CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Dorothy Lamour

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we at Astound showcase the effort of pioneering women in the film and television industry and spotlight one of the early movie stars who blazed trails with their work in front of and behind the camera.

Dorothy Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton of Spanish descent on December 10th 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She did not have a very happy childhood as her parents both work long hours as waiters and divorced before she turned 9.  Her mother soon remarried a man named Clarence Lambour–a last name Dorothy adopted and later modified into her stage name.  That marriage also lasted only a few years.

After quitting school at the age of 14, she began working as a secretary to support both herself and her mother but found she could make more money by entering–and winning–beauty pageants.  At the age of 16, she won the Miss New Orleans pageant and used the prize money to take acting lessons and to move her and her mom to Chicago.

While working as an elevator operator in a department store, she auditioned for several roles until she was “discovered” by band leader Herbie Kay.  Lamour was hired as a singer and later went on tour with Kay, which eventually led to work in vaudeville together…then radio…then…a marriage proposal, when she turned 21.

Later that same year (1935), she became one of the first women to host her own radio program, in addition to performing regularly one two of the other top variety shows of the era–”The Rudy Vallee Show” and the “Chase and Sanborn Hour.”

The next year she moved to Hollywood and signed a contract with Paramount Pictures.  While he first role was an uncredited part in the film, College Holiday, her singing and acting skills were both praised highly by movie goers and critics alike in The Jungle Princess.

 It addition to making a name for herself, she also started a fashion sensation with her outfits in the picture.  Her sarongs became her trademark and she wore many varieties of them throughout her next two decades in films.

She starred or was featured in 13 different motion pictures over the next four years, co-starring with the likes of Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland and Carole Lombard.  Her biggest films included Swing High, Swing Low, Tropic Holiday, Thrill of a Lifetime, Spawn of the North and Man About Town.  But perhaps the most film she did during the time frame was The Big Broadcast of 1938, in which she met Bob Hope–an actor that would play a major role in her career.

Lamour was the first star cast in 1940’s Road To Singapore–the first of a series of films that would prove to be here biggest film success.  According to her obituary in The London Times, the original premise for this film was suppose to be a spoof of her earlier “sarong films,” but the plans changed when several leading men turned down the co-starring roles that eventually went to Hope and Bing Crosby.

The “Road To…” films became an enormous success through the 1940s and early 1950s, with Lamour and Hope teaming up again in the very popular 1947 film, My Favorite Brunette.

Aside from a supporting role in the star-studded, Academy Award winning film, The Greatest Show on Earth, movie scripts were less frequently coming to Dorothy and the ones she did appear in were not considered successful.

It was around this time that Lamour reinvented herself with a nightclub act that she utilized many times over the next two decades.

Her friend Hope supported her one additional time, when Crosby suggested replacing Lamour with Joan Collins, in what turned out to be the final “Road To…” picture.  Hope refused to do the picture unless Dorothy was included in 1962’s The Road To Hong Kong, although her role was viewed as little more than an extended cameo appearance for Lamour.

She continued to re-invigorate her career in the 1970s and 1980s as a performer in night clubs, dinner theaters and touring with production companies.  Lamour continued to also be a popular television guest star in many shows right up until her death on September 22, 1996.

Dorothy was honored with not one, but two stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for her outstanding contributions to both the radio and film industries.

Be on the lookout to watch Dorothy Lamour in arguably her two most famous films, The Road To Bali and My Favorite Brunette, seen on the Astound TV Network.  To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly television listings here on our website.

 

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.