Yvonne De Carlo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) De Carlo,c. 1945 | |
| Born | Margaret Yvonne Middleton (1922-09-01)September 1, 1922 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | January 8, 2007(2007-01-08) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1939–1995 |
| Notable work | Sephora inCecil B. DeMille'sThe Ten Commandments (1956) |
| Television | The Munsters (1964–1966) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | 1957Laurel Award for Topliner Supporting Actress forThe Ten Commandments (1956) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922 – January 8, 2007), known professionally asYvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became aHollywood film star andsex symbol in the 1940s and 1950s, made several musical recordings, and later acted on television and stage.
De Carlo was born inVancouver,British Columbia, and was enrolled in a local dance school by her mother when she was three. By the early 1940s, she and her mother had moved to Los Angeles, where De Carlo entered beauty contests and worked as a dancer in nightclubs. In 1942, she signed a three-year contract withParamount Pictures, where she got uncredited bit parts in important films. Her first lead was for producerE.B. Derr in the 1943James Fenimore Cooper adventureDeerslayer.
She obtained her breakthrough role inSalome, Where She Danced (1945), aUniversal Pictures release produced byWalter Wanger, who described her as "the most beautiful girl in the world."[1][2][3] The film's publicity and success turned her into a star, and she signed a five-year contract with Universal. Universal starred her in its lavish Technicolor productions, such asFrontier Gal (1945),Song of Scheherazade (1947), andSlave Girl (1947). Cameramen voted her "Queen of Technicolor" three years in a row.[4] Tired of being typecast as exotic women, she made her first serious dramatic performances in twofilm noirs,Brute Force (1947) andCriss Cross (1949).
The first Canadian film star to visit Israel, De Carlo received further recognition as an actress for her leading performances in the British comediesHotel Sahara (1951),The Captain's Paradise (1953), andHappy Ever After (1954). Her career reached its peak when eminent producer-directorCecil B. DeMille cast her asMoses'Midianite wife,Sephora, in his biblical epicThe Ten Commandments (1956).[5] For this role, she won aLaurel Award for Topliner Supporting Actress.[6] Her success continued with other notable starring roles inFlame of the Islands (1956),Death of a Scoundrel (1956),Raw Edge (1956),Band of Angels (1957), andThe Sword and the Cross (1958), in which she portrayedMary Magdalene.
She starred in the CBSsitcomThe Munsters (1964–1966),[7] playingHerman Munster's glamorousghoulish wife,Lily, a role she reprised in the feature filmMunster, Go Home! (1966) and the TV filmThe Munsters' Revenge (1981). In 1971, she played Carlotta Campion and introduced the popular song "I'm Still Here" in the Broadway production of theStephen Sondheim musicalFollies.Yvonne, her best-selling autobiography, was published in 1987. A stroke survivor, De Carlo died of heart failure in 2007. She was awarded two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures and television.
On the evening of August 31 that year [1922], three days after her own birthday, Marie was having five-minute contractions. She was taken to the public ward of St. Paul's Hospital, where she went through a difficult labor. I was born the following morning amid the tumult of the season's worst thunderstorm. Marie's doctor hadn't arrived, and the delivery was made by a pair of floor nurses. They confirmed afterward that as she was being shifted to the delivery table, she was shouting, "I want a girl. It must be a girl. I want a dancer!"
De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922, atSt. Paul's Hospital[8] in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her nickname was "Peggy" because she was named after thesilent film starBaby Peggy.[9] Her mother, Marie De Carlo,[10] was born in France to aSicilian father and a Scottish mother. Marie, a "wayward and rebellious" teenager, aspired to become a dancer and worked as amilliner's apprentice until she met Peggy's father, William Shelto Middleton.[8] Middleton was a salesman born inNew Zealand to English parents[11] and had "piercing eyes of pale blue, and a wealth of straight black hair."[8]
Marie and William married inAlberta, where they lived for a couple of months before returning to Vancouver.[8] They moved in with Marie's parents, but the marriage was troubled.[12] Peggy had only two memories of her father: climbing up to his knee and crawling toward his feet.[12] By the time Peggy was three,[13] William was involved in various swindles and fled Canada aboard aschooner, promising to send for his wife and child.[8] Marie and Peggy never heard from him again; rumors said that he remarried twice and had more children, worked as an actor in silent films, or died aboard a ship.[9] Peggy later wrote, "My own assumption is that he died before he had the chance to discover that his Baby Peggy had become a Hollywood actress, or I think he would have tried to contact me."[9] After William's departure, Marie left her parents' home and found work in a shop.[9]
Marie and Peggy lived in a succession of apartments in Vancouver, including one with no furniture or stove.[9] They periodically returned to the De Carlo home, "a huge whiteframe house", at 1728 Comox Street in Vancouver'sWest End.[14] Marie's parents, Michele "Papa" De Carlo[15] and Margaret Purvis De Carlo,[16] were religious, attended church regularly, and held services in their parlor.[17] Michele, a native ofMessina,[18] had met Margaret inNice, France. They married in 1897, had four children, and settled in Canada.[19]
De Carlo attendedLord Roberts Elementary School,[20] a block from her grandparents' home.[citation needed] She originally wanted to be a writer.[21] She was seven when a school assignment, a poem she wrote titled "A Little Boy," was entered in a contest run by theVancouver Sun.[14] She won and received a prize of $5, which according to De Carlo, meant as much to her at that time as if she had won theNobel Peace Prize.[22] She also wrote short plays, which she usually staged in her grandparents' house, and even adaptedCharles Dickens'A Christmas Carol for a neighborhood performance.[22]
Marie wanted her daughter to have a career in show business and made sure Peggy received singing and dancing lessons. Peggy joined the choir ofSt. Paul's Anglican Church to strengthen her voice.[23] When she was ten (or three, according to a 1982 interview[14]), her mother enrolled her in the June Roper School of the Dance in Vancouver.[24] In May 1939, aVariety news item listed Yvonne de Carlo as one of the performers at the opening of Hy Singer's Palomar ballroom (also known as Palomar Supper Club) in Vancouver.[25]
De Carlo and her mother made several trips to Los Angeles. In 1940, she won second place in the MissVenice beauty contest,[26] and placed fifth in that year'sMiss California competition (and can be seen in that pageant at 0:36 of the British Pathé film "A Matter of Figures").[27] At the Miss Venice contest, she was noticed by a booking agent who told her to audition for an opening in the chorus line at theEarl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.[26]
De Carlo and her mother arrived atEarl Carroll's for the audition, but after learning that Carroll would have to examine her "upper assets" before hiring her,[28] De Carlo and her mother searched for work at another popular Hollywood nightclub, theFlorentine Gardens.[29] They met the proprietor,Nils Granlund, and he introduced De Carlo to the audience before she tap danced to "Tea for Two".[30] Granlund then asked, "Well, folks ... is she in or out?"[31] The audience responded with "a rousing round of applause, with whistles and cheers", and De Carlo got the job. She started in the back of the chorus line, but after months of practice and hard work,[32] Granlund featured her in a "King Kong number." In it, she danced, and cast off several chiffon veils before being carried away by a gorilla.[33] She was given more solo routines.
She had been dancing at the Florentine Gardens only a few months when she was arrested by immigration officials and deported to Canada in late 1940.[34] In January 1941, Granlund sent a telegram to immigration officials pledging his sponsorship of De Carlo in the US, and affirmed his offer of steady employment, both requirements to reenter the country.[35]
In May 1941, she appeared in arevue,Hollywood Revels, at theOrpheum Theatre. A critic from theLos Angeles Times who reviewed it said the "dancing of Yvonne de Carlo is especially notable."[36] She also made her debut on network radio withEdmund Lowe andVictor McLaglen, who were performing extracts from a series based on their Flagg-Quirt performances.[37]
De Carlo wanted to act. At the encouragement of her friendArtie Shaw, who offered to pay her wages for a month,[38] she quit the Florentine Gardens and hiredtalent agent Jack Pomeroy.[39] Pomeroy got De Carlo anuncredited role as a bathing beauty in aColumbia PicturesB film,Harvard, Here I Come (1941). She had one line ("Nowadays a girl must show a front") in a scene with the film's star, ex-boxerMaxie Rosenbloom. Her salary was $25 and her work got her into theScreen Actors Guild.[39] While at Columbia she was featured in a two-reel collegiate comedy,The Kink of the Campus (1941).[40] She also starred inThe Lamp of Memory (1942), a three-minute musical film designed to be shown in coin-operated "Soundies" movie jukeboxes.[41]
When no other acting jobs came her way, she decided to return to the chorus line and auditioned forEarl Carroll, who hired her.[39] While working for Carroll, she won a one-line part inThis Gun for Hire (1942) at Paramount. Carroll found out and fired her, as he did not allow his dancers to work outside the nightclub without permission.[42] She asked Granlund if he would rehire her, and he did. In December 1941, she was dancing in theGlamour Over Hollywood revue at the Gardens.[43][44] America's entry intoWorld War II saw De Carlo and other Florentine dancers busy entertaining troops atUSO shows.[45][46] A skilled horsewoman, she also appeared in a number of West Coastrodeos.[24]
Following an interview at Paramount, De Carlo was cast as one ofDorothy Lamour's handmaidens inRoad to Morocco (1942).[47] She got a screen test for the role of Ata inThe Moon and Sixpence, but lost toElena Verdugo.[48] She returned to Paramount for a bit role inLucky Jordan (1942) and found another small part in aRepublic Pictures film,Youth on Parade (1942), which she later called a "dreadful ... bomb."[49] After recovering from bronchial pneumonia, she went to Paramount and signed a six-month contract, possibly going up to seven years, starting at $60 a week.[49]
For her first assignment as a Paramount player, De Carlo was loaned toMonogram Pictures to play a Florentine Gardens dancer inRhythm Parade, starringNils Granlund (who had requested her for the role) andGale Storm.[50] She then appeared as an extra in Paramount'sThe Crystal Ball (1943), of which she wrote, "Only my left shoulder survived after editing."[50] She asked directorSam Wood for a part in his next film,For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), and he gave her a small role in the cantina scene withGary Cooper.[51]
De Carlo was also seen inLet's Face It (1943),So Proudly We Hail! (1943) andSalute for Three (1943). She kept busy in small roles and helping other actors shoot tests. "I was the test queen at Paramount," she said later.[24] But she was ambitious and wanted more. "I'm not going to be just one of the girls," she said.[52]Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount's most famous director, saw De Carlo inSo Proudly We Hail! and arranged for a screen test and interview for a part in his filmThe Story of Dr. Wassell (1943). He subsequently selected her for a key role.[53][54] He ended up choosingCarol Thurston for the role of Tremartini and casting De Carlo in an uncredited part as a native girl, but promised her another role in a future film.[55]
Shortly after losing the Tremartini role, De Carlo was loaned toRepublic Pictures to portray Native American princess Wah-Tah inDeerslayer.[56] It was her first featured role in a full-length film. At Paramount, she played unbilled bit roles inTrue to Life (1943) andStanding Room Only (1944).[57] She also tested for the role of Lola inDouble Indemnity (1944).[58] She was billed in a short,Fun Time (1944) and went toMGM to play an uncredited lady-in-waiting inKismet (1944).[57]
TheNew York Times later dubbed De Carlo "threat girl" forDorothy Lamour "when Dotty wanted to break away from saronging."[55][59] This had its origin when De Carlo was set to replace Dorothy Lamour inRainbow Island (1944); however, Lamour changed her mind about the role.[52] De Carlo was given a bit part in the final movie.
De Carlo played further unbilled roles inHere Come the Waves (1944),Practically Yours (1944), andBring on the Girls (1945). Paramount decided not to renew her contract option,[60] but did renew Lamour's contract.[61]
De Carlo was screen tested byUniversal, who were looking for an exotic glamour girl in the mold ofMaria Montez andAcquanetta.[60] The test was seen byWalter Wanger who was making an adventure film in Technicolor,Salome, Where She Danced (1945). Wanger later claimed he discovered De Carlo when looking at footage for another actor in which De Carlo also happened to appear (Milburn Stone).[62]
Wanger tested De Carlo several times and Universal signed her to a long-term contract at $150 a week. In September 1944, it was announced that De Carlo was cast in the lead ofSalome over a reported 20,000 other young women.[3][63] Another source claimed 21 Royal Canadian Air Force bombardier students who loved De Carlo as a pinup star had campaigned to get her the role.[64] De Carlo later said this was done at her behest; she took several pictures of herself in a revealing costume and persuaded two childhood friends from Vancouver, Reginald Reid and Kenneth Ross McKenzie, who had become pilots, to arrange their friends to lobby on her behalf,[24] writing in her memoirs that the whole thing was Wanger's idea.[65] Though not a critical success,Salome was a box office favorite, and the heavily promoted De Carlo was hailed as an up-and-coming star.
In his review of the film,Bosley Crowther of theNew York Times wrote:
Miss De Carlo has an agreeable mezzo-soprano singing voice, all the 'looks' one girl could ask for, and, moreover, she dances with a sensuousness which must have caused theHays office some anguish. The script, however, does not give her much chance to prove her acting talents.[66]
Universal signed De Carlo to a long-term contract. She was used by the studio as a backup star toMaria Montez, and her second movie for the studio saw her step into a role rejected by Montez: the WesternFrontier Gal (1946) alongside Rod Cameron.[52] In 1946, exhibitors voted De Carlo the ninth-most promising "star of tomorrow."[67] LikeSalome, it was shot in Technicolor.[citation needed]
De Carlo followedFrontier Gal with a top-billed role inWalter Reisch's Technicolor musicalSong of Scheherazade (1947), co-starringBrian Donlevy andJean-Pierre Aumont.Tilly Losch, an Austrian dancer and friend of Reisch, coached De Carlo in her three dancing solos.[68] The film was a hit, making over $2 million.[citation needed]
De Carlo wanted to act in different types of movies. She applied to play the part of a waitress inA Double Life (1947) but lost out toShelley Winters.[69] Instead, Universal put her back in Technicolor forSlave Girl (1947), made with the producers ofFrontier Gal. It was another solid commercial success. De Carlo was given a small role inBrute Force (1947), a prison movie starringBurt Lancaster and produced byMark Hellinger. It was her first movie in black and white since becoming a star and her first to get good reviews.[citation needed]
She playedLola Montez inBlack Bart (1948), a Technicolor Western withDan Duryea for directorGeorge Sherman. Duryea and Sherman worked with her again onRiver Lady (1948). De Carlo called these films "physically taxing but not creatively inspiring."[70]The New York Times later summarised them as "a series of routine costume adventures as a tough but good-natured minx from across the tracks who wades into society and inevitably backtracks with a bloke of her own caliber."[71]
She romanced Tony Martin inCasbah (1948), a musical remake ofAlgiers (1938) made for Martin's own production company but released through Universal. De Carlo was reluctant to be in it because, though she would receive top billing over Martin, she did not get the female lead. That part went to Swedish newcomerMärta Torén. However, studio headWilliam Goetz insisted[72] that De Carlo play Inez, the roleSigrid Gurie acted in the 1938 version. She also sang the film's songFor Every Man There's a Woman, which was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[73][74]
De Carlo then received an offer from Mark Hellinger to make another film with Burt Lancaster: thefilm noirCriss Cross (1949). This time De Carlo had a larger role, as a femme fatale, Anna.Bosley Crowther noted that De Carlo was "trying something different as Anna. The change is welcome, even though Miss de Carlo's performance is uneven. In that respect, she is right in step with most everything else aboutCriss Cross."[75] The film has become regarded as a classic and De Carlo considered the role the highlight of her career to date.[76]Tony Curtis made his debut in the movie, in a scene dancing with De Carlo.[77]
De Carlo was keen to make more movies along this line but Universal put her back in Technicolor Westerns withCalamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), playingCalamity Jane, directed by Sherman, alongsideHoward Duff.[78]
She played a role intended forDeanna Durbin inThe Gal Who Took the West (1950), for directorFred de Cordova. The movie gave her a chance to show off her singing voice. Trained in opera and a former child chorister at St Paul's Anglican Church, Vancouver, De Carlo possessed a largevocal range.[79] She was meant to be inBagdad (1949) but suffered a miscarriage and was ill, so the studio castMaureen O'Hara.[80]
De Cordova directed de Carlo inBuccaneer's Girl (1950), a pirate movie set in 1810s New Orleans oppositePhilip Friend was a box office and critical failure. The director later called De Carlo "a doll ... underrated as an actress. She was most professional, worked hard, was very good at her craft, possibly was not a first class star but came in on schedule. She knew her lines, she danced and sang rather well, and she wanted very much to be a bigger star than she ever became."[81]
She toured US army bases singing, then was inThe Desert Hawk (1950), an "Eastern" withRichard Greene. She made a Western with Sherman,Tomahawk (1951), oppositeVan Heflin, which was popular.[citation needed]
De Carlo toured extensively to promote her films and entertained US troops in Europe. She also began singing on television.[82] She received an offer from England to make a comedy,Hotel Sahara (1951) withPeter Ustinov. While in England, she asked Universal to release her from her contract, though it still had three months to go, and the studio agreed.[83]
While in England, De Carlo recorded two singles, "Say Goodbye" and "I Love a Man".[84] In March 1951 she signed a new contract with Universal to make one film a year for three years.[85]
De Carlo went to Paramount to make a Western,Silver City (1951), for producer Nat Holt, co-starring alongsideEdmond O'Brien for a fee of $50,000.[86]
In 1951,[87][4][88] De Carlo accepted an offer to open the thirtieth season of theHollywood Bowl singing thebreeches role of Prince Orlovsky in five performances of the operaDie Fledermaus (The Bat), from July 10 to 14.[89][90] The performances were conducted by noted film composerFranz Waxman. In her autobiography she described her participation inDie Fledermaus as "a rewarding experience, the aesthetic highlight of my life."[90]
In August 1951, De Carlo became the first Canadian film star to visit theState of Israel, giving concerts inHaifa,Ramat Gan,Jerusalem,Tel Aviv, andJaffa.[91][92] She drew capacity audiences and was "royally received" by the Israeli government and the public.[93] Her performances consisted of singing and dancing routines from her films.[94]
She discovered that her films were extremely popular there, saying, "Every time I played a concert, someone would yell, 'Sing something fromCasbah.'"[94] About the warm reception she received in Israel, she told columnistLouella Parsons:
Everyone in Israel was so wonderful to me, and I'll never forget the speech the Mayor of Jerusalem,Rabbi S. Z. Shragar, made. It had to be translated because he spoke in Hebrew. He is an Orthodox Jew and lives up to his religion. He received me in his office and served me Turkish coffee, and I was told no woman had ever been invited to have coffee in his office before. He welcomed me to Israel in a gracious, kindly manner that I shall never forget. He gave me what they call a special blessing, not only for myself, but for all artists who were to come later.[95]
De Carlo returned early from Tel Aviv to makeThe San Francisco Story (1952) withJoel McCrea. It was the first of a two-picture deal with Fidelity Pictures; the second was to beThe Scarlet Flame about Brazil's battle for independence, which was never made.[96]
She made her live TV debut in "Another Country" forLights Out (1952). De Carlo wanted to make a film forSydney Box calledQueen of Sheba withPeter Ustinov as Solomon but it was never made.[97]
She went back to Universal for the first movie under her new contract,Scarlet Angel (1952) withRock Hudson.[citation needed] At Paramount, she did another film for Nat Holt,Hurricane Smith (1952), then she appeared in "Madame 44" forThe Ford Television Theatre (1952). She announced plans to form her own production company with her agent, Vancouver Productions.[98] However, as she later wrote, "absolutely nothing" came of this.[99]
De Carlo went to MGM to makeSombrero (1953), mostly shot in Mexico. She liked her character because it was "almost madonnalike. It is a role that demands the most sincerity for its proper interpretation. Many pictures that I have done perhaps offered me typical outdoor parts or western, heroine parts. So long as I could convey a flashy sort of impression it was alright... I don't deny the importance of such parts for me. They are excellent. But is stands to reason that as one goes on one seeks less superficial assignments.[100]
De Carlo was reunited with Hudson forSea Devils (1953), a Napoleonic adventure tale shot in Britain and France released throughRKO. This meant she had to postpone a film she was going to make forEdward Small,Savage Frontier. She was offered a role inInnocents in Paris (1953) but ultimately did not appear in the film.[100]
Back in the US, she had an adventure film set in the desert,Fort Algiers (1953), forUnited Artists, starringCarlos Thompson, whom de Carlo had recommended.[citation needed]
She made her third film in Britain withThe Captain's Paradise (1953), a comedy featuring the two wives a ship captain (played byAlec Guinness) keeps in separate ports. De Carlo played Nita, the sensual wife who lives in Morocco, whileCelia Johnson played Maud, the demure wife who lives in Gibraltar.The New York Times criticBosley Crowther commended her performance by writing, "And Miss De Carlo, as the siren, 'the mate of the tiger' in Mr. G. [Guinness], is wonderfully candid and suggestive of the hausfrau in every dame."[101]
De Carlo made a fourth film in England,Happy Ever After (1954) released in the U.S. as "Tonight's The Night", a comedy featuring her as the love interest forDavid Niven, who inherits an estate in Ireland. She was then called back to the U.S. to do a contemporary TV comedy,The Backbone of America (1953) withWendell Corey. In 1954, after the success ofThe Captain's Paradise, she expressed a desire to do more comedy:
I've had my share of sirens and am happy to get away from them, no matter what the part. Just to look pretty on the screen as a romantic lead is probably all right, but – so what? I'd much rather do something in a good Western provided there's plenty of action. Action is what I like.[102]
De Carlo went back to Universal to make a Western with McCrea,Border River (1954), directed by Sherman. She went to Italy forThe Contessa's Secret (1954) and returned to Hollywood for the independently producedPassion (1954). She wrote a 42-page treatment for a science-fiction filmOperation Sram, which was not made.[103] De Carlo made the WesternShotgun (1955) withSterling Hayden for Allied Artists. She did "Hot Cargo" forScreen Director's Playhouse (1956) withRory Calhoun directed byTay Garnett.[104]
De Carlo made her third film for Universal under her new contract inRaw Edge (1956). Republic starred her asMinna Wagner in a biopic ofRichard Wagner,Magic Fire (1956). On TV she was in "The Sainted General" forStar Stage (1956).Republic reunited her with Duff inFlame of the Islands (1956), shot in the Bahamas.[citation needed]
In September 1954,[105] producer-director Cecil B. DeMille cast her asSephora, the wife of Moses (played byCharlton Heston), in his biblical epicThe Ten Commandments, aParamount Pictures production that premiered in November 1956. In his autobiography, DeMille explained he decided to cast De Carlo as Moses' wife after his casting director, Bert McKay, called his attention to one scene she played inSombrero. Even though the film "was a picture far removed in theme fromThe Ten Commandments," wrote DeMille, "I sensed in her a depth, an emotional power, a womanly strength which the part of Sephora needed and which she gave it."[106]
She prepared extensively for the role, taking weaving lessons at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, and shepherding lessons in theSan Fernando Valley.[107] Months before filming began, she had worked on the part with a drama coach.[108] Her scenes were shot on Paramount's sound stages in 1955. Her performance received praise from critics. Crowther, theNew York Times critic, was impressed: "Yvonne De Carlo as theMidianite shepherdess to whom Moses is wed is notably good in a severe role."[109] TheHollywood Reporter wrote that she "is very fine as the simple Sephora,"[110] and theNew York Daily News noticed that she "plays the wife of Moses with conviction."[111] De Carlo was expected to receive anAcademy Award nomination forBest Supporting Actress, but she preferred to be listed as a leading actress on the voting ballot and was not nominated in that category.[112] However, she won aLaurel Award for Topliner Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.[6]
She fell in love with stuntman Bob Morgan while visiting the filming ofThe Ten Commandments in Egypt in 1954.[113] They married in 1955, and their first son, Bruce, was born in 1956. DeMille became Bruce's godfather.[107] Her second pregnancy meant she had to turn down the role of the female pirate DeMille had given her in his next production,The Buccaneer (1958).[107]
It was announced she would team withVittorio De Sica in an adaptation ofThe Baker's Wife to be shot in English and Italian[114] but the film was never made. Neither were two projects de Carlo was meant to make in Italy followingRaw Edge,The Mistress of Lebanon Castle withTrevor Howard andHoneymoon in Italy.[115] Instead, De Carlo co-starred withGeorge Sanders andZsa Zsa Gabor inDeath of a Scoundrel (1956). TheNew York Times commended her performance as Bridget Kelly: "Yvonne De Carlo does a solid and professional job as the adoring petty thief who rises to eminence with him [Sanders' character]."[116]
As a result of the great success and positive reviews ofThe Ten Commandments, De Carlo was offered lead roles in twoWarner Bros. films that would be shot at the same time:The Helen Morgan Story andBand of Angels, based onRobert Penn Warren's novel. De Carlo chose the latter because her co-star would beClark Gable, one of her favorite actors.[117] The title refers to the short life expectancy of the black soldiers who fought with the Union troops in the Civil War, but the story is mainly about Amantha "Manty" Starr, a mixed-raceSouthern belle who is sold as a slave after her father's death and discovers that her deceased mother was a black slave on her father's plantation. Amantha is then taken toNew Orleans where she is bought by plantation owner Hamish Bond (Gable), who falls in love with her. The film was both a critical and financial disappointment at the time of release.[118][119]
On the small screen she was in "Skits & Sketches" forShower of Stars (1957). She was also inSchlitz Playhouse (1957).[citation needed] De Carlo released anLP record of standards calledYvonne De Carlo Sings on Masterseal Records, a subsidiary label ofRemington Records, in 1957. Orchestrated by future film composerJohn Williams under the pseudonym "John Towner", the album contains ten tracks, "End of a Love Affair", "In the Blue of Evening", "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)", "Am I Blue?", "Little Girl Blue", "Blue Moon", "But Not for Me", "My Blue Heaven", "Mood Indigo", "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)".[citation needed]
De Carlo was in "Verdict of Three" forPlayhouse 90 (1958). She made aFrench Foreign Legion movie withVictor Mature,Timbuktu, directed byJacques Tourneur (1958). She unsuccessfully auditioned for the Broadway musicalDestry Rides Again losing out toDolores Gray.[120]
In May 1958,[121] De Carlo was signed to playMary Magdalene in the Italian biblical epicThe Sword and the Cross (tentatively titledThe Great Sinner and released in the United States asMary Magdalene), withJorge Mistral as her love interest, the Roman Gaius Marcellus, andRossana Podestà as her sister, Martha. The film's director,Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, later remembered that "producer, Ottavio Poggi, had sent the provisional script to America, so Yvonne De Carlo could read it and decide on her participation in the film. She read it and got very excited, agreeing to play the role of Magdalene."[122] The film was shot in English and later dubbed in Italian.[108]
De Carlo put together a nightclub act and toured with it in South America. She guest-starred onBonanza ("A Rose for Lotta", 1959),Adventures in Paradise ("Isle of Eden", 1960),Death Valley Days ("The Lady Was an M.D", 1961),Follow the Sun ("The Longest Crap Game in History" [1961] and "Annie Beeler's Place", 1962) andBurke's Law ("Who Killed Beau Sparrow?", 1963). She also playedDestry Rides Again in summer stock.[citation needed]
De Carlo's husband had become permanently disabled while working as a stunt man onHow the West Was Won (1963), eventually losing his leg. De Carlo took any job going, appearing in night club acts across the country as well as a play in stock,Third Best Sport.[citation needed]
To help out,John Wayne offered her the supporting role of Louise Warren, the title character's cook inMcLintock! (1963), with Wayne andMaureen O'Hara. She was second billed in a WesternLaw of the Lawless (1964) and played the Spanish dancer Dolores in theBob Hope comedyA Global Affair (1964).[citation needed]
De Carlo was in "The Night the Monkey Died" forThe Greatest Show on Earth (1964). She took over a role onEnter Laughing on Broadway for a week and played in it when the production went on tour.[citation needed]
She was in debt by 1964 when she signed a contract withUniversal Studios to perform the female lead role inThe Munsters oppositeFred Gwynne. She was also the producers' choice to playLily Munster whenJoan Marshall, who played the character (originally called "Phoebe"), was dropped from consideration for the role. When De Carlo was asked how a glamorous actress could succeed as a ghoulish matriarch of a haunted house, she replied simply, "I follow the directions I received on the first day of shooting: 'Play her just likeDonna Reed.'"[123] She sang and played theharp in at least one episode ("Far Out Munsters") ofThe Munsters.[citation needed] In early season 1 episodes, De Carlo was top billed, owing to her star status, but later in the season, Gwynne (and his character, Herman Munster) received the top billing.
After the show's cancellation, she reprised her role as Lily Munster in theTechnicolor filmMunster, Go Home! (1966), partially in hopes of renewing interest in the sitcom. Despite the attempt,The Munsters was cancelled after 70 episodes. Of the sitcom and its cast and crew, she said: "It was a happy show with audience appeal for both children and adults. It was a happy show behind the scenes, too; we all enjoy working with each other."[124] Years later, in 1987, she said: "I think Yvonne De Carlo was more famous than Lily, but I gained the younger audience throughThe Munsters. And it was a steady job."[125]
AfterThe Munsters, she guest-starred in "The Moulin Ruse Affair" inThe Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967)[126] and "The Raiders" forCuster (1967) and episodes ofThe Virginian.[127]
She starred as the leading lady inHostile Guns (1967) andArizona Bushwhackers (1968), a pair of low-budget westerns produced byA. C. Lyles and released by Paramount Pictures.[128] During this time, she also had a supporting role in the 1968 MGM science-fiction thrillerThe Power.[129]
After 1967, De Carlo became increasingly active in musicals, appearing in off-Broadway productions ofPal Joey andCatch Me If You Can.[130] In early 1968 she joinedDonald O'Connor in a 15-week run ofLittle Me staged between Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas and she did a five-month tour inHello Dolly.[131] Later she toured inCactus Flower.[132]
De Carlo continued to appear in films such asThe Delta Factor (1970) and had a notable part inRuss Meyer'sThe Seven Minutes (1971). TheLos Angeles Times said about the latter that De Carlo featured in "an improbable sequence pulled off with verve by the still glamorous star."[133]
Theatrical agent Ruth Webb presented De Carlo toHal Prince,Stephen Sondheim, andMichael Bennett when they were searching for actors for their musicalFollies.[132] Webb believed De Carlo was ideal for the leading female role and helped her audition for it, but De Carlo felt she was not the right actress to play a "sophisticated society type."[132] Several weeks later, De Carlo met again with Prince, Sondheim, and Bennett, who told her that they had enjoyed her audition and decided to write a new character, Carlotta Campion, especially for her.[132] Carlotta is a former showgirl who attends a final reunion at her former workplace, a theater scheduled for demolition.[134] The first song Sondheim wrote for De Carlo, "Oh Boy, Can That Boy Fox-trot", was dropped after the show's first road performance.[135] Inspired by the "warm quality" of De Carlo's audition, Sondheim wrote a new song titled "I'm Still Here".[135]Follies opened on Broadway at theWinter Garden Theatre on April 4, 1971 and ran for 522 performances, closing on July 1, 1972.[136]
In October 1972, De Carlo arrived in Australia to replaceCyd Charisse inMichael Edgley's production ofNo, No, Nanette.[137] Her opening night was on November 6, 1972, atHer Majesty's Theatre inMelbourne.[11] The show moved on toAdelaide,[138]Sydney, and then to several New Zealand cities.[139] It closed in the fall of 1973, and De Carlo returned to the United States.
In late 1973 and early 1974, she starred in a production ofBen Bagley'sDecline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter in San Diego.[140] In May 1975, she starred in the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera's production ofApplause at theCalifornia Theatre of the Performing Arts.[141]The San Bernardino Sun described her performance as "brilliant" and wrote, "a packed house watched Yvonne De Carlo give a new dimension to Margo Channing, a part she was playing for the first time, but nonetheless, a part she was very well suited for."[142]
As for my stage or film roles, there was a period of time when I was less selective than I might have been. If a job was offered, and if the price was right, I took it. I needed the money.
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De Carlo appeared inThe Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974),The Mark of Zorro (1974),Arizona Slim (1974),The Intruder (1975),It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975),Black Fire (1975), andLa casa de las sombras (1976).[citation needed]. Independent producer Sam Sherman hired her for a leading role inBlazing Stewardesses (1975); despite its provocative title, it was a revival of 1940s westerns and co-starred former cowboy heroesRobert Livingston andDon "Red" Barry. De Carlo pre-recorded the vocal for an original song.
She continued to appear on stage, notably inDames at Sea,Barefoot in the Park andThe Sound of Music.[citation needed]
She was seen onSatan's Cheerleaders (1977),Nocturna (1979),Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979),Fuego negro (1979),The Silent Scream (1979) andThe Man with Bogart's Face (1980). She guest-starred on shows likeFantasy Island.[citation needed]
De Carlo was inThe Munsters' Revenge (1981), thenLiar's Moon (1982),Play Dead (1982),Vultures (1984),Flesh and Bullets (1985), andA Masterpiece of Murder (1986) (withBob Hope). She was in a revival ofThe Munsters.[citation needed]
De Carlo's later films includedAmerican Gothic (1988), for which she won the Best Actress Award fromInternational Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Show (Fantafestival);Cellar Dweller (1988); andMirror Mirror (1990). She had a supporting role as the title character's Aunt Rosa in theSylvester Stallone comedyOscar (1991). Aunt Rosa is present when Oscar's father, played byKirk Douglas, extracts "a deathbed promise" from his son. Of her role, De Carlo said, "Mine is a small part—but funny."[144]
She appeared inMurder, She Wrote ("Jessica Behind Bars", 1985),The Naked Truth (1992),Seasons of the Heart (1993), and "Death of Some Salesmen" inTales from the Crypt (1993). She had a small cameo role inHere Come the Munsters, a 1995 television film remake ofThe Munsters. De Carlo, along withAl Lewis,Pat Priest, andButch Patrick, did not have to wear costumes "because the Munsters have several lives."[145]
Her final performance was as Norma, "an eccentricNorma Desmond lookalike", in the 1995 television filmThe Barefoot Executive, aDisney Channel remake of the1971 film of the same title.[145] Norma, a formerstand-in for film actors, "monkey-sits" the title character, a chimpanzee named Archie who is able to predict top-rated television series. "She has these outrageous costumes—six of them—and it's just a small part", De Carlo toldLos Angeles Times. "But I like to do small things now."[145]
In 2007, her son Bruce revealed that, before her death, she played supporting roles in two independent films that have yet to be released.[146]
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In 1950, De Carlo purchased an eleven-room ranch house on five-and-a-half acres of "hilly woodland" onColdwater Canyon Drive[147] inStudio City, Los Angeles, aboveBeverly Hills. De Carlo described it as her "dream home" and hired an architect to help her design "an English-style dining room, with paneling and stained-glass windows." She also built stables for her horses[113] and a large swimming pool.[148] She sold the property in 1975.[149] In 1981, she moved to a ranch in theSanta Ynez Valley,[150] nearSolvang, California.[citation needed]
In her autobiography, De Carlo considered directorBilly Wilder "the first big love of my life".[58] They met in 1943 when she was under contract to Paramount Pictures. Although she described him as the physical "antithesis of my lifelong dream man", she fell in love with him and admired his "endless charm and wit". He was separated from his wife and lived in a rented house while they were together. Their short-lived relationship ended when he left her for actressDoris Dowling.[151]
In 1945, after the release of her second film,Frontier Gal, De Carlo returned to Vancouver and attended a celebration held in her honor at her former workplace, the Palomar nightclub, where she was introduced to billionaireHoward Hughes. She later discovered he had flown directly from Los Angeles because he wanted to meet her outside of Hollywood. Hughes told her he had seenSalome, Where She Danced more than five times and was enthralled by her beauty. De Carlo initially "felt just kind of sorry" for the "lanky, underfed, and remarkably sad" Hughes. The following day they went out on a date and began a romantic relationship. Hughes preferred to keep their romance private and never mentioned it to the press. De Carlo wanted to marry him but he was not serious about their relationship. De Carlo later wrote, "Howard Hughes was one of the most important loves of my life".[152]
After her breakup with Hughes, De Carlo datedRobert Stack andBurt Lancaster, herCriss Cross co-star. During the filming ofBrute Force, De Carlo fell in love with her co-star, fellow Universal contract playerHoward Duff. Despite the fact that they "had almost nothing in common," Duff was interested in marrying De Carlo and the studio approved their relationship.[153] In April 1947, De Carlo announced her engagement to Duff,[154] but they eventually separated due to his alcoholism.[155]
De Carlo met PrinceAbdul Reza Pahlavi of Iran when he visited Beverly Hills in 1947.[156] A week later, they traveled to New York and spent some time together.[157] After the completion of her filmCasbah, De Carlo embarked on her first trip to Europe, reuniting with Prince Abdul in Paris.[158] They vacationed in Switzerland and Italy, and, several months later, De Carlo also visited the royal palace inTehran.[159]
In the late 1940s, De Carlo began a relationship withJock Mahoney, a stuntman who worked on her filmThe Gal Who Took the West.[78] While she was engaged to Mahoney, De Carlo became pregnant and also discovered she had a largeovarian cyst. The tumor was surgically removed and, as a result, she lost the baby.[160] Her relationship with Mahoney ended when De Carlo found out he was seeing another woman, actressMargaret Field.[161]
Regarding her ideal man, in May 1952 she said: "I have learned not to prefer anything because tastes change every day. For instance, I used to prefer blond men but that is no longer true today."[162] Five months later, in October, she said: "I would like to marry a man with blonde hair. From what I have heard, blond men make the most interesting husbands."[163]
In the 1950s, one of her fiancés was English photographerCornel Lucas.[164] In early 1954, she informed columnistErskine Johnson about her engagement to Scottish actorRobert Urquhart, her co-star inHappy Ever After. She said, "I'm just getting settled down into feeling that I'm ready for marriage. Before, I felt that I wasn't ready."[165]
In the spring of 1954, she told a journalist:
I think it is wonderful to work. I dedicate more time now than ever to study. I really like to delve deeply into the characters and the stories in order to make the most of each part I play. It seems best to remain free of any serious romantic attachments under these circumstances. I will have to meet an exceptional and understanding person, indeed, before I think of marriage. I haven't met such a person yet.[102]
De Carlo metstuntman Robert Drew "Bob" Morgan on the set ofShotgun in 1955, but he was married and had a child, daughter Bari Lee,[166] and De Carlo had "no intention of causing that marriage to break up."[167] However, they met again, after the death of Morgan's wife, on the set ofThe Ten Commandments in Egypt,[168] where they "seemed immediately attracted to each other."[113] They were married on November 21, 1955, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church inReno, Nevada.[169][170] De Carlo raised Bari as her own and had two sons with Morgan: Bruce Ross, whose godfather wasCecil B. DeMille;[107][171] and Michael.[citation needed]
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Bob Morgan was seriously injured and almost died while performing a stunt in the filmHow the West Was Won (1962).[172] Toward the end of the film, a gunfight occurs on a moving train between the marshal and a gang of train robbers.[173] Doubling forGeorge Peppard, Morgan was told to hold on to a log and sway between two flatcars, one of them carrying several tons of timber.[173] The chains holding the logs together snapped, and Morgan was crushed by the falling logs.[173] He was so badly hurt, he needed five years to recover to the point where he was able to move by himself and walk unaided. Because his contract withMGM assumed no responsibility for the accident, De Carlo and Morgan filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against the studio, claiming her husband was permanently disabled.[citation needed]
After the accident, De Carlo worked arduously to support her family and was often away from home, touring with stage productions or performing in nightclubs. Morgan's constant arguing strained their marriage and De Carlo even considered divorcing her husband in 1968.[130] When she returned home after a New Zealand tour ofNo, No, Nanette, she filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.[174] They were divorced in July 1973.[175]
De Carlo, anaturalized citizen of the United States, was an activeRepublican, who campaigned forRichard Nixon,[176]Ronald Reagan,[177] andGerald Ford.[178] In her autobiography, she recounted the time when she "loved to give interviews, and enjoyed being outspoken, or 'good copy,' openly discussing my survival instincts and admitting my to-the-right-of-right politics."[179]
A conservative, she stated in a 1976 television interview with the CBC: "I'm all for men and I think they ought to stay up there and be the bosses, and have women wait on them hand and foot and put their slippers on and hand them the pipe and serve seven-course meals; as long as they open the door, support the woman, and do their duty in the bedroom, et cetera."[180]
De Carlo's maternal grandparents came from distinct religious backgrounds: He wasCatholic and she wasPresbyterian.[19] They raised her as anAnglican; she was a member and chorister of Vancouver'sSt. Paul's Anglican Church.[69]
In May 1945, she told a magazine journalist that her "most prized possession" was a small white-leatherBible, aconfirmation gift from her mother.[181] She also revealed that the role she would like to portray most was Diana inLloyd C. Douglas's 1942 Christian novelThe Robe.[181]
In October 1948, aScreenland writer stated that De Carlo was "doing a slow smoulder" because she "had her heart set on playingDelilah for C. B. De Mille" in his biblical epicSamson and Delilah, but lost the role toHedy Lamarr.[182]
In 1951, during her tour ofIsrael, she visited the village ofCana: "I saw the place whereChristturned the water into wine, and I couldn't help but think that some film company ought to go there and make the real story of the Bible."[183] That same year, she also expressed interest in starring in a biblical film, explaining, "there's nothing dull about the Bible."[184]
In the early 1980s, De Carlo began attending Bible classes with a close friend, Margie Evans.[185] Evans inspired De Carlo to get closer to Christianity: "'You need Jesus,' she said to me. 'You need to take Him into your life and lean on Him.'"[150] In her autobiography, De Carlo also wrote about her faith in God: "God has saved me and mine from some pretty sticky situations. For me, religion is a little like being a Republican or a Democrat. It's not the party that counts, it's the man. […] I elected God a long time ago and I'll stick with Him, because I don't think His term will ever be up."[150] She also said that she prayed whenever she had a problem in life: "I would go to a secluded spot—I'd pray for a solution. I'd also never forget to thank God for my blessings, whatever they were at the time."[150]
De Carlo suffered a minor stroke in 1998. She later became a resident of theMotion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital, inWoodland Hills, where she spent her last years.[186] She died from heart failure on January 8, 2007, and her body was cremated.[187]
In the 1954I Love Lucy episode "Ricky's Screen Test", Lucy reads in a newspaper that MGM is considering several Hollywood actresses, including Yvonne De Carlo, for the female lead role in Ricky's filmDon Juan.[198]
In the 1955 comedy filmHow to Be Very, Very Popular,Charles Coburn says, "He's been in the East somewhere. Arabia, Persia, one of those Yvonne De Carlo countries."[199] De Carlo was famous for her roles in films with aNorth African/Middle Eastern setting, such asSong of Scheherazade,Casbah,The Desert Hawk, andHotel Sahara.
The seething sensuality boils over in a frenzied Latin-dance duet for De Carlo and the camera, abetted by the playing of Esy Morales's band and the dancing of the uncredited Tony Curtis, in his first film.
Impressed with her large vocal range ...
Obituaries
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