Actress. She was best known to film viewers as the "dark haired beauty" who co-starred with Mickey Rooney in the 1949 film "The Big Wheel". She got her start after the Depression as a young girl when a wealthy man heard her sing on the radio and paid for both her opera lessons and tuition to an all-girls school in New York. At the age of fourteen, she joined the cast of "Oklahoma!" for a road production. She also signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1944. She made her first motion picture appearance in the 1946 film "Our Hearts Were Growing Up". Besides "The Big Wheel", she would go to appear in such films as "Variety Girl" (1947), Isn't It Romantic" (1948), "Holiday in Havana" (1949), and "Tales of Robin Hood" (1951). She also continued performing on the theatrical stage during this time, appearing in the original Broadway production of "Oklahoma!" and in Johnny Mercer's production "Texas, Lil Darling". She made appearances on numerous television variety shows in the early 1950s such as "Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall", "Texaco Star Theatre", and "The Colgate Comedy Hour". She declined an offer to play the character 'Alice Kramden' on the television show "The Honeymooners". She retired from show business in 1952 to be a housewife after she married drummer Alvin Stoller. Despite retiring, she occasionally appeared on television and composed songs. She passed away of bile duct cancer.
Actress. She was best known to film viewers as the "dark haired beauty" who co-starred with Mickey Rooney in the 1949 film "The Big Wheel". She got her start after the Depression as a young girl when a wealthy man heard her sing on the radio and paid for both her opera lessons and tuition to an all-girls school in New York. At the age of fourteen, she joined the cast of "Oklahoma!" for a road production. She also signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1944. She made her first motion picture appearance in the 1946 film "Our Hearts Were Growing Up". Besides "The Big Wheel", she would go to appear in such films as "Variety Girl" (1947), Isn't It Romantic" (1948), "Holiday in Havana" (1949), and "Tales of Robin Hood" (1951). She also continued performing on the theatrical stage during this time, appearing in the original Broadway production of "Oklahoma!" and in Johnny Mercer's production "Texas, Lil Darling". She made appearances on numerous television variety shows in the early 1950s such as "Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall", "Texaco Star Theatre", and "The Colgate Comedy Hour". She declined an offer to play the character 'Alice Kramden' on the television show "The Honeymooners". She retired from show business in 1952 to be a housewife after she married drummer Alvin Stoller. Despite retiring, she occasionally appeared on television and composed songs. She passed away of bile duct cancer.
Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye
Advertisement
