Mona Freeman
Mona Freeman | |
|---|---|
 Mona Freeman in That Brennan Girl (1946) | |
| Born | Monica Elizabeth Freeman June 9, 1926 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | May 23, 2014 (aged 87) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, painter |
| Years active | 1944–1972 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 1 |
Monica Elizabeth "Mona" Freeman (June 9, 1926 – May 23, 2014) was an American actress and painter.[1] Her daughter, Monie Ellis (born 1947), became an actress as well.[2]
Early years
Freeman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Pelham, New York.[3] A lumberman's daughter,[4] she was a model while in high school, and was selected the first "Miss Subways" of the New York City transit system in 1940.[5][6]
Career
Paramount Pictures signed Freeman to a contract after she moved to Hollywood.[5] She eventually signed a movie contract with Howard Hughes.[7]
Her contract was later sold to Paramount Pictures. Her first film appearance was in the 1944 film Till We Meet Again.[3] She became a popular teenage movie star. After a series of roles as a pretty, naive teenager she complained of being typecast.[3]
As an adult, Freeman's career slowed and she appeared in mostly B-movies, though an exception was her role in the film noir Angel Face (1952). She also co-starred in the hit film Jumping Jacks with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1952, she was called a "vest pocket Venus" by sculptor Yucca Salamunich because her proportions were the same as those of the Venus de Milo but three-quarter size.[citation needed]
Freeman's appearances in films ended in the 1950s but she continued to work in television. Among her appearances were seven guest roles on The United States Steel Hour from 1960–1962 and three on Perry Mason, all of them roles as Mason's client: Jane Wardman in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Lurid Letter", Rosanne Ambrose in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Illicit Illusion", and Ellen Payne in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat".
Freeman was also a portrait painter and after 1961, she concentrated on painting. Her best-known portrait is that of businesswoman Mary See, founder of See's Candies.[3]
Personal life and death
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945.[3][8] The couple had one daughter, Mona.[3] They divorced in 1952.[8] In 1961 she married H. Jack Ellis,[3] a businessman from Los Angeles.[5]
Freeman died on May 23, 2014 at the age of 87 after a long illness at her Beverly Hills home.[3]
Partial filmography
- Together Again (1944)
- Roughly Speaking (1945)
- Junior Miss (1945)
- Danger Signal (1945)
- Black Beauty (1946)
- That Brennan Girl (1946)
- Dear Ruth (1947)
- Mother Wore Tights (1947)
- Isn't It Romantic? (1948)
- Streets of Laredo (1949)
- The Heiress (1949)
- Dear Wife (1949)
- Copper Canyon (1950)
- Branded (1950)
- I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
- Darling, How Could You! (1951)
- Dear Brat (1951)
- Jumping Jacks (1952)
- Thunderbirds (1952)
- Angel Face (1953)
- Before I Wake (1954)
- Battle Cry (1955)
- The Road to Denver (1955)
- Huk! (1956)
- Hold Back the Night (1956)
- Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)
Partial television credits
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (2 episodes)
- "The Fourth Headstone" (1958)
- "Breakout" (1959)
- Wagon Train
- "The Monty Britton Story" (1958), as Betty Britton
- The Red Skelton Hour (2 episodes)
- "San Fernando's Singing Sensation" (1958)
- "Freddie Gets a Job" (1959)
- Pursuit
- "Calculated Risk" (1958), as Nina Hodges
- Playhouse 90 (3 episodes)
- "Sizeman and Son" (1956)
- "Three Men on a Horse" (1957)
- "The Long March" (1958)
- The DuPont Show with June Allyson
- "The Pledge" (1959), as Sandra McAllen
- Maverick (2 episodes)
- "The Cats Of Paradise" (1959), as Modesty Blaine
- "The Cruise of the Cynthia B" (1960), as Modesty Blaine
- Johnny Ringo
- "Mrs. Ringo" (1960), as Marilyn Barber
- Perry Mason (3 episodes)
- "The Case of the Lurid Letter" (1962)
- "The Case of the Illicit Illusion" (1964)
- "The Case of the 12th Wildcat" (1965)
References
- ^ Lamparski, Richard (July 1, 1982). Whatever became of-- ?: eighth series: the best (updated) and newest of the famous Lamparski profiles of personalities of yesteryear. Crown Publishers. p. 110. ISBN 9780517548554. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ^ "Mona Freeman - The Private Life and Times of Mona Freeman". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chawkins, Steve (June 6, 2014). "Film star Mona Freeman, typecast as teen in '40s and '50s, dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
- ^ "Greetings". Mexico Ledger. Missouri, Mexico. June 8, 1951. p. 6. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Lentz, Harris M. III (2015). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2014. McFarland. ISBN 9780786476664. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ Frost, Natasha. "The Miss Subways Pageant Charted the Highs and Lows of 20th-Century Feminism in New York: From a 1940s beauty queen to a 2017 performance artist". Retrieved October 10, 2017.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 90 (help) - ^ Ilnytzky, Ula (October 12, 2012). "Decades of Miss Subways smiled on NYC straphangers". Associated Press. Retrieved June 10, 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|subscription=ignored (|url-access=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Mona Freeman". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Gale. 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
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External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1926 births
- 2014 deaths
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- American portrait painters
- American women painters
- Actresses from New York (state)
- Artists from New York (state)
- Painters from New York (state)
- Paramount Pictures contract players
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century American painters
- 20th-century women artists