Dubbed the 'Queen of Technicolor', the movie icon worked with such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, and made four films with Ronald Reagan before he entered politics.
- October 17, 2020
AceShowbiz - Movie icon Rhonda Fleming has died, aged 97.
The actress passed away on Wednesday, October 14 in Santa Monica, California.
Dubbed the "Queen of Technicolor", the stunning red head appeared in over 40 films, including the 1948 musical "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and 1957's western classic "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral".
Fleming made four films with Ronald Reagan before he turned his back on Hollywood and entered politics, and worked with co-stars like Glenn Ford, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and directors like Alfred Hitchcock, while her TV credits included roles in "Police Woman" and "The Love Boat".
Born Marilyn Louis in Hollywood, she attended Beverly Hills High School and landed a deal with movie mogul David O. Selznick in her teens.
Fleming had a stage career on Broadway, performed in Las Vegas and took her one-woman show on tour.
She was also a humanitarian and philanthropist, establishing the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Comprehensive Care for Women with Cancer at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Rhonda Fleming Carlson Inspiration Garden at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, as well as welfare centers for the homeless.
Fleming married six times, with her husbands including actor Lang Jeffries and producer Hall Bartlett. Her last husband was theater chain mogul Ted Mann (of Mann's Chinese Theatre fame), whom she married from 1978 until his death in January 2001.
She is survived by her son, Kent Lane, via her marriage to doctor Thomas Lane, as well as two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren.
