Elder Dataloungers Please tell me all about Hollywood's golden era star Rhonda Fleming

A better picture link

Isn’t that Jeanne Crain at R1?

I had no idea she even existed until I was watching an episode of M*A*S*H* with my great aunt. It was the one where they all end up dying their hair red, for some reason, and Hawkeye sees himself in a mirror and says, "Eat your heart out, Rhonda Fleming." I had to ask my great aunt about her and while I don't remember most of what she answered, I do remember Auntie D saying "starlet" with a bit of a sneer.

No [R2]!!

The Poor Man's Maureen O'Hara.

Fuck her.

Harsh [R5]

The poor man's Arlene Dahl, and visa-versa.

Rhonda Fleming was a popular star in the '40s and '50s, but most of her leading lady roles were in B pictures, while her few A pictures had her in character actress/supporting player roles.

She married six times, four ending in divorce, two in widowhood.

That's a beautiful picture [R8] thanks for the detail [R9] I am surprised she has divorced so many times as I thought I heard that she was a Christian .

[R5] I wonder why she wasn't as big a star as Maureen O'Hara? She certainly has the looks to be a list so what kept her pegged as a b lister? Was she a poor actress?

Rhonda Fleming got pegged as a B Star and stayed there. I'm familiar with her name but not sure if I've ever seen any of her movies.

Rhonda was born in Hollywood, California so she was destined to be a movie star.

She is now 95.

Cheers [R13] That is a decent performance by Rhonda in that clip .

Rhonda's Wiki.....

I figured most people saw her in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" since that's shown on TV all the time.

Liked her with studly Guy Madison in Bullwhip.

In later years Rhonda was featured in a dubious Get Smart movie, The Nude Bomb, which tells you that she had pretty much come to the end of her film career.

I will definitely have to check that out [R18] guy Madison is one damned gorgeous guy!

R20 Guy Madison In Bullwhip with the back of Rhonda's head.

Lee Meriwether was the poor man's Rhonda Fleming.

Thanks [R21] Guy always lights up the screen for me so glad Rhonda got to work with him .

The gorgeous Guy Madison.

She appeared in a cameo in "Won Ton Ton, the Dog That Saved Hollywood" as Rhoda Flaming.

Maureen O'Hara was the one dubbed "The Queen of Technicolor."

I remember her doing a lot of episodic tv in the 60s and 70s. I'm surprised she never wound up on "Murder She Wrote". She seems made for "not dead yet" tv spots.

She had 5 husbands and the last one died last year.

Are you sure [R26]?

They called Lucille "Technicolor Tessie".

I think Guy had a shirtless scene in Bullwhip. Lucky Rhonda!

Fab picture [R29]

She smeared her lipstick above the lip line.

Very unattractive (Marlene did the same).

The poor man's Virginia Mayo.

^ I was about to say the same thing. But, frankly, I think Dahl Mayo and Fleming were all interchangeable B-grade stars.

Dear R11. This woman was not an 'actress'. She was a commodity who, I suspect, was well-acquainted with the Casting Couch.

"Montez! QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR!"

Mayo had lots of co-starring roles in A-list films with people like Bob Hope and Danny Kaye. She had a strong supporting role in The Best Years of Our Lives, for which she won much praise. In the late 1940s she was Warner Bros. top grossing female star. As mentioned above, Fleming rarely starred in anything but B films.

[quote] But, frankly, I think Dahl Mayo and Fleming were all interchangeable B-grade stars.

All interchangeable looks-wise, but Mayo was more A-list, or at least border line A-list.

Mayo appeared in one A-list film when William Wyler chose her to play a prostitute.

All the Hope and Kaye films of the 40s and 50s were major productions from major studios. They were considered A productions. Her other co-stars included Cagney, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Rex Harrison, Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Alan Ladd, George Sanders, etc., etc., etc. A-list co-stars in A= (snf B-) list films. People have pretty well forgotten how big she was at that time.

I'm not saying she was a superstar but she she was much more than just another Queen of the B's.

^ A-list co-stars in A- and B-list films.

For my 30th birthday, my partner took me to see Pony Express when it came out in 1953. I loved this film. My partner and I just rented this off Comcast not too long ago. She retired many years ago, OP.

She wipes back to front and smeared her feces in my trailer!

How very vulgar, Virginia!

She married Ted Mann of Mann Theaters.

I saw Pony Express with my best boyhood friend when I was 10. We were thrilled at Rhonda’s nasty shower scene. We both swore we saw her nipples, which we thought somehow slipped by the censors and the Catholic Ledgue of Decency .

If not for her vaginal odor, she would have been a much bigger star.

R2, yes, that broad at R1 is Crain. Her Hancock is on the pic, ffs.

Rhonda and Arlene played sisters in the color noir "Slightly Scarlet," Arlene the psycho one.

Rhonda's first role was as a nympho (term of the time) in "Spellbound. " She's nasty to Dr. Ingrid.

R32 they ALL did that in the 50s. Invented by a major misogynist.

Rhonda was okay in "Cry Danger," but generally was rather pallid.

I loved Virginia Mayo. Interesting tidbit: Her character cheated on James Cagney in "White Heat" and Dana Andrews in "The Best Years Of Our Lives". Both times she did it with Steve Cochran. (If you saw Steve, you wouldn't blame her!)

I don't think that's Jeanne Crain in the OP.

Jeanne was nondescript, with tiny breasts and added very little to any movie she was in.

Rhonda & Arlene

It always comes down to FOLLIES, r50....

[quote]The poor man's Virginia Mayo.

Virginia Miracle Whip is the poor man's Virginia Mayo.

I think a tag line on one of her movie posters was "Hold the Mayo!"

Bette knew she was too old for Rosa Moline and thought the part should have gone to Virginia Mayo. Wonder what Albee would have ended up with.

[quote] Virginia Miracle Whip is the poor man's Virginia Mayo.

And trust me, you never want to come across Vagina Miracle Whip.

How about Vagina Mayo?

Snatch like a bear trap. It sucked the gold plating off down to the shoulders on my second Academy Award.

Do we know anything about her politics?

She has an actor son named Kent Lane. Very pretty in his youth.

Ronald Reagan was preparing to propose to Rhonda until Nancy informed him that she was pregnant.

Virginia Mayo resembled the Gabor sisters.

R62, how did Nancy know that Rhonda was pregnant? Was it Ronnie's? "Rhonda Reagan" has a nice ring...

Wow [R62] I've not heard that before. A revelation.

Near the end, her lady parts were not that fresh..

Rhonda was a big girl. Ronnie's got his hands full in that pic.

[quote]How about Vagina Mayo?

It goes great on a lady ham sandwich.

Does she still manage to get out and about at film events etc?

She had a gay son named Rodney Flaming.

Wow, that Nancy was a slut.

I'm happy to say.

R60 She's a right wing wackjob if ever there was one.

She was doing pro Pat Robertson commercials for the 700 Club/religious right in the 80's that celebrated his takeover of the repub party to every building he ever opened (his university, the ACLJ law center, the acting school that was supposed to take back Hollywood from the left, etc.).

She was one of the few celebs that wasn't hiding her affiliation with the far fright in the 80's. She never distanced herself when the 700 Club was bashing LGBTs, AIDS patients, feminists, the ACLU,National Endowment For The Arts, racial minorities, etc.

When Falwell & Robertson blamed a bunch of left wing groups for 9/11, 78 year old Rhonda never distanced herself from any of them which should tell you all you need to know about her politics. Old Rhonda must love Trumpy if she is still coherent at her age.

I bet when she croaks, the religious right groups will get some $$$ from the old bigot.

R9 Married six times? LOL!!! Hey Rhonda, don't you remember that marriage is a sacred institution between one woman and one man? Just another hypocrite.

Her wiki page said that she supported MANDATORY school prayer & was outraged over the '62 & '63

S. Court decisions striking it down.

That's another extreme example of her inconsiderate steamroller politics.

I always thought she had a priggish tight-assed manner. Good as the bitchy sister in Home Before Dark, with great Jean Simmons.

"Biological, legitimate heirs inherit titles and crowns."

As I said above, even if George marries a man and they have children with the aid of a surrogate, that child would actually be the offspring of the monarch and an egg donor to whom he isn't married, not the monarch and his husband.

So yes, a gay heir would be strongly encouraged to marry a woman and impregnate her somehow, and if he marries a man then their children wouldn't be considered legitimate heirs. There are limits to the heteronormative lifestyle.

I dont think Rhonda would approve of gayling George.

Love these juxtapositions. Like the surrealist game Exquisite Corpse.

Reagan was dating both Rhonda and Nancy, but then Nancy told him she was knocked up with what turned out to be Patti.

I'm sorry , all you Elder Dataloungers have convinced me I shouldn't waste my time on this woman.

She supported Pat Robertson for President in 1988 along with bluegrass artist Ricky Skaggs.

Pat Robertson's political connections & later endorsement of Trump helped propel him to where he is today.

Rhonda's fingerprints are all over every little thing Donny boy's small hands touch.

Rhonda is stunning at 36:30 on this tribute to Bob Hope on Dinah!.

Another hunk she co-starred with was the gorgeous William Lundigan in Inferno.

That's disappointing to learn [R81]

R83, it also has lefty Robert Ryan and hot daddy DL fave Carl Betz.

Rhonda in 2010, most recent photo found.

Thanks [R86] If that is the most recent 2010 then perhaps she is in very fragile poor health as older stars have been photographed more recently. She sadly will likely start to attract the gaze of those who run dead pools and deathlists soon...

There are more recent pics. This is in 2013.

Thank you [R88] although I still suspect she will increasingly feature on deathlists and pools including on here just as many older Hollywood stars do such as Doris Day ,Angela Lansbury. Kirk Douglas ,Olivia De Havilland ,Robert Wagner etc She could of course live to well past 100 and end up like Olivia were she features on these lists for the best part of a decade!

Fairly recently she has been an Ambassador for Christ.

To the extent anyone remembers Virginia Mayo, it's as a "B" movie queen. She never really carried her As (or even Bs) in the same way as, say, Bette Davis. I completely forgot she was in "Best years of our lives" which is really about the male stars and maybe Myrna Loy, who was a much more compelling actress, generally, even in thankless maternal roles like this. I also forgot about White Heat which is really about Cagney and the weird Freudian monologue at the end. Mayo working at Warners probably doesn't help how she was remembered--she was a forgettable performer at the most formulaic studio of the truly large majors.

"Warners...formulaic"

Them's fighting words, mister/ms!

Wasn't Mayo in some of those Danny Kaye musicals Goldwyn made in the 1950s?

Rhonda Fleming costarred with John Payne in some B western and when he slugged her, she uttered the immortal line "Big girls don't cry!" thereby inspiring The 4 Seasons' second huge hit.

Or so the legend is told in Jersey Boys.

In Flaxy Martin,, VM was a good amoral villain, and, for a change, Zachary Scott was a good guy.