Jeanne Carmen

A stage dancer on Broadway who later gravitated to fame and success as a pinup model, Jeanne Carmen was born in Arkansas to a family of cotton-pickers. Desiring a change of scene, she ran away from home at age 13, moved to Manhattan, and instantly landed her first role on the Great White Way, in a show called Burlesque starring Bert Lahr (The Wizard of Oz). Carmen subsequently posed for cheesecake photographs in men's magazines and performed golfing stunts before hitting Hollywood and signing for roles in a series of low-rent films including The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1957) and Born Reckless (1959). Along the way, she associated with the Tinseltown elite, and later claimed to have had love affairs with many top-drawer celebrities including Frank Sinatra. Carmen died of lymphoma in December 2007 at age 77.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide