Kipp Hamilton (born Rita Marie Hamilton; August 16, 1934 – January 29, 1981) was an American actress. She was the younger sister of producer
Joe Hamilton and the sister-in-law of
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...
.
Early life and family
She was born Rita Marie Hamilton on August 16, 1934, in Los Angeles, California, the youngest of six children of Joseph and Marie Hamilton.
One of her older brothers was producer and actor Joe Hamilton, who later married comedian Carol Burnett.
Career
Hamilton made her film debut in a supporting role in the
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
drama ''
On Our Very Own'' (1950). In March 1953, she was named "Miss Optometry" by the New York State Association of Optometrists.
In mid-1955, Hamilton signed a seven-year contract with
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
Shortly after signing with Fox, Hamilton (along with nine other up-and-coming actresses, including
Anita Ekberg
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...
and
Lori Nelson
Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' and the films ''Re ...
) was named a "Deb Star of 1955". That same year, Hamilton was cast in her first major role in the drama ''
Good Morning, Miss Dove
''Good Morning, Miss Dove'' is a 1955 DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope film that tells the sentimental story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized. It stars Jennifer Jones, Robert Stack, ...
'', playing Jincey Baker.
The following year, Hamilton asked to be released from her contract with Fox.
Throughout the remainder of the 1950s, Hamilton appeared in guest roles on ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'', ''Meet McGraw'', ''
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
''Richard Diamond, Private Detective'' is an American detective drama, created by Blake Edwards, which aired on radio from 1949 to 1953, and on television from 1957 to 1960.
Radio
Dick Powell starred in the ''Richard Diamond, Private Detec ...
'', ''
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before ''Gunsmoke'' on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western ''Cheyenne''. The series is loosely base ...
'', ''
The Texan'', and ''
77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...
''. In 1959, Hamilton appeared in a supporting role in ''
Never So Few
''Never So Few'' is a 1959 CinemaScope Metrocolor war film, directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson, Paul Henreid, Brian Donlevy, Dean Jones, Charles Bronson, and Ph ...
''.
Later that same year, she signed with
Hecht Hill Lancaster
Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-L ...
(the production company partially owned by actor
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
) and was cast in the Western ''
The Unforgiven'' (1960).
She also had a nightclub act that she performed at Lou Black's Living Room, a club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In November 1963, Hamilton began touring in the road production of the musical ''
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' may refer to:
* ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (book), a 1952 book written by Shepherd Mead and the inspiration for the musical of the same name.
* ''How to Succeed in Bu ...
''. She remained with the production until mid-1964.
In 1965, she returned to television with the guest-starring role on the ''
Bewitched
''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'' episode "Pleasure O'Reilly" as the title character. The following year,
Henry G. Saperstein cast Hamilton in what was her final film role, a singer in ''
The War of the Gargantuas
is a 1966 '' kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Referred by film historian Stuart Galbraith IV as a "quasi–sequel" to '' Frankenstein vs. Baragon'', the film was a Japanese-American co-production; ...
'', a Japanese ''
kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
'' movie. Billed as a "special guest star", Hamilton performs the song "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat", which later was covered by
Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
. Hamilton's final onscreen role was in a 1967 episode of ''
The Virginian''.
Personal life
In 1958, Hamilton dated and later became engaged to film mogul
Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produ ...
's son Eugene (also known as Adolph Zukor III), an executive at
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. Hamilton called off the engagement in March 1959 while she was filming ''The Unforgiven'' in
Durango
Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...
, Mexico.
In February 1962, Hamilton married director Dave Geisel, whom she had met on the set of ''
The Garry Moore Show
''The Garry Moore Show'' is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talent ...
'', which her brother Joe produced. They had a daughter, Marie, in 1963 and separated the following year. They were divorced in June 1965.
Geisel died in 1969.
Later years and death
After retiring from acting, Hamilton married Beverly Hills lawyer Donald Thorman Rosenfeld in February 1968. They had a daughter, Dana, in October 1968. She continued to act in regional theater until her death from breast cancer on January 29, 1981, aged 46.
She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
[Clemens, Samuel. "Hollywood's Irish Lass", '']Classic Images
''Classic Images'' is a monthly American mail-subscription newspaper in tabloid format, founded in 1962 by film collector Samuel K. Rubin, dedicated to film and television of the "Golden Age". Its offices are located in Muscatine, Iowa and it is ...
''. p.13. July 2022 In July 2022, Kipp was profiled in ''
Classic Images
''Classic Images'' is a monthly American mail-subscription newspaper in tabloid format, founded in 1962 by film collector Samuel K. Rubin, dedicated to film and television of the "Golden Age". Its offices are located in Muscatine, Iowa and it is ...
'', in which her daughters and co-stars discussed her onscreen career.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Kipp
1934 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American actresses
20th Century Studios contract players
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from breast cancer
Actresses from Los Angeles
Female models from California
American women pop singers
American film actresses
American musical theatre actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Traditional pop music singers
Western (genre) film actresses
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers