough" roles; therefore, she stopped accepting film offers from Universal, and started working more successfully with other studios.

Van Doren went to star in several bad girl movies that later became cult films. She also appeared in some of the first movies to feature Rock & Roll music and became identified with this rebellious style, and made some rock records. In the film Untamed Youth in 1957, she was the first woman to sing rock and roll in a Hollywood musical (Eddie Cochran did the music for the film).^{[1][dead link]} This film was later featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000's "Untamed Youth" (1990).

Some of Van Doren's more noteworthy movies include Teacher's Pet (1958) at Paramount, Born Reckless (1958) at Warner Bros., High School Confidential (1958), and The Beat Generation (1959), the latter two at MGM. But Van Doren was just as well known for her provocative roles. She was in prison for Girls Town (1959), which provoked censors with a shower scene where audiences could see Van Doren's naked back. As Eve in The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960) she wore only fig leaves, and in other films, like The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (1959), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) and Vice Raid (1960) audiences were clued in as to the nature of the films from the titles.

Many of Van Doren's film roles showcased her ample curves, and her onscreen wardrobe usually consisted of tight sweaters, low-cut blouses, form-fitting dresses, and daring (for the era) swimsuits, but she and such other blonde bombshell contemporaries as Cleo Moore, Sheree North, Joi Lansing, Greta Thyssen, and Barbara Nichols did not attain the same level of superstar status as Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn, Mamie and Jayne Mansfield were known as "The Three M's." But by comparison, where Monroe succeeded in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Mansfield had a big success with Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, (a part that was originally written for Van Doren, who turned it down), Universal stuck Van Doren with Francis the Talking Mule in Francis Joins the WACS, in 1954.

Film career in decline

As Van Doren's career declined, many of the productions she starred in were low-budget B-movies. They are largely unknown to later generations, though some have gained a following for their high camp value.

In 1959, Universal chose not to renew her contract. Van Doren was now a free agent and had to struggle to find work. Some of her later movies were foreign and independent productions, which would do little to keep her image in front of the public's eye.

The first one these "forgettable" films was Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), co-starring Tuesday Weld. The following year, she won first billing in the foreign production; The Blonde from Buenos Aires. Afterward Van Doren took time off; not returning to the screen until 1964; having a top role in The Candidate. Perhaps her best "later career" film was 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, co-starring and directed by Tommy Noonan.

Two years later The Las Vegas Hillbillys was released by Woolner Brothers. This film co-starred Jayne Mansfield; a rival of Mamie's; this was the only time two of "The Three M's" appeared together in a film. The film's sequel was titled Hillbillys in a Haunted House, but Van Doren turned this role down, and was replaced by Joi Lansing. She then appeared in The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966), a science-fiction film; two years later she starred in another sci-fi film Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), directed by Peter Bogdanovich; that featured a completely unknown cast other than Van Doren. She denied the option to appear in the British horror film The Ice House (1969), and was replaced by Sabrina.

In 1971, Van Doren had a supporting role in The Arizona Kid. From here on out Van Doren has appeared only in cameo appearance in low-budgeted forgettable films. To this date Van Doren's last film appearance was a cameo role in Slackers in 2002. ^[2]

Personal life

Van Doren has been married five times: to sportswear manufacturer Jack Newman (married & divorced 1950); to bandleader, composer and actor Ray Anthony (married 1955-divorced 1961); to baseball player Lee Meyers (married 1966-divorced 1967); to businessman Ross McClintock (married 1972-divorced 1973); and to actor Thomas Dixon (married 1979–present).

She and Anthony had one son, Perry Ray Anthony (born March 18, 1956).

Van Doren's early 1960s, highly publicized, on-again off-again engagement to baseball player Bo Belinsky ended for good in 1964. She acknowledged numerous affairs in her autobiography, including ones with Clark Gable, Howard Hughes, Johnny Carson, Elvis Presley, Burt Reynolds, Jack Dempsey, Steve McQueen, Johnny Rivers, Robert Evans, Eddie Fisher, Warren Beatty, Tony Curtis, Steve Cochran, and Joe Namath. Claiming fidelity to each lover, she said about Hollywood life, "I don't wear panties anymore – this startles the Hollywood wolves so much they don't know what to pull at, so they leave me alone."

She posed twice for Playboy in 1963 to promote her movie 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964), though she was never a Playmate. By this point in her career, her voluptuous figure measured 38DD-26-36 (self-described in 1997).^{[citation needed]} She said about her curves, "I don't even want to say double-D, because they're even bigger than that."

In 1964, Van Doren was a guest at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood when The Beatles were at the club visiting with Jayne Mansfield, and an inebriated George Harrison accidentally threw his drink on her when trying to throw it on some bothersome journalists.^{[3][dead link]}

Van Doren developed a nightclub act and did live theatre. She performed in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dames at Sea at the Drury Lane Theatre, Chicago, and appeared in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and The Tender Trap at the Arlington Park Theatre.

During the Vietnam War, she did tours for U.S. troops in Vietnam for three months in 1968, and again in 1970. In addition to USO shows, she visited hospitals, including the wards of amputees and burn victims that many other celebrities avoided.^{[citation needed]}

Van Doren's guest appearances on television include Jukebox Jury, What's My Line, The Bob Cummings Show, The Jack Benny Show, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, Vega$, and L.A. Law.

In the 1970s, Van Doren performed a nightclub act in Las Vegas.

Second career in later life

in Los Angeles, 1987

In 1980, Van Doren was referenced in the controversial Canadian Top 20 hit High School Confidential by the popular 1980s Canadian New Wave rock band Rough Trade. In 2005, "High School Confidential" was named the 38th greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.

Van Doren's autobiography, Playing the Field (1987), brought much new attention and proved to be her biggest media splash in over 25 years. Since the book's publication she has often been interviewed and profiled and has occasionally returned to acting.^[4] She has consistently denied in interviews ever having breast implants. In 2006, Mamie posed for photographs for Vanity Fair with Pamela Anderson, as part of its annual Hollywood issue.

Van Doren and her husband, Thomas, maintain her web site. There, she sells autographed "nipple prints" and home-made short films starring herself, such as A Girl and Her Banana. Her contemporary topless and nude photos, and outspoken political views, have helped create a larger fan base than at any time in her career.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7057 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

Footlight Varieties (1951) (uncredited) His Kind of Woman (1951) (uncredited) Two Tickets to Broadway (1951) (uncredited) Forbidden (1953) (uncredited) The All American (1953) Hawaiian Nights (1954) (short subject) Yankee Pasha (1954) Francis Joins the WACS (1954) Ain't Misbehavin' (1955) The Second Greatest Sex (1955) Running Wild (1955) Star in the Dust (1956) Untamed Youth (1957) The Girl in Black Stockings (1957) Jet Pilot (1957) (uncredited) Teacher's Pet (1958) High School Confidential (1958) Born Reckless (1958) Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959) The Beat Generation (1959)

The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (1959) The Big Operator (1959) Girls Town (1959) Vice Raid (1960) College Confidential (1960) Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960) The Blonde from Buenos Aires (1961) The Candidate (1964) The Sheriff Was a Lady (1964) 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964) The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966) You've Got to Be Smart (1967) Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968) The Arizona Kid (1971) That Girl from Boston (1975) Free Ride (1986) The Vegas Connection (1999) Slackers (2002) (cameo)

Discography

Year	Album	Notes
2011	"Still a Troublemaker"

References

1. ^ Mamie Van Doren Interview, at Entertainment Zone, Gary James]^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Lowe, Barry; Mamie Van Doren (2008). Atomic blonde: the films of Mamie Van Doren. McFarland. p. 190. http://books.google.com/books?id=sSw1c8JCuEoC&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
3. ^ Mamie Van Doren, at Br'err Wabbit, Donald Bryan^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Playing the Field: My Story, ISBN 9780399132407, New York: G. P. Putnam, 1987

External links

• Official website
• Inside/Out, Mamie Van Doren's blog
• Mamie Van Doren on Myspace
• Mamie Van Doren at the Internet Movie Database
• Bombshells away, at Salon, Karen Abbott, July 19, 2000
• Mamie Van Doren interview by Sandra Bernhard

Persondata
Name	Van Doren, Mamie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 6, 1931
Place of birth	Rowena, South Dakota
Date of death
Place of death