Phyllis Brooks (July 18, 1915 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress and model. She was born in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. Some sources have also inaccurately cited 1914 as her year of birth, but 1915 is the correct year according to Social Security records.

Career

Modeling

She was a model for two years before progressing to a career in film. She stated, "I started posing for photographers as a lark, and it was a lot of fun." She had been known as the "

Ipana Ipana was a toothpaste product manufactured by Bristol-Myers Company. The wintergreen flavored toothpaste (0.243% sodium fluoride was its active ingredient) reached its peak market penetration during the 1950s in North America. Marketing of Ipan ...

Toothpaste Girl", due to her work for that product.Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books; , pg. 170.

Film

Initially known as Mary Brooks, she began her career in films in 1934 at age 20, in '' I've Been Around''. Brooks, who had about 30 performances in films, was a B-movie leading lady during the 1930s and 1940s, with roles in such films as ''

In Old Chicago ''In Old Chicago'' is a 1938 American disaster musical drama film directed by Henry King. The screenplay by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti was based on the Niven Busch story, "We the O'Learys". The film is a fictionalized account about the Gr ...

'' (1937), '' Little Miss Broadway'' (1938) and ''

The Shanghai Gesture ''The Shanghai Gesture'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, and Ona Munson. It is based on a Broadway play of the same name by John Colton, which was adapted for ...

'' (1941). Cesar Romero and Phyllis Brooks

She appeared in

Sidney Toler Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his ...

's ''

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Cha ...

'' series, in the

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

films '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' and in '' Little Miss Broadway''.

Stage

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, Brooks appeared in ''Stage Door'' (1936–37), ''

Panama Hattie ''Panama Hattie'' is a 1940 American musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. The musical is about a nightclub owner, Hattie Maloney, who lives in the Panama Canal Zone and ends up dealing with ...

'' (1940–42), ''The Night Before Christmas'' (1941), and ''Round Trip'' (1945).

Wartime activities

Gary Cooper Phyllis Brooks Una Merkel, Brisbane 1943 (1)

Brooks was reported (UK ''Sunday Telegraph'' December 1942) as being president of Parties Unlimited Inc. in an article about

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

at war. Along with actress Una Merkel and accompanied by film star

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

, Brooks was the first civilian woman to travel to the Pacific theater of war during World War II on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour.

Personal life

Brooks was engaged at one time to

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

. She married Torbert Macdonald on June 23, 1945, in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. Macdonald, who had been John F. Kennedy's roommate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, went on to become an 11-term

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equival ...

. Brooks moved East to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

with her new husband in 1945 so that he could complete his studies at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each cla ...

. He had been a Harvard football captain and a decorated

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

captain in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He died in office in 1976.

Death

Brooks died on August 1, 1995, in Cape Neddick, Maine, aged 80.

Partial filmography

* ''

One Exciting Adventure ''One Exciting Adventure'' is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Ernst L. Frank and starring Binnie Barnes, Neil Hamilton and Paul Cavanagh.Goble p.229 It is a remake of the 1933 German film ''What Women Dream''. Cast * Binnie Barnes as Re ...

'' (1934) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''

Strange Wives ''Strange Wives'' is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe, written by James Mulhauser, Barry Trivers, and Gladys Buchanan Unger, and starring Roger Pryor, June Clayworth, Esther Ralston, Hugh O'Connell, Ralph Forbes, and Ces ...

'' (1934) - The Actress * '' The Man Who Reclaimed His Head'' (1934) - Secretary (uncredited) * '' I've Been Around'' (1935) - Gay Blackstone * '' McFadden's Flats'' (1935) - Mary Ellis Hall * ''

Lady Tubbs ''Lady Tubbs'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Alan Crosland and written by Barry Trivers. The film stars Alice Brady, Douglass Montgomery, Anita Louise, Alan Mowbray, June Clayworth and Hedda Hopper. The film was released on July 2, ...

'' (1935) - Debutante (uncredited) * '' Another Face'' (1935) - Sheila Barry * '' To Beat the Band'' (1935) - Rowena * ''

Two in the Dark ''Two in the Dark'' is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, and Alan Hale. The screenplay concerns an amnesiac suspected of murder. In 1945, Stoloff p ...

'' (1936) - Minor Role * '' Follow the Fleet'' (1936) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''

You Can't Have Everything ''You Can't Have Everything'' is a 1937 Fox musical film directed by Norman Taurog and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film stars Alice Faye and Don Ameche, and was the film debut for Gypsy Rose Lee credited as Louise Hovick part of her birt ...

'' (1937) - Evelyn Moore * '' Dangerously Yours'' (1937) - Valerie Barton * ''

Ali Baba Goes to Town ''Ali Baba Goes to Town'' is a 1937 musical film directed by David Butler and starring Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, and Roland Young. Cantor plays a hobo named Aloysius "Al" Babson, who walks into the camp of a movie company that is making th ...

'' (1937) - Phyllis Brooks - at Premiere (uncredited) * ''

'' (1938) - Ann Colby * '' City Girl'' (1938) - Ellen Ward * '' Walking Down Broadway'' (1938) - Vicki Stone * '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1938) - Lola Lee * '' Little Miss Broadway'' (1938) - Barbara Shea * '' Straight Place and Show'' (1938) - Barbara 'Babs' Drake * ''

Up the River ''Up the River'' is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, and starring Claire Luce, Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. The plot concerns escaped convicts, as well as a female convict. It was the feature film debut role of ...

'' (1938) - Helen Lindsay * '' Charlie Chan in Honolulu'' (1938) - Judy Hayes * '' Charlie Chan in Reno'' (1939) - Vivian Wells * '' Lucky to Me'' (1939) - Pamela Stuart * '' Slightly Honorable'' (1939) - Sarilla Cushing * '' The Flying Squad'' (1940) - Ann Perryman * ''

'' (1941) - The Chorus Girl * '' No Place for a Lady'' (1943) - Dolly Adair * '' Silver Spurs'' (1943) - Mary Hardigan * ''

Hi'ya, Sailor ''Hi'ya, Sailor'' is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by Stanley Roberts. The film stars Donald Woods, Elyse Knox, Eddie Quillan, Frank Jenks, Phyllis Brooks and Jerome Cowan. The film was released on October ...

'' (1943) - Nanette * ''

Lady in the Dark ''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine wh ...

'' (1944) - Allison DuBois * '' Wilson'' (1944) - Granddaughter (uncredited) * '' Dangerous Passage'' (1944) - Nita Paxton * ''

High Powered ''High Powered'' is a 1945 American adventure film directed by William Berke starring Robert Lowery and Phyllis Brooks. It is also known as ''High Man''. Plot Marian Blair and Cassie McQuade are running a small lunch establishment in their tra ...

'' (1945) - Marian Blair * '' The Unseen'' (1945) - Maxine

References

External links

* * * *
Photos of Phyllis Brooks from ''The Shanghai Gesture''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Phyllis 1915 births 1995 deaths Actresses from Idaho Female models from Idaho American film actresses American stage actresses Spouses of Massachusetts politicians People from Boise, Idaho 20th-century American actresses