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{{Short description|American actress and singer (1923–2020)}}{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}

factoids

1950s| birth_name = Marilyn Louis! Year! Title! Role! Notes

1923	10|mf=yes}}	Los Angeles>Los Angeles, California, U.S.	2020	14	08	mf=yes}}| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.| resting_place = Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery| nationality = American| occupation = Actress, singer| years_active = 1943–1990	{{marriage|Tom Lane|1940|1942|end=divorced{edih} {{marriage|Dr. Lewis Morrill|1952|1954|end=divorced}} {{marriage|Lang Jeffries|1960|1962|end=divorced}} {{marriage|Hall Bartlett|1966|1972|end=divorced}} {{marriage|Ted Mann|1977|2001|end=died}} {{marriage|Darol Carlson|2003|2017|end=died}} }}| children = 1}}Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis; August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was an American film and television actress and singer. She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most glamorous actresses of her day, nicknamed the “Queen of Technicolor” because she photographed so well in that medium. Career Early life Fleming was born Marilyn Louis in Hollywood, California to Harold Cheverton Louis, an insurance salesman, and Effie Graham, a stage actress who had appeared opposite Al Jolson in the musical Dancing Around at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre from 1914 to 1915. Fleming’s maternal grandfather was John C. Graham, an actor, theater owner and newspaper editor in Utah.NEWS,www.reviewjournal.com/life/rhonda-fleming, Rhonda Fleming, Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 17, 2009, August 10, 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170811010322/https://www.reviewjournal.com/life/rhonda-fleming/, August 11, 2017, Fleming began working as a film actress while attending Beverly Hills High School,WEB,www.seeing-stars.com/schools/Beverlyhillshigh.shtml, Beverly Hills High School, Seeing-stars.com, June 13, 2016, graduating in 1941. She was discovered by the well-known Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who changed her name to Rhonda Fleming.“Rhonda Fleming interview- Warner Archive Podcast”. Warner Bros. Entertainment.Fleming said later, “It’s so weird ... He stopped me crossing the street. It kinda scared me a little bit – I was only 16 or 17. He signed me to a seven-year contract without a screen test. It was a Cinderella story, but those things could happen in those days.“NEWS, A glamour girl finds there’s no place like home Actress Rhonda Fleming pursues the joys of good causes and her Laguna sanctuary, Laura, Saari, Orange County Register, April 19, 1989, K1, David O. Selznick Fleming’s agent Willson went to work for David O. Selznick, who signed her to a contract.NEWS, Gates, Anita, Rhonda Fleming, 97, Movie Star Made for Technicolor, Is Dead, The New York Times, October 17, 2020,www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/movies/rhonda-fleming-dead.html, October 19, 2020, NEWS, Hopper, Hedda, June 15, 1952, Rhonda Fleming... Lucky Star!, G6, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Daily Tribune, She had bit parts in In Old Oklahoma (1943),NEWS, Miss Bergman and Hitchcock, Frank, Daugherty, The Christian Science Monitor, July 21, 1944, 4, Since You Went Away (1944) for Selznick and When Strangers Marry (1944).She received her first substantial role in the thriller Spellbound (1945), produced by Selznick and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She later said, “Hitch told me I was going to play a nymphomaniac. I remember rushing home to look it up in the dictionary and being quite shocked.“NEWS, Redheaded Rhonda Fleming always wound up in roundups, Jim, Bawden, Toronto Star, November 28, 1993, B4, The film was a success and Selznick offered her another good role in the thriller The Spiral Staircase (1946), directed by Robert Siodmak.NEWS, Bergan, Ronald, Rhonda Fleming obituary,www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/18/rhonda-fleming-obituary, The Guardian, London, October 18, 2020, October 19, 2020, Selznick lent her to appear in supporting parts in the Randolph Scott Western Abilene Town (1946) at United Artists and the film noir classic Out of the Past (1947) with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas at RKO.WEB, Rhonda Fleming – Credits,www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rhonda-fleming/credits/171355/, TV Guide, October 19, 2020, Fleming’s first leading role came in Adventure Island (1947), a low-budget action film produced for Pine-Thomas Productions at Paramount Pictures in the two-color Cinecolor process and costarring fellow Selznick contract player Rory Calhoun.WEB,www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=66637, Adventure Island (1947) – Overview, Turner Classic Movies, June 13, 2016, Fleming auditioned for the female lead in the Bing Crosby film in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949), a musical loosely based on the story by Mark Twain. Fleming exhibited her singing ability, dueting with Crosby on “Once and For Always” and soloing with “When Is Sometime”. They recorded the songs for a three-disc, 78-rpm Decca album conducted by Victor Young, who wrote the film’s orchestral score. Fleming’s vocal coach Harriet Lee praised her “lovely voice”, saying, “she could be a musical comedy queen.“NEWS, Johnson, Erskine, Erskine Johnson, In Hollywood, Dixon Evening Telegraph, April 4, 1951,www.newspapers.com/clip/61972382/dixon-evening-telegraph-441951/, 4, Newspapers.com, The film was Fleming’s first in Technicolor.WEB,www.rhondafleming.com/crosby_tribute.html, Tribute to Bing Crosby, The Official Rhonda Fleming Website, June 13, 2016, February 4, 2009,rhondafleming.com/crosby_tribute.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20090204145530rhondafleming.com/crosby_tribute.html,">web.archive.org/web/20090204145530rhondafleming.com/crosby_tribute.html, dead, NEWS, DRAMA AND THE ARTS: Imagine Bing as Knightly Hero in Twain’s ‘Yankee’!, Scheuer, Philip K., November 9, 1947, Los Angeles Times, B1, Her fair complexion and bright red hair photographed exceptionally well and she was nicknamed the “Queen of Technicolor.“WEB, Kelly, Devin, Golden Age actress and singer Rhonda Fleming has died at 97,www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2020-10-17/rhonda-fleming-dead, Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2020, October 19, 2020, BOOK, Tucker, David C.,books.google.com/books?id=TM2qDwAAQBAJ&q=queen+of+technicolor+rhonda+fleming&pg=PA214, Pine-Thomas Productions: A History and Filmography, August 15, 2019, McFarland, 978-1-4766-7743-9, en, Fleming next starred with Bob Hope in the hit film The Great Lover (1949), which established her as a star. She later said, “After that, I wasn’t fortunate enough to get good directors. I made the mistake of doing lesser films for good money. I was hot—they all wanted me—but I didn’t have the guidance or background to judge for myself.“NEWS, Rhonda Fleming Still Queen of the Redheads, Rosenfield, Paul, July 4, 1976, Los Angeles Times, N29, In February 1949, Selznick sold his contract players to Warner Bros., but he kept Fleming.NEWS, Selznick Stars To Do Movies For Warners, The New York Times, February 21, 1949, 18, In 1950 Fleming portrayed John Payne’s love interest in the Western film The Eagle and the Hawk.File:Rhonda Fleming.JPG|thumb|left|Fleming in the trailer for Cry DangerCry DangerFleming was lent to RKO to play a femme fatale opposite Dick Powell in the film noir Cry Danger (1951). Back at Paramount, she played the title role in the Western The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951), costarring with Glenn Ford.NEWS, U-I Recaptures Philip Substitute in Debate Friend, Schallert, Edwin, June 20, 1950, Los Angeles Times, A7, In 1950, she ended her association with Selznick after eight years, although five years remained in her contract with him.NEWS, Rhonda Fleming to Quit Selznick, The New York Times, June 12, 1950, 18, NEWS, She’s Her Own Boss!: No Contracts Cramp the Actions of Actress-Singer-Realtor Rhonda Fleming, Inc., Hopper, Hedda, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 5, 1957, C25, Paramount Fleming signed a three-picture deal with Paramount.NEWS, HOLLYWOOD IN REVIEW: Rhonda Eyes Role of Film Songstress Movie Songstress Roles Eyed by Miss Fleming, Schallert, Edwin, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1950, D1, Pine-Thomas cast her as Ronald Reagan’s leading lady in the Western The Last Outpost (1951), John Payne’s leading lady in the adventure film Crosswinds (1951) and with Reagan again in Hong Kong (1951).Fleming was top-billed for Sam Katzman’s The Golden Hawk (1952) with Sterling Hayden, then was reunited with Reagan for Tropic Zone (1953) at Pine-Thomas. In 1953, Fleming portrayed Cleopatra in Katzman’s Serpent of the Nile for Columbia. That same year, she appeared with Charlton Heston in the Western Pony Express for Paramount and in two films shot in 3D, Inferno with Robert Ryan at Fox and the musical Those Redheads From Seattle with Gene Barry for Pine-Thomas. The following year, she starred with Fernando Lamas in Jivaro, her third 3D film, at Pine-Thomas. She went to Universal for Yankee Pasha (1954) with Jeff Chandler. Fleming also traveled to Italy to play Semiramis in Queen of Babylon (1954). Late 1950s (File:Rhonda Fleming 1951.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Fleming on location in 1951.)Fleming was a member of a gospel singing quartet along with Jane Russell, Connie Haines and Beryl Davis.Much of the location work for Fleming’s 1955 Western Tennessee’s Partner, in which she appeared with Payne and Reagan, was filmed at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California. A distinctive monolithic sandstone feature behind which Fleming’s character hides during an action sequence later became known as the Rhonda Fleming Rock. The rock is part of a section of the former movie ranch known as Garden of the Gods, which has been preserved as public parkland.WEB,iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/2014/01/rhonda-fleming-and-why-theres-rhonda.html, Iverson Movie Ranch: Rhonda Fleming — and why there’s a Rhonda Fleming Rock in Chatsworth, California, Swami, Nano, The Iverson Movie Ranch, January 9, 2014, Fleming was reunited with Payne and fellow redhead Arlene Dahl in a noir at RKO, Slightly Scarlet (1956). She appeared in other thrillers that year: The Killer Is Loose (1956) with Joseph Cotten and Fritz Lang’s While the City Sleeps (1956), costarring Dana Andrews, at RKO. Fleming was top-billed in an adventure film for Warwick Films, Odongo (1956).Fleming played the female lead in John Sturges’s hit film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), costarring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. She supported Donald O’Connor in The Buster Keaton Story (1957) and Stewart Granger in Gun Glory (1957) at MGM.In May 1957, Fleming began performing a successful nightclub act at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. She later said, “I just wanted to know if I could get out on that stage – if I could do it. And I did! ... My heart was to do more stage work, but I had a son, so I really couldn’t, but that was in my heart.“NEWS, Song in Her Heart, Shearer, Stephen Michael, Las Vegas Review–Journal, May 17, 2009, J7, Fleming was Guy Madison’s costar in Bullwhip (1958) for Allied Artists and supported Jean Simmons in Home Before Dark (1958) in a role that she later considered her favorite.Fleming was reunited with Bob Hope in Alias Jesse James (1959) and appeared on an episode of Wagon Train.NEWS, Rhonda Due for Whistles, Smith, Cecil, Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1958, E2, She appeared in the Irwin Allen/Joseph M. Newman production of The Big Circus (1959), costarring Victor Mature and Vincent Price, for Allied Artists, whom Fleming later sued for unpaid profits.NEWS, Studio Sued by Rhonda Fleming, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1963, F3, Fleming traveled to Italy again to film The Revolt of the Slaves (1959) and was second-billed in The Crowded Sky (1960). Semiretirement In 1960, Fleming described herself as “semi-retired,” having earned money through real-estate investments. That year, she toured her nightclub act in Las Vegas and Palm Springs.NEWS, SEEKS ‘SEMI-RETIREMENT’: Rhonda Fleming Keeps Busy as ‘the Laziest Girl in Town’, Smith, Jack, February 1, 1960, Los Angeles Times, B1, Television During the 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s, Fleming frequently appeared on television with guest-starring roles on The Red Skelton Show, The Best of Broadway, The Investigators, Shower of Stars, The Dick Powell Show, Wagon Train, Burke’s Law, The Virginian, McMillan & Wife, Police Woman, Kung Fu, Ellery Queen and The Love Boat.WEB, Silverman, Hollie, Vera, Amir, Rhonda Fleming, film star in the 1940s and 1950s, dies at 97,edition.cnn.com/2020/10/17/entertainment/rhonda-fleming-obit-trnd/index.html, CNN, October 17, 2020, October 19, 2020, On September 30, 1951, Fleming sang live on NBC’s Colgate Comedy Hour, broadcast from the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.WEB, Classic TV Info – The Colgate Comedy Hour – Season 2,www.classictvinfo.com/ColgateComedyHour/Season2.htm, June 13, 2016, Classictvinfo.com, In 1958, Fleming recorded her only LP, entitled Rhonda. For the album, which was released by Columbia Records, she blended current songs such as “Around the World” with standards such as “Love Me or Leave Me” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. Conductor-arranger Frank Comstock provided the musical direction.WEB, Rhonda Fleming With Frank Comstock And His Orchestra – Rhonda,www.discogs.com/Rhonda-Fleming-With-Frank-Comstock-And-His-Orchestra-Rhonda/release/10652535, Discogs, October 19, 2020, On March 4, 1962, Fleming appeared in one of the final segments of ABC’s Follow the Sun in a role opposite Gary Lockwood. She played a Marine in the episode titled “Marine of the Month”.WEB, Follow the Sun – Season 1, Episode 25 – Marine of the Month,www.tvguide.com/tvshows/follow-the-sun/episode-25-season-1/marine-of-the-month/201427/, TV Guide, October 19, 2020, In December 1962, Fleming was cast as the glamorous Kitty Bolton in the episode “Loss of Faith” of the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.WEB,www.imdb.com/title/tt0556664/?ref_=ttep_ep28, Loss of Faith on Death Valley Days, IMDb, December 31, 2018, Later career In the 1960s, Fleming became involved with other businesses and began performing regularly on stage and in Las Vegas.NEWS, Frank, Del Olmo, Ted, Thackrey, Jr., September 22, 1974, Walter Brennan, Oscar Winner, Dies, Los Angeles Times, {{ProQuest, 157476108, }} One of her final film roles was a bit part as Edith von Secondburg in the comedy The Nude Bomb (1980) starring Don Adams. She also appeared in Waiting for the Wind (1990).WEB,www.rhondafleming.com/, Home Page, June 13, 2016, September 4, 2009,www.rhondafleming.com/," title="web.archive.org/web/20090904173819www.rhondafleming.com/,">web.archive.org/web/20090904173819www.rhondafleming.com/, dead, Fleming has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.WEB,www.mysticgames.com/famouspeople/RhondaFleming.htm, Rhonda Fleming, Mysticgames.com, June 13, 2016, In 2007, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.WEB,www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf, List by Date Dedicated, Palm Stars Walk of Stars, June 13, 2016, dead,www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20121013165655www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20121013165655www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf, October 13, 2012, Personal life and death Fleming worked for several charities, especially in the field of cancer care, and served on the committees of many related organizations. In 1991, with her fifth husband Ted Mann, she established the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women’s Comprehensive Care at the UCLA Medical Center.In 1964, Fleming spoke at the Project Prayer rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABC’s Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer following two United States Supreme Court decisions in 1962 and 1963 that invalidated the practice.WEB,dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/50658/b18f14-0514zdisplay.pdf, The Washington Merry-Go-Round, Drew, Pearson, May 14, 1964, Bell-McClure Syndicate, Washington Research Library Consotrium, January 13, 2013, dead,dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/50658/b18f14-0514zdisplay.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20130116232324dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/50658/b18f14-0514zdisplay.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20130116232324dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/50658/b18f14-0514zdisplay.pdf, January 16, 2013, Joining Fleming and Eisley at the rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Dale Evans, Pat Boone and Gloria Swanson. Fleming declared, “Project Prayer is hoping to clarify the First Amendment to the Constitution and reverse this present trend away from God.” Eisley and Fleming added that John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Roy Rogers, Mary Pickford, Jane Russell, Ginger Rogers and Pat Buttram would also have attended the rally had their schedules not been in conflict.Fleming married six times:WEB, Rhonda Fleming Companions, Turner Classic Movies,www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/62947%7C129402/Rhonda-Fleming/companions.html, August 10, 2014, Thomas Wade Lane, interior decorator, (1940–1942; divorced), one son Dr. Lewis V. Morrill, Hollywood physician, (July 11, 1952 – 1954; divorced) Lang Jeffries, actor, (April 3, 1960 – January 11, 1962; divorced) Hall Bartlett, producer (March 27, 1966 – 1972; divorced) Ted Mann, producer, (March 11, 1977 – January 15, 2001; his death) Darol Wayne Carlson (2003 – October 31, 2017; his death) Through her son Kent Lane (b. 1941), Fleming also had two granddaughters, four great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.NEWS, Rhonda Fleming grandmother at age of 40,news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19620921&id=jHghAAAAIBAJ&pg=718,3356882&hl=en, October 19, 2020, The Daily Gazette, Schenectady Gazette, September 22, 1962, WEB,www.tcm.com/this-month/article/472064%7C0/Rhonda-Fleming.html, Rhonda Fleming, Turner Classic Movies, Fleming was a Presbyterian.NEWS,books.google.com/books?id=hkoEAAAAMBAJ&q=rhonda+fleming+presbyterian&pg=PA75, Presbyterian Church, January 10, 1949, 80, Life (magazine), Life, February 25, 2024, Google Books, She was interred in her husband’s plot at the Jewish Hillside Memorial park in Culver City, California upon her death.BOOK, Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, Scott, Wilson, Third, 2016, McFarland, 978-0-7864-7992-4, Her obituary mentioned that she had been a “faithful and devoted Christian”.Obituary for Rhonda Fleming Mann atwww.hillsidememorial.org/obituaries/rhonda-fleming-mann/4666/She was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.Motion Picture and Television Magazine. November 1952. p. 34.Fleming died on October 14, 2020, at Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica at the age of 97.NEWS,variety.com/2020/film/people-news/rhonda-fleming-dead-spellbound-out-of-the-past-1234808175, Rhonda Fleming, ‘Queen of Technicolor’ Who Appeared in ‘Spellbound,’ Dies at 97, Variety (magazine), Variety, October 17, 2020, October 17, 2020, On the 100th anniversary of Fleming’s birth, Turner Classic Movies honored her on Summer Under the Stars, programming a 24-hour block of her films. It was Fleming’s first time on the lineup. Filmography source:{| class=“wikitable sortable”
	In Old Oklahoma >	| Uncredited
1944	Since You Went Away	Girl at dance	Uncredited
	When Strangers Marry >	|
	Spellbound (1945 film)>Spellbound	Mary Carmichael
1946	Abilene Town	Sherry Balder
	The Spiral Staircase (1946 film)>The Spiral Staircase	Blanche
1947	‘’Adventure Island (film)	’’ >	|
	Out of the Past >	|
1949	‘’A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949 film)	’’ >	|
	The Great Lover (1949 film)>The Great Lover	Duchess Alexandria
	The Eagle and the Hawk (1950 film)>The Eagle and the Hawk	Mrs. Madeline Danzeeger
1951	Cry Danger	Nancy Morgan
	The Redhead and the Cowboy >	|
	The Last Outpost (1951 film)>The Last Outpost	Julie McQuade
	Little Egypt (film)>Little Egypt	Izora
	Crosswinds (film)>Crosswinds	Katherine Shelley
1952	‘’Hong Kong (film)	’’ >	|
	The Golden Hawk >	|
1953	‘’Tropic Zone (film)	’’ >	|
	Serpent of the Nile >	Cleopatra >|
	Pony Express (film)>Pony Express	Evelyn Hastings
	Inferno (1953 film)>Inferno	Geraldine Carson
	Those Redheads From Seattle >	|
1954	‘’Jivaro (film)	’’ >	|
	Yankee Pasha (film)>Yankee Pasha	Roxana Reil
1955	Queen of Babylon	Semiramis
	Tennessee’s Partner >	|
1956	The Killer Is Loose	Lila Wagner
	Slightly Scarlet (1956 film)>Slightly Scarlet	June Lyons
	While the City Sleeps (1956 film)>While the City Sleeps	Dorothy Kyne
	Odongo >	|
1957	The Buster Keaton Story	Peggy Courtney
	Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)>Gunfight at the O.K. Corral	Laura Denbow
	Gun Glory >	|
1958	‘’Bullwhip (film)	’’ >	|
	Home Before Dark (film)>Home Before Dark	Joan Carlisle
1959	Alias Jesse James	Cora Lee Collins
	The Big Circus >	|
1960	The Crowded Sky	Cheryl “Charro” Heath
	The Revolt of the Slaves >	Saint Fabiola>Fabiola
1964	‘’The Patsy (1964 film)	’’ >	|
	Pão de Açúcar >	|
	Run for Your Wife (1965 film)>Run for Your Wife	Nyta
	Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood >	|
	The Nude Bomb >	|
	Waiting for the Wind >	| Short, (final film role)

Television {| classwikitable

! Year !! Series title !! Role !! Episode title !! RefColgate Comedy Hour >Abbott and Costello and Errol Flynn >WEBSITE=CLASSIC TV INFO, October 19, 2020, What’s My Line? >WEBSITE=TV TIME ACCESS-DATE=OCTOBER 19, 2020 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20221122073906/HTTPS://WWW.TVTIME.COM/EN/SHOW/77132/EPISODE/230696, dead,