Happy 80th Birthday Mamie Van Doren

Joan Lucille Olander was born on February 6, 1931. The family moved to Sioux City, Iowa and then to Los Angeles, California. In 1946 Joan got a job as an usher at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and in 1947 she had a small part on a TV show. She then became a singer in the Ted Fio Rito Band and began entering beauty contests. At eighteen she became Miss Palm Springs in 1949. In the audience was Howard Hughes who offered Joan a movie contract with RKO where she appeared in several films. Her uncredited debut was in 1951's “Jet Pilot” which was not released until 1957. Also in 1951 Her portrait was painted by Alberto Vargas and appeared on the cover of Esquire magazine. Joan she switched gears and began a career on the stage. Seen by Phil Benjamin a casting director at Universal International and signed to another film contract at Universal Studios. Her signing day occurred the day of President Eisenhower so she Joan was given the name Mamie for Ike’s wife and her career as Mamie Van Doren’s was launched. Universal was hoping to make Mamie another Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield. She appeared in several bad girl films with such actors as Tony Cutris, Jeff Chandler, and Clint Eastwood. Some of her noted early films were “Teacher’s Pet”, “Born Reckless”, “High School Confidential” all in 1958 and “The Beat Generation”, “Girls Town” both in 1959, “The Private Life of Adam and Eve” and “Sex Kittens Go to College” (1960). Her career was stuck in B-films and her contract at Universal was not renewed.. She posed for Playboy in 1963, she developed a nightclub act and did live theater. She made TV appearances and visited U.S. troops in Vietnam twice during the war. In the 1970s she appeared in a Las Vegas act. She’s continued to keep her name in the media by writing her autobiography “Playing the Field” (1987) and appearing at film conventions and maintaining a website. She’s recently completed an CD “Troublemaker”. Mamie appeared in two Euo-westerns “The Sheriff was a Lady (1964) with singer Freddy Quinn and “The Arizona Kid” (1971) with Chiquito and Gordon Mitchell. Mamie even gets to sing the song “San Francisco” in “The Arizona Kid”. Mamie has been married five times, once to band leader and musician Ray Anthony [1922- ] (1955-1961). Today we celebrate Mamie Van Doren’s 80th birthday.