Darlene Tompkins (November 16, 1940 – July 18, 2019) was an American actress.

Biography

She was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on November 6,1940. Her birth name was Darlene Perfect, but her parents were divorced when she reached the age of five and she took the surname of her stepfather. Her family performed in plays and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, and she had an early goal to be a Hollywood actress. At the age of twelve she was mauled by a dog which left her very self-conscious. To help overcome her shyness, she was entered into a beauty contest by her mother. Her subsequent beauty pageant victories attracted some attention and she appeared in commercials. Her first acting role was in ''

Beyond the Time Barrier ''Beyond the Time Barrier'' is a 1960 American science fiction film. It was released in September 1960 on a double bill with ''The Angry Red Planet''.Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 730 It sta ...

'' (1960). She then co-starred opposite

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in '' Blue Hawaii'' (1961). She had a role in ''

My Six Loves ''My Six Loves'' is a 1963 comedy film in Technicolor starring Debbie Reynolds as a Broadway star who takes a vacation and finds herself responsible for six abandoned children, in Gower Champion's directorial debut. It is based on the novel of th ...

'' (1963) and played parts in several television shows. Her career was interrupted by a marriage and the birth of two sons. She tried to resume acting again when the marriage ended in the mid-1970s, but by then she was in her thirties and had difficulty landing roles. Since then she worked as a stand-in and stuntwoman and remarried. Tompkins died on July 18, 2019 following complications of a stroke and was taken off life support.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1940 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago Place of death missing 21st-century American women {{US-actor-stub