Jeanne Laverne Carmen (August 4, 1930 – December 20, 2007) was an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and trick-shot

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er.

Early life and career

Carmen was born in

Paragould, Arkansas Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta ...

. As a child, she picked cotton before running away from home at age 13. As a teen, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and landed a job as a dancer in ''Burlesque'', with

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...

. Later, she became a

, appearing as a

pin-up girl A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

in several men's magazines, including ''Wink'', ''Titter'', and ''Beauty Parade''. She was a trick shot golfer, appearing with and managed by Jack Redmond. She toured country clubs and county fairs with Redmond and her then husband Sandy Scott. In her 20s, while on tour and traveling to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, she met Johnny Rosselli, the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...

's liaison in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, who drove her, without her husband, to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The pair, now intimate, stayed at the Desert Inn, where they scammed rich victims who bet unsuccessfully against her winning games on the casino's golf course. Rosselli introduced her to

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, who took her away from Las Vegas to Hollywood. Server, Lee (2018); ''Handsome Johnny: The Criminal Life of Johnny Rosselli, The Mob’s Man in Hollywood'', Virgin Books. In Hollywood she appeared in

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

s such as ''

Guns Don't Argue ''Guns Don't Argue'' is a 1957 low-budget feature film about the early achievements of the FBI in defeating the most notorious criminals of the 1930s. The film involves dramatizations of the crimes and eventual demise of various gangsters, along w ...

'' and ''

The Monster of Piedras Blancas ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' is a 1959 independently made American black-and-white science fiction- monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, written and directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Do ...

''. She played both brassy platinum-blondes and (with her natural dark hair) sultry Spanish women. Carmen's smoldering good looks, hourglass figure, and striking green eyes quickly landed her on the big screen in 1956 playing a feisty Spanish senorita named "Serelda" in the film ''The Three Outlaws'', a Western based on the same events as the later ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'', and co-starring

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA Awa ...

and Alan Hale, Jr as Butch and Sundance. She was then cast by producer/director

Howard W. Koch Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television. Life and career Koch was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice (Winchel) and William Jacob Koch. His family was Jewish. ...

as an Indian girl in ''War Drums'' alongside

Lex Barker Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973), known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably a ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

fame. Koch took a liking to Carmen and cast her in his next film for Warner Bros, the teenage rock 'n' roll juvenile delinquent themed ''

Untamed Youth ''Untamed Youth'' is a 1957 American teen film directed by Howard W. Koch, written by John C. Higgins and Stephen Longstreet, and starring Mamie Van Doren and Lori Nelson as two starstruck sisters who are sentenced to farm labor. Plot Sisters ...

'' (1957), co-starring

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

legend

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desir ...

, which inspired Cochran to cover the song "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie" for her. Carmen also appeared as a femme fatale in ''Portland Exposé'' alongside Frank Gorshin who later gained fame as the "Riddler" on the Batman TV series. She also appeared in the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

A Merry Mix Up ''A Merry Mix-Up'' is a 1957 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser). It is the 177th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures starring the co ...

'' playing

Joe Besser Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957� ...

's girlfriend "Mary". The short is notable for the Stooges playing three sets of identical triplets.

Later years

In 1998, Carmen was the subject of a TV biography titled "Jeanne Carmen: Queen of the B-Movies," on the series ''

E! True Hollywood Story ''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...

''. The show stated that Carmen maintained a "dangerously close friendship with

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

and The Kennedys" and that after the death of Monroe, Carmen was told to leave town by Johnny Rosselli who was working for Chicago Mob Boss

Sam Giancana Salvatore Mooney Giancana (; born Gilormo Giangana; ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966. Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 42 ...

. Believing her life was in danger, she fled to

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, where she lived incognito for more than a decade. Carmen abandoned her platinum-blonde locks, had three children and lived a quiet life, never mentioning her prior life in Hollywood. Carmen's last published interview was on November 21, 2007, by ''

SX News ''SX News'' was a weekly gay and lesbian newspaper based in Sydney, Australia. One of several titles published by Evo Media under the ''Gay News Network'' banner. ''SX News'' (commonly referred to as ''SX'') was distributed throughout Sydney and ...

'', an Australian weekly gay and lesbian newspaper.

Death

On December 20, 2007, aged 77, Jeanne Carmen died from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

at her home in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, where she had resided since 1978. Her burial crypt headstone contains the

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

: "She Came, She Saw, She Conquered." She was survived by three children, Melinda, Kellee Jade, and Brandon, and three grandchildren. At the time of Carmen's death, a

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

of her life was in early stages of development, with

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

, and

Kate Bosworth Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...

under consideration to play Carmen.

Filmography

References

External links

Jeannecarmen.com Official Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmen, Jeanne Actresses from Arkansas Female models from Arkansas American film actresses American television actresses Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from lymphoma People from Paragould, Arkansas People from Irvine, California 1930 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American actresses Glamour models 21st-century American women