Phyllis Brooks
| Phyllis Brooks | |
|---|---|
Brooks in the 1930s
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| Born |
July 18, 1915 Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | August 1, 1995 (aged 80) Cape Neddick, Maine, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1934–1952 |
| Spouse(s) | Torbert H. Macdonald (m. 1945–76); his death |
| Children | 4 |
Phyllis Brooks (July 18, 1915 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress and model. She was born in Boise, Idaho. Some sources have also inaccurately cited 1914 as her year of birth, but 1915 is the correct year according to Social Security records.
She was a model for two years before progressing to a career in film. She stated, "I started posing for photographers as a lark, and it was a lot of fun."
She had been known as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl", due to her work for that product.
Initially known as Mary Brooks, she began her career in films in 1934 at age 20, in I've Been Around. Brooks, who had about 30 performances in films, was a B-movie leading lady during the 1930s and 1940s, with roles in such films as In Old Chicago (1937), Little Miss Broadway (1938) and The Shanghai Gesture (1941).
She appeared in Sidney Toler's Charlie Chan series and the Shirley Temple films Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Little Miss Broadway".
On Broadway, Brooks appeared in Stage Door (1936–37), Panama Hattie (1940–42), The Night Before Christmas (1941), and Round Trip (1945).
Brooks was reported (UK Sunday Telegraph December 1942) as being president of Parties Unlimited Inc. in an article about Hollywood at war. Along with actress Una Merkel, and accompanied by film star Gary Cooper, Brooks was the first civilian woman to travel to the Pacific theater of war during World War II, on a USO tour.
Brooks married Torbert Macdonald on June 23, 1945, in Tarrytown, New York. He went on to become an 11-term Massachusetts Congressman, who had been John F. Kennedy's roommate at Harvard University.
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