Mamie Van Doren (; born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) she is one of the "Three M's", a group formed by Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were contemporaries. In 1953, Van Doren, then named Joan Lucille Olander, signed a seven-year contract with Universal, which hoped that she would be their version of Monroe. She starred in teen dramas, exploitation, musical, comedy, and rock and roll films, among other genres, many of which have gone on to become cult classics. She was one of the leading sex symbols in the 1950s.

Van Doren was born and raised in Rowena, South Dakota, but her parents moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and eventually to Los Angeles in 1942 before she married Jack Newman. In 1949, at the age of eighteen, she won Miss Palm Springs and Miss Eight Ball. As Miss Eight Ball, she was discovered by film producer Howard Hughes, who put her in the RKO films His Kind of Woman (1951), Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), and Jet Pilot (1957) in minor roles. In 1950 she was dating the heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey, over thirty-five years her senior, in New York City and was engaged to him. However, she left him to go back to Los Angeles. On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal, who wanted her to be Universal's equivalent of Monroe. While at Universal, Van Doren changed her name to Mamie Van Doren, the "Mamie" from then–First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and the "Van Doren" from Universal's telling Van Doren she was more Dutch than Swedish.

During her time at Universal, Van Doren starred in movies such as The Second Greatest Sex (1955), Running Wild (1955), and The All American (1953). Outside of Universal she starred in Untamed Youth (1957), Teacher's Pet (1958), High School Confidential (1958), Born Reckless (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), and Sex Kittens Go To College (1960). She starred on television shows such as What's My Line?, The Jack Benny Program, and The Bob Cummings Show. After Universal failed to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren struggled to find work as a free agent. She starred in many B movies, such as Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), In 1998, she created her website, describing herself as “the first authentic kitten on Cyberspace". She released her most recent book, China & Me, in 2022, and has recently begun writing a third autobiography, Secrets of the Goddess.

Early life

thumb|Mamie Van Doren at 13 years old

Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander on February 6, 1931, in Rowena, South Dakota, nine miles out of Sioux Falls. She is of three-quarters Swedish and mixed Irish and German descent. Van Doren's father, Warner Olander, worked at a rock quarry, being paid $0.35 cents a load, sometimes earning $7.00 in a day. According to Van Doren, the town consisted of a church, school, railroad station, and a connected filling station, grocery store, a grain elevator, and a hardware store owned by her great-uncle. She described in her memoir that her grandmother, whom she called "Dah", was an important household figure, while her grandfather, "Pa", would take Van Doren into town weekly. She claimed having had a temperature of 106 °F (41.1 °C), yet maintained her grandmother still brought her to school because she wanted to be by herself on the ranch. In May 1942 when Van Doren was 11, her family moved to Los Angeles. After staying at a boarding house, Van Doren and her family moved to an apartment on Raymond Avenue, where Van Doren had to sneak through the door. Van Doren and her family soon moved to a bigger apartment.

According to Van Doren, a man exposed his penis to her while she was in a car heading to her home. In her 1964 book, “My Naughty, Naughty Life!,” she recalls the event saying, "For weeks – and occasionally even years later – that man returned to me in my sleep, leaving me a neurotic young girl and even upsetting me as a woman. For several months after that experience, I found myself hating boys and looking upon men as animals. But I'm glad that hatred never lasted."

After her thirteenth birthday, Van Doren was able to convince the manager of Hollywood Pantages Theatre to make her an usherette, which allowed her to watch popular movies for free. Van Doren often spent time at a drugstore, inspired by the myth of the discovery of Lana Turner at Schwab's Pharmacy. At this point, Van Doren had already dyed her hair platinum blonde.

After being commented on by Nils Thor Granlund, known by his initials NTG, that she looked similar to Jean Harlow, she was cast on his Hollywood TV show in a minor role. However, her parents were worried that she would get in trouble and feared that she would go on to be killed like the Black Dahlia, a still unidentified murder victim whom Van Doren claimed was one of their closest friends. Despite that, Van Doren went on Granlund's show, coated in white pancake makeup and brown lipstick. Van Doren stated that Granlund's show was a prototype of the modern talk show. While making the show, she was known as Little Joanie, the Flower Girl. Van Doren and her mother became friends with Granlund. Van Doren recalls that he was controlling when they dated. She maintained in a 2005 interview that Hughes took her to a spot on Vermont Avenue for a braless photoshoot in a white sweater. Van Doren would often meet Howard Hughes at the Garden of Allah Hotel. Her line of dialogue consisted of one word, "Look!". Van Doren had a small role in Footlight Varieties (1951) as the girl in the theater in the final scene of the film. Van Doren appeared uncredited in Two Tickets to Broadway (1951). The film starred Tony Martin and former co-star Janet Leigh.

In her memoir, Van Doren recollects her relationship with Charles Fischetti, an American mobster and the cousin of Al Capone, whom she met in Las Vegas. Money was often sent to Van Doren from Chicago by Fischetti. Van Doren planned a trip to Chicago to see Fischetti, but she never got to see him due to his sudden death from a heart attack in 1951.

Danielle Cory, an RKO worker and friend of Van Doren, suggested that Van Doren work on stage for the play Billion Dollar Baby, which began her stage career as a showgirl. The show was held at the Proser Cafe Theatre, near Jack Dempsey's restaurant. Cory additionally suggested that Van Doren should audition for Alberto Vargas to be one of the "Vargas Girls" in Esquire.

At the request of Sammy Fain, Van Doren met songwriter Jimmy McHugh. Van Doren would also go to many of McHugh's parties, attended by Darryl F. Zanuck, Louis B. Mayer, and Buddy Adler. This allowed Van Doren to do a screen test for Paramount Pictures.

On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a seven-year contract with Universal. Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the Inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, was given the first name "Mamie" after Eisenhower's wife, Mamie Eisenhower. She was given the last name "Van Doren" after Van Doren was told by the studio that she looked more Dutch than Swedish. Universal had intended for Van Doren to be their "answer to Marilyn Monroe." However, unlike other Marilyn Monroe lookalikes, Van Doren did not portray the "dumb blonde" role in films.

thumb|Photo of "[[Universal Pictures|Universal starlets" in 1954 (from left: Myrna Hansen, Mamie Van Doren, Allison Hayes, Colleen Miller)]]

In January 1953 Van Doren took college courses from professors at University of California while training to be an actress at Universal. She also took lessons for horseback riding, diction, scene study, and ballet. According to Van Doren herself, she had an encounter with Joan Crawford, who "drunkenly tried to flirt with Rock [Hudson]." Midway through the event, Van Doren had a conversation with Monroe while doing her lipstick. In her autobiography, Van Doren describes engaging in sexual activity with Hudson at her parents' house after the event had ended.

1953–1960: Rise to prominence

Van Doren's first major role was in The All American (1953), a college football film directed by Jesse Hibbs. The film centers on a college quarterback whose life takes a turn after his parents die in a car accident. Van Doren later said that Hibbs encouraged her to fondle him and often put her hand at his groin during rehearsals. The film also starred Tony Curtis, Lori Nelson, and Richard Long. In The All American, Van Doren played Susie Ward, an ambitious waitress initially looking to find a wealthy spouse near a university. Due to good reviews from Universal-International executives, Van Doren was sent on tour to promote the film.

Van Doren's second major film was the 1954 film Yankee Pasha. The film was based on Edison Marshall's 1947 novel of the same name, which Universal had recently purchased. Yankee Pasha revolves around a man who sails the ocean, played by Jeff Chandler, to find his true love, a woman forced into slavery, portrayed by Rhonda Fleming. The eight-week shooting schedule exhausted Van Doren, resulting in weight loss. Van Doren has said that she was attracted to Joseph Pevney, director of Yankee Pasha. She had a relationship with him, and Van Doren said that she would embrace Pevney in his office. Universal also let Van Doren go to the 1954 premiere of The Glenn Miller Story with Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., son of Conrad Hilton. Van Doren later entered into a relationship with him. Van Doren has recounted that Conrad Hilton disapproved of her being in a relationship with Nicky Hilton.

Van Doren completely ended her relationship with Hilton while shooting Edward Buzzell's Ain't Misbehavin'<nowiki/> (1955), with Van Doren starring as "Jackie". In the film, Van Doren was cast as a dumb blonde. Van Doren was getting annoyed that she kept getting similar roles. On the set, she met Prince Axel of Denmark. Prince Axel would be in contact with Van Doren and would invite her to several events. But Van Doren was just as well known for her provocative roles. She was in prison for Girls Town (1959), which provoked censors with a shower scene where audiences could see Van Doren's naked back. As Eve in The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960), she wore only fig leaves, and in other films like The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (1959), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), and Vice Raid (1960), audiences understood the nature of the films from the titles.

1959–present: Later career

After Universal Studios chose not to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren became a free agent and struggled to find work. Some of her later movies were foreign and independent productions, which did little to keep her image in the public's eye. Many of the productions were low-budget B movies with some having gained a cult following for their high camp value.

The first of these later films was Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), which co-starred Tuesday Weld and Mijanou Bardot, sister of sultry French actress Brigitte Bardot. Following the completion of the Argentine film The Blonde from Buenos Aires (1961), Van Doren took time off from her career. She came back in The Candidate (1964), soon followed by Freddy in the Wild West, both of which were low-budget films that made little impact. In 1964, Tommy Noonan convinced Van Doren to appear in 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt. Van Doren had turned down Noonan's previous offer to star opposite Jayne Mansfield in Promises! Promises! and was replaced with Marie McDonald. In 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, Mamie did a beer-bath scene but is not seen nude. She posed for Playboy to promote the film.

Van Doren next appeared in The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) released by Woolner Brothers. Van Doren's guest appearances on television include Jukebox Jury, What's My Line, The Bob Cummings Show, The Jack Benny Show, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, Vega$ and L.A. Law. Van Doren also developed a nightclub act and did live theater. She performed in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dames at Sea at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago as well as appeared in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and The Tender Trap at the Arlington Park Theater. In the 1970s, Van Doren performed a nightclub act in Las Vegas.

Van Doren has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7057 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2005, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.

Since 2025, Mamie Exposed! The Life and Loves of the Last Blonde Bombshell, a documentary about Van Doren's life and career, has been in production. During the Vietnam War, she did tours for U.S. troops in Vietnam for three months in 1968, and again in 1970. In addition to USO shows, she visited hospitals, including the wards of amputees and burn victims.

thumb|Van Doren at a gay pride parade in Los Angeles in 1987

Van Doren released Playing the Field (1987), her autobiography, which brought much attention and proved to be her biggest media splash in over 25 years. She has consistently denied in interviews ever having breast implants. In 2006, Mamie posed for photographs for Vanity Fair with Pamela Anderson as part of its annual Hollywood issue. The same year, she expressed opposition to the Iraq War. In an interview with Fox News in February 2020, Van Doren announced that she was working on a follow-up to her autobiography. She remarked that "...a lot has happened between 1987 and 2020. So now I'm writing about what it's like getting older and appreciating life a little more as you go along, as well as getting smarter as you get older. There's so much to write about." Van Doren practices Buddhism.

The title of her follow-up book was announced in December 2021 as China & Me: Wind Flapping, Feather Pulling, and Love on the Wing, a memoir about her pet parrot China. Van Doren describes the story as "a look behind the curtain into my everyday life. It's often funny, but, like so many things in life, it has its moments of sadness. Over the decades I've integrated a wild animal into a human household, played matchmaker to find him a mate, and cared for his offspring. I'm blessed to have had China as companion, confessor, and straight man all these years; and he's still with me today." The book was published in September 2022.

thumb|left|upright|Van Doren in 2007

In an interview with Closer in January 2021, she reflected on the #MeToo movement, saying 'I've thought a lot about that. There are some things I would question, but I've also always been behind any woman with a problem because I have had plenty of them myself. [In my time] if I wanted to go to bed with someone, I'd go to bed with them, but I never did it for a movie. [A predator] would know that he was in for a fight if he ever came around me. [It would be] nails out, kicking and screaming.'

Van Doren had a website from the late 90s to the early 2010s. Van Doren had a theater section, where she would post various movies. She also showed many nude and semi-nude images taken by Julie Strain. Van Doren started her own blog on which she regularly writes about a very diverse array of topics. As of July 2023 she is still posting to her blog.

and a time when Newman shredded Van Doren's favorite hat.

thumb|229x229px|Van Doren and then-fiancé [[Jack Dempsey at the Stork Club in 1951]]

Before their divorce was finalized, Van Doren began dating 55-year-old boxer Jack Dempsey. They became engaged, but she broke off the relationship after signing with Universal, who urged her to find a younger boyfriend to enhance her image.

Ray Anthony

left|thumb|287x287px|Van Doren and her only son, Perry, in [[Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1960]]

In 1955, Van Doren began a relationship with Ray Anthony, Anthony was in the process of being filmed for Daddy Long Legs (1955). After he finished filming, he went on a vacation to Hawaii with Van Doren. On the short vacation, Van Doren and Anthony often embraced each other while photographers followed the two. The following year, the two welcomed son Perry Ray, who would be Van Doren's only child. He had been conceived before the two married. After his birth, Van Doren moved away from Hollywood, hoping to keep her son away from its obscenities. Van Doren filed for divorce in 1958, citing Anthony's cruelty and long absences, In her memoir, she recalled she had only married him because she had become pregnant by football player Joe Namath and wanted to avoid a scandal. She convinced him to marry her after she lied the baby was his. Eventually, however, the marriage began to crumble; filled with regret and seeing no other option, she aborted the baby. She divorced him in Santa Ana only a year after they married due to his wild personality and drug use; he died shortly after in a car crash.

Filmography

  • Footlight Varieties (1951)
  • His Kind of Woman (1951)
  • Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)
  • Forbidden (1953)
  • The All American (1953)
  • Hawaiian Nights (1954)
  • Yankee Pasha (1954)
  • Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
  • Ain't Misbehavin (1955)
  • The Second Greatest Sex (1955)
  • Running Wild (1955)
  • Star in the Dust (1956)
  • Untamed Youth (1957)
  • The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)
  • Jet Pilot (1957)
  • Teacher's Pet (1958)
  • High School Confidential (1958)
  • Born Reckless (1958)
  • Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959)
  • The Beat Generation (1959)
  • The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (1959)
  • The Big Operator (1959)
  • Girls Town (1959)
  • Vice Raid (1960)
  • College Confidential (1960)
  • Sex Kittens Go to College (1960)
  • The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960)
  • The Blonde from Buenos Aires (1961)
  • The Candidate (1964)
  • Freddy in the Wild West (1964)
  • 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964)
  • The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966)
  • The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)
  • You've Got to Be Smart (1967)
  • Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
  • The Arizona Kid (1970)
  • That Girl from Boston (1975)
  • Free Ride (1986)
  • The Vegas Connection (1999)
  • Slackers (2002)
  • The American Tetralogy (2012)

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Album !! Format !! Label

|-

| 1957 || Untamed Youth || EP || Prep Records

|-

| 1976 || Mamie – As in Mamie Van Doren || LP || Churchill Records

|-

| 1986 || The Girl Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll || LP || Rhino Records

|-

| 1997 || The Girl Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll || CD || Marginal Records

|-

| 2011 || Still a Troublemaker || CD/iTunes || Ferguson Records

|-

| 2017|| Ooh Ba La Baby: Her Exciting Rock N' Roll Recordings (1956–1959)||CD||Hoodoo Records

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Single !! Format !! Label

|-

| 1957 || Salamander/Go, Go, Calypso!||45 rpm||Prep Records

|-

| || Something to Dream About/I Fell in Love||45 rpm||Capitol Records

|-

| 1958 ||Nobody but You/A Lifetime of Love||45 rpm||Dot Records

|-

| ||Don't Fool Around, Sabrina (Be Mine, Be Mine, Be Mine)/Fashion for Ladies||45 rpm||RCA Records (Italy)

|-

| 1959||The Beat Generation/I'm Grateful||45 rpm||Dot Records

|-

| 1964||Bikini with No Top on the Top (with June Wilkinson)/So What Else Is New||45 rpm||Jubilee Records

|-

| 1967||Cabaret/The Boy Catcher's Theme||45 rpm||Audio Fidelity

|-

| 1984||State of Turmoil||12" Single||Corner Stone Records

|-

| 1986||Young Dudes/Queen of Pleasure||12" Single||Rhino Records

|-

| 2024||"I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out/Ich Liebe Dich" (with Pink Martini)||45 rpm||Heinz Records

|-

| 2024||"Ich Liebe Dich" (with Pink Martini)||45 rpm||Heinz Records

|}

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!Year

!Organization

!Category

!Result

!Ref.

|-

| rowspan="2" |1949

|Miss Palm Springs

|

|

|

|-

|1994

|Hollywood Walk of Fame

|Star - Motion Pictures

|

|

|-

|2005

|Palm Springs Walk of the Stars

|Golden Palm Star

|

|

|-

|2025

|Cinecon Classic Film Festival

|Cinecon Legacy Award

|

|

|}

Bibiliography

See also

  • Sex symbol
  • Blonde bombshell
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • Jayne Mansfield
  • Sheree North
  • Tuesday Weld

References

  • Official website (archived)
  • Bombshells away, at Salon, Karen Abbott, July 19, 2000.
  • Mamie Van Doren interview by Sandra Bernhard
  • Facebook page (official)