FASHIONLOVA
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Joan Lucille Olander was born in South Dakota on February 6,1931. Mesmerized by the distant glamour of the Hollywood,Joan's farm family packed up and moved to Los Angeles in 1942. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Her first acting job was at the age of 13 in one of the very early television shows as Little Joanie, the Flower Girl. Age 13 founder her to be already shapely. At the age of 15 she won several beauty contests and found herself not only in the attention of the film studio RKO, but also in the eyes of Howard Hughes, who was a connoisseur of the feminine form. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hughes got her some small parts, but nothing very notable, and in 1950 she spent the summer working in Las Vegas as a Showgirl. It was during this time period she posed for a pin up session with Alberto Vargas. Her portrait would grace the July 1951 publication of Esquire. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Still Joan at this time, she became involved in many high profile relationships, which would be typical of her life, two of which were Eddie Fisher and Jack Dempsey. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]She returned to Los Angeles, and got her first real manager, composer Jimmy McHugh. She gave a very sexy performance in a L.A. production of Come back little Sheba, which landed her a plum role in the film Forbidden, and a seven year contract with Universal International. It was upon UI's urging that she changed her name to Mamie Van Doren. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One of Mamie's trademarks in her "starlet" days was that of a brassiere known as the bullet bra. She was neither the first nor the last to wear one, however she would come to be identified with it, even after 35 years. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]While Mamie was constantly compared to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, she was in true form, very unique. She was not prone to playing the Hollywood game, and was in many ways very ahead of her time in terms of women's liberation, and the sexual revolution. She was also identified very early on with rock & roll, and this association would give her some of the greatest 1950's pop icon status. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]UI dropped her in 1957 shortly after the birth of her first son, as her role of wife and mother did not fit UI's screeen image of her. She made the film Untamed Youth, recorded some rock hits, which was a huge risk at that time as rock & roll was often looked down upon with the preacher/redneck DJ's arena. Film studios looked at this, which made them rather nervous. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]She made her first "A" movie in 1958 starring opposite of Cary Grant in Teacher's Pet. From there she made a quite a few films, some memorable, some not. But it was also at this time she began to make some teen-exploitation flicks with Al Zugsmith. The core of her films would give her the title "Queen of the B's". [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie was very well known for her saucy quips and quotes, and her penchant for young men. "Mamie likes 'em young" was a perpetual tag of hers. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie was very upset with the death of Marilyn Monroe, sensing her days were numbered as a blonde bombshell, but nothing was more shattering to her than the death of Jayne Mansfield. The second seemingly cursed blonde of Mamie's peers. Unlike her peers though, Mamie took very good care of herself, she laid off the drinking and drugs, and did little late-night carousing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie's performance of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was held over in New York in 1967, standing in for her in the run she couldn't make was Jayne Mansfield in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was just after this run, that Jayne would meet her untimelydeath. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After her Broadway performances, Mamie toured in Vietnam in 1968-1970 entertaining troops stationed during the war. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie Van Doren is still alive today, and looks fabulous. At the age of 60 she decided to undergo some plastic surgery (her first ever) to keep up her image of the blonde bombshell. As Mamie put it, she is experiencing one thing that others did not...old age. She has made guest appearances, performed in nightclubs and even recorded an album in Germany in 1993. Mamie Van Doren is certainly the last of the great blonde bombshells, and long may she reign supreme.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Her first acting job was at the age of 13 in one of the very early television shows as Little Joanie, the Flower Girl. Age 13 founder her to be already shapely. At the age of 15 she won several beauty contests and found herself not only in the attention of the film studio RKO, but also in the eyes of Howard Hughes, who was a connoisseur of the feminine form. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hughes got her some small parts, but nothing very notable, and in 1950 she spent the summer working in Las Vegas as a Showgirl. It was during this time period she posed for a pin up session with Alberto Vargas. Her portrait would grace the July 1951 publication of Esquire. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Still Joan at this time, she became involved in many high profile relationships, which would be typical of her life, two of which were Eddie Fisher and Jack Dempsey. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]She returned to Los Angeles, and got her first real manager, composer Jimmy McHugh. She gave a very sexy performance in a L.A. production of Come back little Sheba, which landed her a plum role in the film Forbidden, and a seven year contract with Universal International. It was upon UI's urging that she changed her name to Mamie Van Doren. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One of Mamie's trademarks in her "starlet" days was that of a brassiere known as the bullet bra. She was neither the first nor the last to wear one, however she would come to be identified with it, even after 35 years. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]While Mamie was constantly compared to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, she was in true form, very unique. She was not prone to playing the Hollywood game, and was in many ways very ahead of her time in terms of women's liberation, and the sexual revolution. She was also identified very early on with rock & roll, and this association would give her some of the greatest 1950's pop icon status. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]UI dropped her in 1957 shortly after the birth of her first son, as her role of wife and mother did not fit UI's screeen image of her. She made the film Untamed Youth, recorded some rock hits, which was a huge risk at that time as rock & roll was often looked down upon with the preacher/redneck DJ's arena. Film studios looked at this, which made them rather nervous. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]She made her first "A" movie in 1958 starring opposite of Cary Grant in Teacher's Pet. From there she made a quite a few films, some memorable, some not. But it was also at this time she began to make some teen-exploitation flicks with Al Zugsmith. The core of her films would give her the title "Queen of the B's". [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie was very well known for her saucy quips and quotes, and her penchant for young men. "Mamie likes 'em young" was a perpetual tag of hers. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie was very upset with the death of Marilyn Monroe, sensing her days were numbered as a blonde bombshell, but nothing was more shattering to her than the death of Jayne Mansfield. The second seemingly cursed blonde of Mamie's peers. Unlike her peers though, Mamie took very good care of herself, she laid off the drinking and drugs, and did little late-night carousing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie's performance of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was held over in New York in 1967, standing in for her in the run she couldn't make was Jayne Mansfield in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was just after this run, that Jayne would meet her untimelydeath. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After her Broadway performances, Mamie toured in Vietnam in 1968-1970 entertaining troops stationed during the war. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mamie Van Doren is still alive today, and looks fabulous. At the age of 60 she decided to undergo some plastic surgery (her first ever) to keep up her image of the blonde bombshell. As Mamie put it, she is experiencing one thing that others did not...old age. She has made guest appearances, performed in nightclubs and even recorded an album in Germany in 1993. Mamie Van Doren is certainly the last of the great blonde bombshells, and long may she reign supreme.
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