Arlene Dahl

Acting career

Early career A year after graduation from high school, Dahl lived in Chicago, where she worked as a buyer for Marshall and Brown. She then traveled to New York City and worked as a model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, where she successfully auditioned for a part in the musical Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston in 1945. This led to her gaining the lead in another play, Questionable Ladies, which was seen by a talent scout from Hollywood. She remained there to play the female lead in the Red Skelton comedy A Southern Yankee (1948).

MGM gave Dahl the lead in several B movies, such as Inside Straight (1951) and No Questions Asked (1951), both of which flopped.

Adventure films

Dahl was hired by Pine-Thomas Productions to a multiple-picture contract. She was cast in Caribbean Gold (1952), a swashbuckler starring John Payne.

She went to Universal-International to co-star with Alan Ladd in a French Foreign Legion story, Desert Legion (1953); then Pine-Thomas used her again in Jamaica Run (1953) and Sangaree (1953). The latter starred Fernando Lamas, whom Dahl later married.

She supported Bob Hope in the comedy Here Come the Girls (1953). Dahl and Lamas reunited on The Diamond Queen (1953) at Warner Bros. In 1953, Dahl played Roxanne on stage in a short-lived revival of Cyrano de Bergerac opposite Jose Ferrer.

Dahl played the ambitious Carol Talbot in Woman's World (1954) at Fox, and she was Rock Hudson's leading lady in Universal's adventure war film Bengal Brigade (1954).

She began writing a syndicated beauty column in 1952,

Dahl was both a mystery guest (April 25, 1954) and a panelist on the CBS game show What's My Line?. In 1953, she hosted ABC's anthology series The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse.

John Payne and Dahl were reunited in a film noir, Slightly Scarlet (1956), alongside Rhonda Fleming, another red-haired star.

Dahl made some films in England for Columbia: Wicked as They Come (1956) and Fortune Is a Woman (1957). In 1957, she sued Columbia for $1 million, saying the film's advertisements for Wicked as They Come were "lewd" and "degraded" her. A judge threw out the suit.

Dahl hosted the short-lived television series Opening Night (1958) and had the female lead in the adventure movie Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), opposite James Mason and Pat Boone. She fainted from doing the whirlpool scene in the latter, but it turned out to be one of her most successful films.

1960s In 1960, she appeared in the TV series Riverboat in the role of Lucy Belle in the episode "That Taylor Affair". The same year, she married Texas oilman Christian Holmes and announced her retirement from acting. The marriage did not last, but Dahl increasingly diversified her work to become a lecturer and beauty consultant while she continued acting.

She had a supporting role in Kisses for My President (1964) and appeared in Land Raiders (1969), The Pleasure Pit (1969), and the French film Du blé en liasses. She also appeared on TV in Burke's Law and Theatre of Stars.

Her focus by now was on business. After closing her company in 1967, she began serving as vice president at the advertising agency Kenyon and Eckhardt that same year.

1970s Dahl also returned to Broadway in the early 1970s, replacing Lauren Bacall in the role of Margo Channing in Applause.

On television, she had a role on the soap opera One Life to Live and guest-starred on Love, American Style, Jigsaw John, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. She also made a TV movie, The Deadly Dream (1971). "I like acting," she said in 1978, "but I had better like business better or I'll lose my shirt."

1980s and 1990s

In 1981, Dahl declared personal bankruptcy, with liabilities of almost $1 million and assets of only $623,970. Her chief creditor was the U.S. Small Business Administration, which guaranteed a $450,000 loan for her as an executive in a cosmetics firm. She had lost $163,000 from burglaries of jewelry and furs from her Manhattan apartment, and she earned only $11,367 in 1980 and $10,517 in 1979.

Dahl appeared on ABC's soap opera One Life to Live from 1981 to 1984 as Lucinda Schenck Wilson. The character was planned as a short-term role (she guest-starred from late 1981 to early 1982 and in late 1982), but Dahl later was offered a one-year contract to appear on the series from September 1983 to October 1984. In 1988, she starred in the film A Place to Hide.

Her last feature film role, which followed a hiatus of more than two decades, was in Night of the Warrior (1991). It co-starred her son Lorenzo Lamas.

She entered the field of astrology in the 1980s, writing a syndicated column and later operating a premium phoneline company.

Personal life Dahl had six husbands:

Actor Lex Barker: They met in the early 1950s, wed on April 16, 1951, and divorced the following year (Barker later married Lana Turner). Actor Fernando Lamas: They married in 1954. In 1958, Dahl and Lamas had their only child, Lorenzo Lamas. Shortly after giving birth to Lorenzo, Dahl slowed and eventually ended her career as an actress, although she still appeared in films and on television occasionally. Dahl and Lamas divorced in 1960. Christian R. Holmes: He was heir to the Fleischmann yeast fortune and an oilman. They married on October 15, 1960, and had one child, Dahl's only daughter. Holmes and she were divorced November 29, 1963. Russian wine writer and entrepreneur Alexis Lichine. They were married from 1964 to 1969. TV producer/yacht broker Rounsevelle W. "Skip" Schaum: Her second son was born during this marriage. Packaging designer Marc Rosen: They were married from 1984 until her death.

She has nine grandchildren (including AJ Lamas and Shayne Lamas) and two great-grandchildren.

Filmography

Television work Year Title Role Notes 1953–1954 The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse Host1954–1955 Lux Video Theatre Ilsa Lund Episodes: "Casablanca" and "September Affair" The Ford Television Theatre Mary McNeil/Jody Hill 2 episodes 1958 Opening Night Host (canceled after a few weeks) 1963–1965 Burke's Law Princess Kortzoff/Eva Martinelli/Gloria Cooke/Maggie French 4 episodes 1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Valerie Episode: "Perilous Time" 1971 The Deadly Dream Connie Television movie 1976 Jigsaw John Episode: "Sand Trap" 1979–1987 The Love Boat Monica Cross/Natalie Martin/Ellen Kirkwood/Jessica York 4 episodes 1981 Fantasy Island Amelia Shelby 1 Episode 1981–1984 One Life to Live Lucinda Schenk Wilson 1995–1997 Renegade Virginia Biddle/Elaine Carlisle 2 episodes 1995 All My Children Lady Lucille 1999 Air America Cynthia Garland Episode: "Eye of the Storm"

Radio appearances Year !! Program !! Episode/source