Dorothy Lamour
| Dorothy Lamour | |
|---|---|
circa 1940
|
|
| Born |
Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton December 10, 1914 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | September 22, 1996 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actress, Singer |
| Years active | 1933–1995 |
| Spouse(s) |
Herbie Kay (m. 1935; div. 1939) William Ross Howard III (m. 1943; d. 1978) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | dorothylamour |
Dorothy Lamour (December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
Lamour began her career in the 1930s as a big band singer. In 1936, she moved to Hollywood where she signed with Paramount Pictures. Her appearance as "Ulah" in The Jungle Princess (1936) brought her fame and marked the beginning of her image as the "Sarong Queen."
In 1940, Lamour made her first Road to... comedy film, Road to Singapore. The Road to... films were popular during the 1940s. The sixth film in the series, Road to Bali, was released in 1952. By that time, Lamour's screen career began to wane, and she focused on stage and television work. In 1961, Crosby and Hope teamed up for one more, The Road to Hong Kong, but actress Joan Collins was cast as the female lead. Lamour made a brief appearance and sang a song near the end of that film.
In the 1970s, Lamour revived her nightclub act and, in 1980, released her autobiography My Side of the Road. She made her final onscreen appearance in 1987.
Lamour married her second husband, William Ross Howard III, in 1943. They had two sons and remained married until Howard's death in 1978. Lamour died at her home in 1996, at the age of 81.
Born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, (her birth name is often incorrectly cited as "Kaumeyer", the legal surname of her first husband, Herbie Kay) the daughter of Carmen Louise (née LaPorte) and John Watson Slaton, both of whom were waiters. Lamour was of French Louisianan, Spanish, and Irish descent. Her parents' marriage lasted only a few years. Her mother married for the second time to Clarence Lambour, whose surname Dorothy later adopted and modified as her stage name. That marriage also ended in divorce when Dorothy was a teenager.
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Wikipedia