Rhonda Fleming 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.
34 Facts About Rhonda Fleming
2.
Rhonda Fleming began working as a film actress while attending Beverly Hills High School, from which she graduated in 1941.
3.
Rhonda Fleming was discovered by the well-known Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who changed her name to "Rhonda Fleming".
4.
Rhonda Fleming signed me to a seven-year contract without a screen test.
5.
Rhonda Fleming had bit parts in In Old Oklahoma, Since You Went Away for Selznick, and in When Strangers Marry.
6.
Rhonda Fleming received her first substantial role in the thriller, Spellbound, produced by Selznick and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
7.
Rhonda Fleming's first leading role came in Adventure Island, a low-budget action film made for Pine-Thomas Productions at Paramount Pictures in the two-color Cinecolor process and co-starring fellow Selznick contractee Rory Calhoun.
8.
Rhonda Fleming then auditioned for the female lead in a Bing Crosby film, a part Deanna Durbin turned down at Paramount in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, a musical loosely based on the story by Mark Twain.
9.
Rhonda Fleming exhibited her singing ability, dueting with Crosby on "Once and For Always" and soloing with "When Is Sometime".
10.
Rhonda Fleming then played another leading role opposite a comedian, in this case Bob Hope, in The Great Lover.
11.
Rhonda Fleming sang on NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour during the same live telecast that featured Errol Flynn, on September 30,1951, from the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.
12.
Rhonda Fleming was top-billed for Sam Katzman's The Golden Hawk with Sterling Hayden, then was reunited with Reagan for Tropic Zone at Pine-Thomas.
13.
In 1953, Rhonda Fleming portrayed Cleopatra in Katzman's Serpent of the Nile for Columbia.
14.
Rhonda Fleming went to Universal for Yankee Pasha with Jeff Chandler.
15.
Rhonda Fleming traveled to Italy to play Semiramis in Queen of Babylon.
16.
Rhonda Fleming was part of a gospel singing quartet with Jane Russell, Connie Haines, and Beryl Davis.
17.
Rhonda Fleming was reunited with Payne and fellow redhead Arlene Dahl in a noir at RKO, Slightly Scarlet.
18.
Rhonda Fleming did other thrillers that year; The Killer Is Loose with Joseph Cotten and Fritz Lang's While the City Sleeps, co-starring Dana Andrews, at RKO.
19.
Rhonda Fleming was top billed in an adventure movie for Warwick Films, Odongo.
20.
Rhonda Fleming had the female lead in John Sturges's Gunfight at the OK.
21.
Rhonda Fleming supported Donald O'Connor in The Buster Keaton Story and Stewart Granger in Gun Glory at MGM.
22.
In May 1957, Rhonda Fleming launched a nightclub act at the Tropicana in Las Vegas.
23.
Rhonda Fleming was Guy Madison's co star in Bullwhip for Allied Artists, and supported Jean Simmons in Home Before Dark, which she later called her favorite role.
24.
Rhonda Fleming was reunited with Bob Hope in Alias Jesse James and did an episode of Wagon Train.
25.
Rhonda Fleming travelled to Italy again to make The Revolt of the Slaves and was second billed in The Crowded Sky.
26.
In 1958, Fleming again displayed her singing talent when she recorded her only LP, entitled simply Rhonda.
27.
On March 4,1962, Rhonda Fleming appeared in one of the last segments of ABC's Follow the Sun in a role opposite Gary Lockwood.
28.
Rhonda Fleming played a Marine in the episode, "Marine of the Month".
29.
In December 1962, Rhonda Fleming was cast as the glamorous Kitty Bolton in the episode, "Loss of Faith", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.
30.
Rhonda Fleming worked for several charities, especially in the field of cancer care, and served on the committees of many related organizations.
31.
In 1964, Rhonda Fleming spoke at the "Project Prayer" rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
32.
Rhonda Fleming was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.
33.
Rhonda Fleming died on October 14,2020, in Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, California, at the age of 97.
34.
Rhonda Fleming is interred at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.