Rhonda Fleming

Rhonda Fleming, born Marilyn Louis (August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020)

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. She began working as a film actress while attending Beverly Hills High School, from which she graduated in 1941. She was discovered by the well-known Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who changed her name to "Rhonda Fleming". Overall, she appeared in more than 40 films, working with directors Alfed Hitchcock, Jacques Tourneur and Robert Siodmak, among other film greats. Her best-known films included the 1948 musical fantasy A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court with Bing Crosby, the 1957 Western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and the noir Slightly Scarlet, alongside John Payne. In addition to cinema, Fleming made her Broadway debut in Clare Boothe Luce’s “The Women” and toured as Madame Dubonnet in “The Boyfriend.” In 1957, Fleming made her stage musical debut in Las Vegas at the opening of the Tropicana Hotel’s showroom. Later she appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in a one-woman concert with compositions from Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. In television, Fleming guest-starred in Wagon Train, Police Woman, The Love Boat, was in a special of McMillan & Wife. Later in life, Fleming became a philanthropist. She and her late husband, Ted Mann of Mann’s Theaters, established the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Comprehensive Care for Women with Cancer at UCLA in memory of her sister Beverly. She was married six times and had one child from her first marriage. Fleming died at age 97 on October 14, 2020. She is interred at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.