1. 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.
36 Facts About Rhonda Fleming
1. 2.
Rhonda Fleming began working as a film actress while attending Beverly Hills High School, graduating in 1941.
3.
Rhonda Fleming was discovered by the well-known Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who changed her name from Marilyn Louis 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 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 produced for Pine-Thomas Productions at Paramount Pictures in the two-color Cinecolor process and costarring fellow Selznick contract player Rory Calhoun.
8.
Rhonda Fleming auditioned for the female lead in the Bing Crosby film 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 next starred with Bob Hope in the hit film The Great Lover, which established her as a star.
11.
In 1950 Rhonda Fleming portrayed John Payne's love interest in the Western film The Eagle and the Hawk.
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 a member of a gospel singing quartet along 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 appeared in other thrillers that year: The Killer Is Loose with Joseph Cotten and Fritz Lang's While the City Sleeps, costarring Dana Andrews, at RKO.
19.
Rhonda Fleming was top-billed in an adventure film for Warwick Films, Odongo.
20.
Rhonda Fleming played the female lead in John Sturges's hit film 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 began performing a successful nightclub act at the Tropicana in Las Vegas.
23.
Rhonda Fleming was Guy Madison's costar in Bullwhip for Allied Artists and supported Jean Simmons in Home Before Dark in a role that she later considered her favorite.
24.
Rhonda Fleming was reunited with Bob Hope in Alias Jesse James and appeared on an episode of Wagon Train.
25.
Rhonda Fleming traveled to Italy again to film The Revolt of the Slaves and was second-billed in The Crowded Sky.
26.
In 1960, Rhonda Fleming described herself as "semi-retired," having earned money through real-estate investments.
27.
On September 30,1951, Rhonda Fleming sang live on NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour, broadcast from the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.
28.
On March 4,1962, Rhonda Fleming appeared in one of the final segments of ABC's Follow the Sun in a role opposite Gary Lockwood.
29.
Rhonda Fleming played a Marine in the episode titled "Marine of the Month".
30.
In December 1962, Rhonda Fleming was cast as the glamorous Kitty Bolton in the episode "Loss of Faith" of the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.
31.
Rhonda Fleming worked for several charities, especially in the field of cancer care, and served on the committees of many related organizations.
32.
In 1964, Rhonda Fleming spoke at the Project Prayer rally attended by 2,500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
33.
Rhonda Fleming was interred in the plot of her fifth husband, Ted Mann, at the Jewish Hillside Memorial park in Culver City, California upon her death.
34.
Rhonda Fleming's obituary mentioned that she had been a "faithful and devoted Christian".
35.
Rhonda Fleming was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.
36.
Rhonda Fleming died on October 14,2020, due to complications from aspiration pneumonia at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica at the age of 97.