Dolores Moran

Dazzling Dolores Moran was a popular pinup model in the 1940s who had a brief film career and quite a reputation in Hollywood. Born in Stockton, California on January 27 in 1926, this blonde bombshell had started collecting beauty titles as a teen by the time the studios took notice of her. Moran's brief career as a film actress began with uncredited roles in such films as “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942) and “Old Acquaintance” (1943) with Bette Davis. By 1943, she had become a favourite WWII pin-up girl, appearing on the covers of such magazines as “Yank”. Warner Bros. attempted to increase interest in her, promoting her along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality when Bacall was cast alongside Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” (1944). The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran languished. “The Horn Blows at Midnight” (1945) gave her a leading role with Jack Benny and Alexis Smith, but her film appearances after this were sporadic. Moran's reputation of having affairs with married film heavyweights had already preceded her by the time the 22-year-old began dating 42-year-old producer Benedict Bogeaus, who was married to starlet Mimi Forsythe at the time. Bogeaus divorced his wife and married Moran in late 1946. Secondary roles followed for Moran with “Too Young to Know” (1945) and the film noir “The Man I Love” (1946). Her film career sagged after that as her Svengali-like husband insisted she appear strictly in his pictures from “Johnny One-Eye” (1950) and “Count the Hours!” (1953) to her last role as a burlesque queen in “Silver Lode” (1954), often giving her roles that showed off her "bad girl" image. In between she appeared on TV: "Dangerous Assignment," "My Hero" and Mr. & Mrs. North". The turbulent marriage of Moran and Bogeaus finally came to an end in 1962. Moran decided to lay low after this and, as such, little was heard about her until newspapers reported her death from cancer at age 56 in 1982.

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