A blonde bombshell from the era of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield that is Mamie Van Doren!
Something about Mamie Van Doren that I didn't know, is that she was often referred to as the poor man's Lana Turner! I'm not sure where that came from. This platinum-blond bombshell was of the era of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.
A former dance-band singer, she's best remembered for a series of showy roles in cheap 1950s melodramas that emphasized her physical endowments rather than her somewhat meager dramatic abilities. Van Doren dropped out of Hollywood altogether in the late 1960s, concentrating on a jet-set lifestyle, being seen often in the company of celebrities and athletes, such as quarterback Joe Namath!
She made a brief comeback in the 1980s. As one of the few surviving sex symbols of that era, she's become something of a pop culture queen in recent years, hosting B-movie festivals, making personal appearances, and the like. How cool is that?
Wonder how she got the name of Mamie Van Doren?
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, the reigning sex symbol of the era.
Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the inauguration of President Eisenhower, was given the first name Mamie for Ike's wife, Mamie Eisenhower, and the last name Van Doren as a good-natured dig at fellow blonde and buxom star Jayne Mansfield, who claimed to possess the genius-caliber IQ of 163.
A prominent and noted family of American intellectuals, the Van Dorens included two Pulitzer Prize winning brothers, Carl (biographer) and Mark (poet), and Mark's wife Dorothy, an academic and historian.
Ironically, in 1957 Mark and Dorothy's son Charles Van Doren made front page news both by winning $129,000 on a television game show, then admitting the program was rigged. The publicity around this scandal kept the name 'Van Doren' in the newspapers and tabloids. --Wikipedia
Photo Credit: photo date: 8 October 2005. Photo by Amy Graves - Image courtesy WireImage.com. Doesn't this lady look amazing???
Quick, what do you think of Mamie Van Doren?
Mamie Van Doren at a glance
Mamie Van Doren (born February 6, 1931 some sources say 1933) is an American actress and sex symbol.
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. In the summer of 1949, at age 18, she won the titles "Miss Eight Ball" and "Miss Palm Springs".
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.
Mamie Van Doren Movies
Mamie Van Doren Movies
![Prehistoric Women / Voyage To The Planet Of Prehistoric Women [Slim Case]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Rt9x0UKgL._SL75_.jpg)
Mamie Van Doren Books
Playing the Field
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Atomic Blonde: The Films of Mamie Van Doren
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Jayne Mansfield Vs. Mamie Van Doren: Battle of the Blondes : A Pictorial History
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My Naughty, Naughty Life!
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My wild love experiences
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dc64 wrote...
I wanted to learn about someone I have never heard of, so I found myself here. Why haven't I heard of her, she is stunning!
Posted March 26, 2009
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Mamie Van Doren Links
- Mamie Van Doren
- The official website -- lots of interesting info!
- Mamie Van Doren Blog
- Some hilarious postings!
- Brians Drive-in Theater
- Lots of cool black and white pictures!
- Perfect People
- More black and white photos and some interesting info.
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