Faith Domergue

Faith Marie Domergue (; June 16, 1924, or 1925 – April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age 16 by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes's RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.

Domergue appeared in science fiction and horror pictures, such as Cult of the Cobra, This Island Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and The Atomic Man, all released in 1955, earning her a reputation as an early "scream queen". Domergue's later career consisted of B movies, television guest roles, and European productions.

Early life Domergue was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 16, 1924 or 1925 (sources differ). She was adopted by Adabelle Quimet when six weeks old. When Faith was 18 months old, Adabelle married Leo Domergue.

The family moved to California in 1928, where Domergue attended Beverly Hills Catholic School and St. Monica's Convent School. While a sophomore at University High School, she signed a contract with Warner Bros., and made her first on-screen appearance with an uncredited walk-on role in Blues in the Night (1941). The same year, she appeared on the cover of Photoplay as Faith Dorn; the name change, she later claimed, was "because Jack Warner was too stupid to pronounce Domergue".

Career

1943–1950: Early work; Howard Hughes

After graduating in 1942, Domergue continued to pursue a career in acting, but after sustaining injuries in a near-fatal car accident, her plans were put on hold. While recuperating from the accident, she attended a party aboard Howard Hughes' yacht. Enamored with her, Hughes bought out her contract with Warner Bros., signed her to a three-picture deal with RKO, and cast her in the thriller Vendetta (1950). The film had a long and troubled production history, with reshoots and several changes of director, further exacerbated by Hughes's health problems following a near-fatal plane crash he endured in July 1946. The production extended over four years and cost $3.5 million.

By the time of Vendettas premiere in 1950, Domergue had left Los Angeles for Palm Springs, and was pregnant with her second child. After the film's release, Domergue separated from Hughes, disappointed with the way the film and her career had been handled: "I was told he spent five million dollars publicizing me", she said, "but [the] film was[n’t properly] released. It was all wasted." The critical reception was also dismissive. The New York Times panned the film as "a garrulous, slow, and obvious period piece, weighed down by a profusion of exotic accents, undistinguished dialogue, and unconvincing play acting... set against a background of the wild, Corsican countryside, which does give the picture an atmosphere of suspenseful authenticity". The review damned Domergue's performance with faint praise: "Faith Domergue, the heralded newcomer, is less than a fiery heroine. But despite the flamboyant lines that are her lot, the attractive Miss Domergue does occasionally contribute genuine emotional acting to the proceedings."

1951–1959: Universal and science-fiction films After having lived briefly in England with her husband, Domergue returned to the United States in 1953, when she signed a contract with Universal Pictures. Her final credit for RKO was the drama This Is My Love (1954), which was shot after the release of her first film with Universal, The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), in which she appeared opposite Audie Murphy.

In 1955, Domergue appeared in another Western, Santa Fe Passage, playing an ammunition retailer opposite John Payne and George Keymas. Domergue then appeared in a series of science-fiction, monster, and horror films. The first of these was Cult of the Cobra (Universal Pictures 1955), in which six American Air Force officers discover a cult of snake worshippers. This was followed with a role in Columbia Pictures's It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), a science-fiction, monster film that was a major commercial success, grossing $1.7 million at the box office. The following year, Domergue starred in This Island Earth (also 1955), Universal's first color science-fiction film. The film received moderate critical praise for its performances, writing, and inventive special effects.

Domergue appeared in a string of European productions: the British science-fiction film The Atomic Man (1955), directed by Ken Hughes; British noir films Soho Incident (1956) and Man in the Shadow (1957), released in the United States as Violent Stranger; and the Italian production, The Sky Burns (1958).

1960–1974: Late career and retirement In the late 1950s and 1960s, she made many appearances on television series, including Sugarfoot, two episodes of Hawaiian Eye, two episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, two episodes of Bonanza, The Rifleman, and two episodes of Perry Mason. In her first Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Guilty Clients" (1961), she played murderer Conception O'Higgins, and in "The Case of the Greek Goddess" (1963), she played murder victim Cleo Grammas.

By the late 1960s, Domergue was appearing mainly in low-budget "B" horror movies and European productions. Domergue's last foray in science fiction was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), an American version of a Russian film, mainly backed by Russian producers and populated with Russian actors. She began traveling to Italy in 1952, living in Rome for extended periods. She relocated to Europe permanently in 1968, moving from Rome to Geneva, Switzerland, and Marbella, Spain, until the death of her Italian husband, Paolo, in 1991. In the late 1960s, she appeared in several Italian giallo films, including Lucio Fulci's One on Top of the Other (1969), and Alberto De Martino's The Man with Icy Eyes (1971). Her final film credit was for The House of Seven Corpses (1974), an independent horror film shot in Salt Lake City.

Personal life In 1942, Domergue began an intermittent relationship with Howard Hughes. After she discovered that Hughes was also seeing Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, the couple broke up in 1943.

On January 28, 1946, Domergue married bandleader Teddy Stauffer at the San Diego Superior Courthouse. On October 8, 1947, hours after divorcing Stauffer in Ciudad Juárez, she married director Hugo Fregonese there. The couple separated twice before Domergue was granted an uncontested divorce on June 24, 1958. Domergue and Fregonese had two children: Their first child, Diana Maria, was born on January 1, 1949, in Buenos Aires, and their second child, John Anthony, was born on August 22, 1951, in Los Angeles. John, who later became an urban planner, died on his mother's birthday in 2018 at his Portland, Oregon home.

In 1966, she married director Paolo Cossa, with whom she remained until his death in 1992.

In popular culture In the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic film The Aviator, Domergue was played by Kelli Garner.

Filmography

Film Year Title RoleNotes 1941 Dancing in a Harem Dancer Short film; credited as Faith Dorn Blues in the Night Jitterbug Uncredited1946 Young Widow Gerry Taylor Alternative title: The Naughty Widow 1949 Hardly a Criminal Woman in casino 1950 Where Danger Lives Margo Lannington Vendetta Colomba della Rabia 1952 Opal Lacy Alternative title: Claim Jumpers 1953 Joan Britton 1954 This Is My Love Evelyn Myer 1955 Santa Fe Passage Aurelie St. Clair Cult of the Cobra Lisa Moya It Came from Beneath the Sea Professor Lesley Joyce Alternative title: Monster from Beneath the Sea This Island Earth Dr. Ruth Adams Timeslip Jill Rabowski Alternative title: The Atomic Man 1956 Soho Incident Bella Francesi Alternative title: Spin a Dark Web1957 Man in the Shadow Barbara Peters Alternative title: Violent Stranger1958 Anna Alternative title: Il Cielo brucia1959 Escort West Martha Drury 1963 California Carlotta Torres1965 Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet Dr. Marsha Evans Additional material only, dubbed version of the Soviet film Planeta Bur (1962)1967 Track of Thunder Mrs. Goodwin 1969 One on Top of the Other Martha Alternative titles: Una sull'altra, Perversion Story Besieged Lorenzo's mother Alternative title: 1970 Signora Del Isolla 1971 Blood Legacy Veronica Dean Alternative title: Legacy of Blood Mrs. Valdes Alternative title: L'Uomo dagli occhi di ghiaccio 1974 So Evil, My Sister Millie Alternative titles: Psycho SistersThe Siblings Gayle Dorian

Television Year(s) Title RoleNotes 1953 Laurie Rogers 1 episode 1953–1954 Lux Video Theatre 2 episodes 1954 Fireside Theatre 2 episodes 1954 Ford Theatre 1 episode 1954–1958 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars 2 episodes 1955 Celebrity Playhouse 1 episode 1956 Renee Morrell 1 episode 1957 Overseas Press Club – Exclusive! Helen Zotos 1 episode 1959 Sugarfoot Isabel Starkey 1 episode 1959 State Trooper 2 episodes 1959 Bourbon Street Beat Susan Wood 1 episode 1959 Cheyenne Maria 1 episode 1959–1961 Hawaiian Eye 2 episodes 1960 Colt .45 Suzanne Tremaine 1 episode 1960 Bronco Catalina 1 episode 1960 Michael Shayne Kara 1 episode 1961 77 Sunset Strip Gretchen Jervis 1 episode 1961 Kate Elder 1 episode 1961 Lock-Up Marianne 1 episode 1961–1963 Perry Mason 2 episodes 1961–1964 Bonanza 2 episodes 1962–1963 Have Gun – Will Travel 2 episodes 1966 Combat! Madame Fouchet 1 episode 1968 Garrison's Gorillas Carla 1 episode