Colleen Miller

For the Canadian Olympic rower, see Colleen Miller (rower).

Colleen Miller
Miller in The Purple Mask (1955)
Born
Colleen Joy Miller[1]

(1932-11-10) November 10, 1932 (age 92)
Yakima, Washington, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1952–1972
Spouses
Ted Briskin
​
(m. 1955⁠–⁠1975)​
Walter Ralphs
​
​
(m. 1976; died 2010)​
Children2

Colleen Joy Miller (born November 10, 1932)[2] is an American former actress. She starred in several films, such as the Westerns Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) and Four Guns to the Border (1954).

Early life

The daughter of Elias and Lillian Miller,[3] she was born in Yakima, Washington, and raised in Portland, Oregon.[4][5] Miller attended Lincoln High School in Portland[3] and graduated at age fifteen.[4] In 1949, she was chosen "Miss Portland".[3] Her mother named her after actress Colleen Moore.[6]

As a child, Miller studied ballet, but when she was older she changed to popular dancing.[6] After graduating, she worked as a professional dancer in a San Francisco ballet company, and relocated to Las Vegas after three seasons to work at the Flamingo.[5]

Career

Photo of "Universal starlets" in 1954 (from left: Myrna Hansen, Mamie Van Doren, Allison Hayes, Colleen Miller)

While dancing in Las Vegas, Miller was spotted by a talent agent who signed her to a contract with Howard Hughes for his RKO Pictures company.[5] She was 19 when she made her first film appearance in The Las Vegas Story, starring Jane Russell.[5]

She shared top billing with Rory Calhoun in her next film, a western titled Four Guns to the Border, which co-starred Nina Foch.[5] She then had a leading role in Playgirl as a young Midwestern girl who comes to New York City to be a model and ends up involved in a shooting and a scandal. She then was signed by Universal Pictures, where she co-starred with Tony Curtis in two films, The Purple Mask and The Rawhide Years.[7]

Miller made one more film after 1958, a western titled Gunfight at Comanche Creek opposite Audie Murphy, before retiring from acting.[8] However, she has an uncredited bit part in 1972's Stand Up and Be Counted.

Personal life

On January 20, 1955, Miller married camera manufacturer Ted Briskin.[9] They remained wed until 1975.[4] She married Walter Ralphs, an heir to the Ralphs supermarket chain, in 1976, until his death in 2010. She currently resides in California.[citation needed]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1952 The Las Vegas Story Mary Starred Jane Russell, Victor Mature
1953 Man Crazy Judy Bassett
1954 Four Guns to the Border Lolly Bhumer co-starred with Rory Calhoun, Walter Brennan
1954 Playgirl Phyllis Matthews co-starred with Barry Sullivan
1955 The Purple Mask Laurette de Latour co-starred with Tony Curtis
1956 The Rawhide Years Zoe Fontaine co-starred with Tony Curtis
1957 The Night Runner Susan Mayes co-starred with Ray Danton
1957 Man in the Shadow Skippy Renchler co-starred with Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles
1957 Hot Summer Night Irene Partain co-starred with Leslie Nielsen
1958 Step Down to Terror Helen Walters co-starred with Charles Drake and Rod Taylor
1963 Gunfight at Comanche Creek Abbie Stevens co-starred with Audie Murphy and Ben Cooper
1972 Stand Up and Be Counted Nun Uncredited

References

  1. ^ Hopper, Hedda (February 20, 1955). "Looking at Hollywood with Hedda Hopper". The Honolulu Advertiser. Hawaii, Honolulu. p. 58. Retrieved October 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Hoffman, Henryk (2000). "A" Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 420. ISBN 9780786406968.
  3. ^ a b c Korman, Seymour (February 3, 1957). "Lucky Colleen". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. p. 123. Retrieved October 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c "The Private Life and Times of Colleen Miller". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen.
  5. ^ a b c d e Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 173.
  6. ^ a b Scott, John L. (October 10, 1954). "Actress Inherits a Career". The Los Angeles Times. p. Part IV - 3. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 174–5.
  8. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 175.
  9. ^ "Ted Briskin Weds Actress". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 22, 1955. p. 9. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via ProQuest.

Works cited

  • Fitzgerald, Michael G.; Magers, Boyd (2006). Ladies of the Western: Interviews with Fifty-One More Actresses from the Silent Era to the Television Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-60796-2.
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