Dorothy Lamour

Few Golden Age actresses looked better in a sarong than Dorothy Lamour, but the New Orleans native had more to offer the entertainment world than just her striking multinational beauty. She began her entertainment career as a singer and it was in that capacity that she first attracted the attention of Hollywood. Lamour found early fame in the adventure yarns "The Jungle Princess" (1936) and "The Hurricane" (1937), and proved to be an appealing romantic interest for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in "Road to Singapore" (1940). The success of the latter launched a popular series of "Road" movies and Lamour soon found herself known as "The Sarong Girl," even though she only sported one in six of her more than 50 films. She proved to be a capable dramatic performer in efforts like Johnny Apollo" (1940) and "A Medal for Benny" (1945) and was also a hugely popular WWII pin-up girl, yet usually still managed to seem a wholesome and socially acceptable object of desire for the hero. After starting a family, Lamour's output slowed, though she kept her hand in showbiz via both big and small screen appearances and a latter day Broadway debut in the cast of "Oh Captain!" (1958). Audiences gravitated towards Lamour most warmly when she was cast in comedic pictures, but her proven facility in other sorts of roles and notable abilities as a singer demonstrated that she was a lady of considerable talents.