Mamie Van Doren (/ˈmeɪmivænˈdɔːrən/; born Joan Lucille Olander;[1] February 6, 1931)[1] is an American actress, singer, model, and sex symbol who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. A blonde bombshell,[2][3] she is one of the "Three M's"[4][5] along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were friends[a] and contemporaries.[6] 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 Marilyn Monroe. During her time at Universal, she starred in teen dramas, exploitation films, musical, and comedy films among other genres. She has married five times, and had intimate affairs with many other Hollywood actors. 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, California 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 filmsHis Kind of Woman (1951), Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), and Jet Pilot (1957) with minor roles.[7] In 1950, she was dating heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey[8] in New York City and was engaged with him. However, she left him to go back to Los Angeles. On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal, who wanted Van Doren to be their equivalent of Marilyn Monroe. While at Universal, she changed her name to Mamie Van Doren, with the "Van Doren" part coming from Universal telling her she was more Dutch than Swedish, and the "Mamie" part coming from then-First LadyMamie Eisenhower.[9]
Van Doren went to Vietnam during the Vietnam War to entertain troops in the 1970s. Partially due to the deaths of Van Doren's friends Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe, Van Doren decided to retire from acting. She struggled to find work as she found the blonde bombshell image was embarrassing. In 1987, Van Doren released her autobiography, Playing the Field: My Story. On February 1, 1994,[11][12] Van Doren received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, Van Doren created her website describing herself as “the first authentic kitten on Cyberspace".[13] On her website, she posed nude in photos and videos, told stories, and wrote many updates on her life. She continued her website until it shut down in the 2010s. In 2022, Van Doren released her most recent book, China & Me, and has recently began writing a third autobiography, Secrets of the Goddess.
Early life
Mamie Van Doren at 13 years old
Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander on February 6, 1931 in Rowena, South Dakota,[14] nine miles out of Sioux Falls.[15] She is the daughter of Warner Carl Olander (1908–1992) and Lucille Harriet Bennett (1912–1995). Olander and Bennett had met at a Swedish Lutherian Church, which had been partially built by them. They married in August 1930.[16][3] She was named after Joan Crawford, who Van Doren's mother was a fan of.[17][18] She is of three-quarters Swedish, and also mixed Irish, and German.[19] Van Doren's father, Warner Olander, worked at a rock quarry to take care of his family, and was paid $0.35 cents a load, sometimes $7.00.[20] According to Van Doren, the town consisted of a church, school, railroad station, and a connected filling station, grocery store, a grain elevator, and a hardware store owned by her great uncle.[20] Her maternal grandmother was Swedish, as she was born in Gothenburg, Sweden.[21]
In 1939, Van Doren's parents moved to Sioux City, Iowa, since her father got a better job as a mechanic. This led to a young Van Doren moving into her maternal grandparents - the Bennett's, 160-acre farm in Rowena. Van Doren later reflected on this, saying in her 1987 autobiography “Playing the Field,” “It was the Depression, times were that hard."[21] She described in her memoir that her grandmother, whom she called "Dah", was an important household figure, while her grandfather, "Pa", would take Van Doren into town weekly.[20] She additionally lived with her maternal uncle on the farm. Van Doren also recalls in her autobiography her first experience flying a plane on the ranch.[21] Van Doren would walk a mile and a half to a two room schoolhouse on the ranch, often in different types of weather including snow, rain, and wind.
Van Doren grew up sickly on the ranch. Van Doren recalled having her temperature rise to 106°F (41.1°C). However, she was still brought to school when sick by her grandmother, who wanted only herself on the ranch.[22] She additionally had three operations before the age of seven.[23] She almost died at four from a hemorrhage, and had a bump removed from her face, which caused Van Doren to be bullied in school. This removal left a small scar on Van Doren's face.[23]
Van Doren moved to Sioux City, Iowa in 1939 to live with her parents, where she watched movies with actors such as Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow, Mae West, and Ginger Rogers.[21] Van Doren dreamed to be a movie star at this time. "The other thing the movies seemed to promise was love. In every one of those celluloid fairy tales, the heroine lived happily ever after in the company of the man she loved. How I yearned for that. It was then that I set my heart on becoming a Hollywood star."[24]
In May of 1942, when Van Doren was 11, she moved to Los Angeles with her family during World War II, only a few miles away from Hollywood. Her family quickly moved to an apartment, as many people were moving to the West Coast for the war effort at the time for jobs such as defense plants. After staying at a boardinghouse, Van Doren and her family moved to an apartment on Raymond Avenue, where Van Doren, a child, had to sneak through a door.[25] Van Doren and her family soon moved to a bigger apartment in Los Angeles.[26]
According to Van Doren, a man exposed himself to her while she was in a car heading to her home. In her 1964 book, “My Naughty, Naughty Life!,” she reminisces the event saying, "For weeks – and occasionally even years later – that man returned to me in my sleep, leaving me a neurotic young girl and even upsetting me as a woman. For several months after that experience I found myself hating boys, and looking upon men as animals. But I'm glad that hatred never lasted."[27]
After her thirteenth birthday, Van Doren was able to convince the manager of Hollywood Pantages Theatre to make her an usherette, which allowed her to watch popular movies at the time. Van Doren often spent time at a drugstore, inspired by the myth of the discovery of Lana Turner at Schwab's Pharmacy. At this point, Van Doren had already dyed her hair platinum blonde.[28]
After being commented on by Nils Thor Grunlund, known by his initials NTG, that she looked similar to Jean Harlow, she was able to be on his Hollywood TV show for a minor role. However, her parents were worried that she would get in trouble and feared that she would go on to be killed like Black Dahlia, who was, as stated by Van Doren, one of their closest friends.[29] Despite that, Van Doren went on Grunlund's show, coated in white pancake makeup and brown lipstick. Van Doren stated that Grulund's show was a prototype to the modern talk show. While making the show, she was known as Little Joanie, the Flower Girl. Van Doren and her mother became friends with Grunlund.[21][15] Van Doren also sang with Ted Fio Rito's Band.
At the Montecito Hotel in Palm Springs, in the summer of 1949, Van Doren was suggested to be Miss Palm Springs, sponsored by the Montecito Hotel. She won the title, and at the Los Angeles Press Club, she was asked to be the club's beauty queen, Miss Eight Ball. The previous year, Marilyn Monroe had been crowned the title[30] Van Doren was crowned the title. Due to this, Van Doren had dropped out of Los Angeles High School, which she had hated.[10]
Van Doren met sportswear and shirt manufacturer Jack Newman around 1949, with Newman being one of her father's friends whom she watched boxing matches with. Van Doren and Newman soon got engaged and married. They honeymooned in San Francisco.[15] Van Doren said in her book, “Playing the Field ," “When Jack asked me to marry him, I swiftly agreed. He was my ticket out of my parent’s house and into womanhood. We eloped to Santa Barbara, where I lied about my age to the judge who married us." She married him in 1950 at the Santa Barbara Town, and she initially enjoyed sexual relations with him. Additionally, Van Doren enjoyed Newman's wealthy lifestyle, as Newman had lived in a luxury apartment in Beverly Hills, California. According to Van Doren, Newman quickly got jealous of Van Doren due to her often being glanced at in the outfits Newman purchased for her. However, she divorced him after six months due to his abusive behavior, including a time that Van Doren described in her memoir in which he threatened to throw her off a second-story balcony, which was quickly disbanded by neighbors[31] and a time where Newman shredded Van Doren’s favorite hat.[32]
Career
1950–1953: Howard Hughes, first films, Jimmy McHugh and stage girl
Van Doren, circa 1950s
Film producer Howard Hughes discovered Van Doren when she was crowned Miss Palm Springs, and, according to Van Doren, the first question he asked her was, "Are you a virgin?"[15] Van Doren recalls that Howard Hughes was controlling when she dated him. According to an interview in 2005, Hughes took Van Doren to a place on Vermont Street to have a braless photoshoot[33] in a white sweater.[10] Van Doren would often meet Howard Hughes at the Garden of Allah Hotel.[10] Hughes provided Van Doren a four film contract deal for RKO.
In 1950, Hughes provided Van Doren with a bit part in Jet Pilot (1957) at RKO Radio Pictures, which was filmed from 1949 to 1950, but released in 1957. The film, which starred John Wayne and Janet Leigh, was her film debut. She recalls that she had a good experience with Janet Leigh, who allowed Van Doren to fly in her jet.[22] Her line of dialogue consisted of one word, "Look!" and she appears uncredited in the film. Van Doren additionally had a small role in Footlight Varieties (1951) as the girl in the theater in the final scene of the film. Van Doren had another role, in Two Tickets to Broadway (1951).[34] The film starred Tony Martin and Janet Leigh, who previously been in Jet Pilot with Van Doren.[35]
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 backlot 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?"[15]
Van Doren was coached by Natasha Lytess, who had also coached Marilyn Monroe. Monroe and Van Doren met several times when Van Doren was being coached by Lytess.[15] 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".[36]
In her memoir, Van Doren recollects her relationship with Charles Fischetti, an American mobster and the cousin of Al Capone, whom she met in Las Vegas. Money was often sent to Van Doren from Chicago by Fischetti. Van Doren planned a trip to Chicago to see Fischetti, but she never got to see him due to his sudden death from a heart attack in 1951.[37]
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 career onstage 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.[38] Vargas ended up picking Van Doren as one of his models.
In New York City, she 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.[15] Dempsey requested to have a dinner with Van Doren, which they later had at the Stork Club, and had a conversation with Sherman Billingsley, the founder of the Stork Club. As Dempsey was treated as a celebrity, the couple was able to go to many other clubs, such as the Copacabana and the 21 Club.[21] Dempsey eventually got engaged to Van Doren, but Van Doren eventually decided to move back to Hollywood because she thought it would be better for her career.[15] 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.[39]
At the request of Sammy Fain, Van Doren met songwriter Jimmy McHugh.[40] 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 Van Doren.[38] McHugh told Van Doren that he would put Van Doren into a drama school, and additionally arranged for her to be at Ben Bard's Theater. Bard had an acting school, and 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.[39] 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.[41] Van Doren would also go to many of McHugh's parties, attended by Darryl F. Zanuck, Louis B. Mayer, and Buddy Adler. This allowed Van Doren to do a screen test for Paramount Pictures.[41]
Newspaper article comparing Van Doren with Marilyn Monroe, July 26, 1953
As stated by Van Doren in her autobiography, Playing the Field, Van Doren decided to do a scene from The Big Knife for her Paramount screen test.[42] 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". However, Paramount made the decision to not sign Van Doren a few days later. Van Doren stated Paramount told her the reason was that she looked too similar to Marilyn Monroe. However, Van Doren believes that the reason she was not signed was because Parsons pressured Paramount into not signing her.[40]
1953–1960: Films at Universal Studios, Paramount, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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.[40] 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's studio.[40] Benjamin believed that Van Doren was fit for a singer in the then upcoming Universal film Forbidden (1953), starring Tony Curtis. Van Doren met the director of Forbidden, Rudolph Maté, and requested that Van Doren would 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, where she acted as a singer.[40] During the filming, Van Doren recalled seeing Milton Rackmil, the head of Decca Reccords.[43]
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.[44] 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, ballet.[40] On February 26, 1953, Van Doren went on a date with Rock Hudson, arranged by Universal, for the 10th Golden Globe Awards.[45] According to Van Doren herself, she had an encounter with Joan Crawford, who "drunkenly tried to flirt with Rock [Hudson]."[46] Midway through the event, Van Doren had a conversation with Monroe while doing her lipstick.[47] In her autobiography, Van Doren describes engaging in sexual activity with Hudson at her parents house after the event had ended.[48]
Van Doren's first major role was in The All American (1953), a college football film directed by Jesse Hibbs. The film centers around a college quarterback, whose life takes a turn after his parents die in a car accident.[49] Van Doren later said that Hibbs encouraged her to fondle him, and often put her hand at his groin during rehearsals.[50] The film also starred Tony Curtis, Lori Nelson, and Richard Long.[51] In The All American, Van Doren played Susie Ward, an ambitious waitress initially looking to find a wealthy spouse near a university.[49] Susie Ward is a sultry, flirtatious and manipulative person, who tricks an inebriated person into proposing to her.[52] Due to good reviews from Universal-International executives, Van Doren was sent on tour to promote the film.[53]
Van Doren's second major film was the 1954 film Yankee Pasha. The film was based on Edison Marshall's 1947 novel of the same name, which Universal had recently purchased. Yankee Pasha centers around a man who sails the ocean, played by Jeff Chandler, to find his true love, a woman forced into slavery,[54] who was portrayed by Van Doren. The eight week shooting schedule exhausted Van Doren, resulting in weight loss.[55] Van Doren has said that she was attracted to Joseph Pevney, director of Yankee Pasha.[56] She had a relationship with him, and Van Doren said that she would embrace Pevney in his office.[56]
Van Doren starred in the 1954 film Francis Joins the WACS, playing the role of Corporal Bunky Hilstrom.[57] Universal also let Van Doren go to the 1954 premiere of The Glenn Miller Story[58] with Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., son of Conrad Hilton. Van Doren later entered into a relationship with him.[59] Van Doren has recounted that Conrad Hilton disapproved of her being in a relationship with Nicky Hilton.[59] Van Doren almost ended her romantic relationship with Hilton due to his behavior on a double-date with her friend.[60]
Van Doren completely ended her relationship with Hilton while shooting Edward Buzzell's Ain't Misbehavin' (1955), with Van Doren starring as "Jackie". In Ain't Misbehavin', Van Doren was cast as a dumb blonde. Van Doren was getting annoyed that she kept getting similar roles.[61] On the set, she met Prince Axel of Denmark. Prince Axel would be in contact with Van Doren, and would invite her to several events.[61] However, Van Doren was in a relationship with bandleader Ray Anthony.
At the time that Van Doren and Anthony started their relationship, Anthony was in the process of being filmed for Daddy Long Legs (1955). After he finished filming, he went on a vacaction to Hawaii with Van Doren.[62] On the short vacation, Van Doren and Anthony often embraced each other while photographers followed the two.[62] The trip allowed Van Doren to spend time with Anthony. However, the trip ended because Anthony had to attend the premiere of Daddy Long Legs.[62]
Van Doren appeared opposite an uncredited and unknown Clint Eastwood in Star in the Dust. Though Van Doren garnered prominent billing alongside John Agar and Richard Boone, she appears rather briefly, as the daughter of a ranch owner.[citation needed] By this time, Van Doren had grown tired of Universal, which was casting her in non-breakthrough roles. Van Doren began accepting bigger and better roles in better movies from other studios.
Van Doren in 1958
Van Doren went on to star in several bad girl movies that later became cult films. She also appeared in some of the first movies to feature rock 'n' roll music and became identified with this rebellious style, and she made some rock records. One of her rock 'n' roll films, Untamed Youth, was later featured in the 1990 Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Untamed Youth".[citation needed]
After Universal Studios chose not to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren became a free agent and struggled to find work. Some of her later movies were foreign and independent productions, which did little to keep her image in the public's eye. Many of the productions were low-budget B movies with some having gained a cult following for their high camp value.[63][64]
Van Doren also developed a nightclub act and did live theater. She performed in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dames at Sea at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago as well as appeared in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and The Tender Trap at the Arlington Park Theater. In the 1970s, Van Doren performed a nightclub act in Las Vegas.
Van Doren was never a Playboy Playmate, but she posed twice for the magazine in 1964 to promote her movie 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964). By this point in her career, her figure measured 38DD-26-36 (self-described in 1997). She said "I don't even want to say double-D because they're even bigger than that."[citation needed]
In 1964, Van Doren was a guest at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California 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.[65] During the Vietnam War, she did tours for U.S. troops in Vietnam for three months in 1968, and again in 1970.[66] In addition to USO shows, she visited hospitals, including the wards of amputees and burn victims.[citation needed]
1970–1989
In 1970, Van Doren had a supporting role in the western comedy The Arizona Kid. In 1975, she starred in the film That Girl From Boston, adapted from a Robert Rimmer novel, but the film was never released. Since then, Van Doren has appeared only in cameos in low-budget films. Van Doren's last film appearance was a role in the direct-to-video drama The American Tetralogy (2013).[67] 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. Van Doren released Playing the Field (1987), her autobiography, which brought much attention and proved to be her biggest media splash in over 25 years.[68] 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. In an interview with Fox News in February 2020, Van Doren announced that she was working on a follow-up to her autobiography. She remarked that "...a lot has happened between 1987 and 2020. So now I'm writing about what it's like getting older and appreciating life a little more as you go along, as well as getting smarter as you get older. There's so much to write about."[69]
21st century
The title of her follow-up book was announced in December 2021 as "China & Me: Wind Flapping, Feather Pulling, and Love on the Wing", a memoir about her pet parrot China. Van Doren describes the story as "a look behind the curtain into my everyday life. It's often funny, but, like so many things in life, it has its moments of sadness. Over the decades I've integrated a wild animal into a human household, played matchmaker to find him a mate, and cared for his offspring. I'm blessed to have had China as companion, confessor, and straight man all these years; and he's still with me today."[70] The book was published in September 2022.[71]
In an interview with Closer in January 2021, she also reflected on the #MeToo movement, 'I've thought a lot about that. There are some things I would question, but I've also always been behind any woman with a problem because I have had plenty of them myself. [In my time] if I wanted to go to bed with someone, I'd go to bed with them, but I never did it for a movie. [A predator] would know that he was in for a fight if he ever came around me. [It would be] nails out, kicking and screaming.'[72]
Van Doren had a website from the late 90s to the early 2010s.[73] In recent years, Van Doren has made use of Twitter.[74] Van Doren had a theater section, where she would post various movies. She also showed many nude and semi-nude images taken by Julie Strain. Van Doren started her own blog on which she regularly writes about a very diverse array of topics. As of July 2023 she is still posting to her blog.[75][2] She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7057 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2005, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.[76] Van Doren holds mostly liberal views, having supported President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
^Van Doren has stated that she was friends with both Monroe and Mansfield. However, she may have not had a great relationship with Mansfield, who likely considered Van Doren her "professional nemesis". Additionally, in the movie Las Vegas Hillbillies, which starred both Van Doren and Mansfield, Mansfield said she would not "share any screen time with the drive-in's answer to Marilyn Monroe". However, Van Doren has claimed that they had only one argument and the rest was made up by the press.
References
^ ab 1940 United States Census, United States census, 1940; Sioux City, Iowa; page 480, line 13, enumeration district 97-61B.
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