Veronica Lake (1919-1973)

biography

Born Constance Ockleman (later Keane) in Brooklyn on November 14, 1919 (some sources list 1922 as her date of birth), diminutive Veronica Lake relocated to California with her mother and stepfather as a teenager. Pushed by a typical stage mother, Lake was enrolled in acting classes. In 1939, she was signed by RKO Studios, sometimes appearing in small roles before the studio dropped her contract. A few bit parts at MGM and 20th Century-Fox followed, and soon after marrying first husband John Detlie, Lake signed with Paramount. With her cool manner and 'peekaboo' hairstyle she created a sensation; millions of women copied her peekaboo bang.


Lake's biggest year in films was 1942, when she starred in a string of hit films for Paramount, including Sullivan's Travels, This Gun for Hire, and I Married a Witch. Pregnancy with her second child sidelined her for much of 1943; sadly, the child lived just a few days. She and Detlie divorced shortly thereafter, and Lake then married prominent director Andre De Toth in late 1944. Although Lake proved to be a good actress, especially in comedy and film noir, her career began to fade soon after the end of World War II. She gave birth to her son with De Toth late in 1945. Several more films followed, and Lake gave birth to another daughter, born in late 1948. By then, however, Paramount had dropped her contract following the release of the comedy Isn't It Romantic? (1948; with Mona Freeman).

the films of veronica lake

The Glass Key (1942)

I Married a Witch (1942)

Sullivan's Travels (1942)

So Proudly We Hail! (1943)

The Blue Dahlia (1946)

Ramrod (1947)

Variety Girl (1947)

Saigon (1948)

Slattery's Hurricane (1949)

later years

Veronica Lake's film career came to a halt in the late 1940s; she made just three films afterward. Lake divorced De Toth in 1952, and she left California to settle in New York, where she did quite a bit of stage work and made a number of appearances in early television. However, mental illness, her increasing use of alcohol, and a heart attack in 1955 chipped away at her career. Following her third divorce, by the early 1960s Lake was working as a bar maid. By chance she was rediscovered, and Lake was offered a job working in Baltimore as a TV host. She made two more films: Footsteps in the Snow (made in Canada and released in 1966) and Flesh Feast (shot in Miami in 1967; not released until 1970), a film which she also produced. Lake wrote a sensational autobiography, which made waves when it was published in 1971. Around 1970, she moved to England for a period and acted in stage plays. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 53 in Burlington, Vermont, on July 7, 1973, from hepatitis. She was survived by her fourth husband (a commercial fisherman whom she married in 1972), two daughters, a son, and her estranged mother. In 2004, Lake made headlines again when her ashes were discovered in a New York antiques store.

veronica lake films available from movies unlimited

Sullivan's Travels [DVD](1941) DVD
Preston Sturges' gem of Hollywood self-satire stars Joel McCrea as a filmmaker who tires of comedies and light entertainment and wants to make "meaningful" tales of human suffering. To this end, he disguises himself as a bum and sets out across America to experience suffering first-hand. Veronica Lake co-stars. 90 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby mono; audio commentaries; documentary on Sturges; interviews; publicity materials; audio recording of Sturges; photo gallery; trailer.
Preston Sturges: The Filmmaker Collection [DVD] DVD
Preston Sturges' directorial debut was the marvelously wicked political comedy "The Great McGinty" (1940), about a bum who works his way into the governor's office. Brian Donlevy stars. Next, "Christmas in July" (1940) follows an office worker (Dick Powell) who, thinking he's won a contest, goes on a wild shopping binge with hilarious complications. Ellen Drew co-stars. Then, Joel McCrea stars as William Morton, the Boston dentist who invented anesthesia, in the historical drama "The Great Moment" (1944). Also includes "The Lady Eve," "Sullivan's Travels," "The Palm Beach Story," and "Hail the Conquering Hero." 10 hrs. total on seven discs. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish, French.
This Gun For Hire [DVD](1942) DVD
The movie that made Alan Ladd a star. He's a cold-blooded killer out to get back at a double-crossing nightclub owner. Secret formulas, Nazis and vicious chauffeurs pop up in this "film noir" classic based on Graham Greene's thriller. Veronica Lake is the beautiful femme fatale; with Laird Cregar, Robert Preston. 81 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: French, Spanish; theatrical trailer.
My Favorite Blonde (1942)/Star Spangled Rhythm [DVD](1942) DVD
Rip-roaring comic yarn starring Bob Hope as a wise-cracking entertainer who becomes involved with beautiful British agent Madeleine Carroll, who is carrying secret military plans the Nazis are after, and joins her in dodging the bad guys in a cross-country chase. Gale Sondergaard and George Zucco co-star. Then, a parade of Hollywood's biggest names appear in a tuneful comedy starring Eddie Bracken as a sailor who brings his pals to the Paramount Studios lot. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Mary Martin and Dick Powell are all featured; songs include "Hit the Road to Dreamland." 178 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English mono.
So Proudly We Hail! [DVD](1943) DVD
A trio of Army nurses (Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake) is followed from Pearl Harbor to Bataan and the Pacific Front in this unusual, moving WWII flagwaver that mixes action and pathos with comedy and romance. George Reeves, Walter Abel and Sonny Tufts (in his film debut) also star. 126 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH), French; theatrical trailer.
Lights Out, Vol. 4 [DVD] DVD
Includes the episodes "Beware This Woman," "Gray Reminder," "The Devil in Glencairn," and "The Upstairs Floor." 97 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Stronghold [DVD](1951) DVD
Set amid Revolutionary Mexico in the mid-1860s, this lush historical drama (filmed simultaneously with a Mexican leading cast as "Furia Roja") stars Veronica Lake as a U.S. silver mine heiress who is abducted by anti-imperial rebel Arturo de Cordova. The two fall in love, and Lake joins de Cordova's fight for the rights of his people. With Zachary Scott, Alfonso Bedoya. 72 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; biographies.

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filmography

FILM
Flesh Feast (1970) with Phil Philbin and Yanka Mann
Footsteps in the Snow (1966) with Meredith MacRae
Stronghold (1951) with Zachary Scott
Slattery's Hurricane (1949) with Richard Widmark and Linda Darnell
Isn't It Romantic? (1948) with Mona Freeman
The Sainted Sisters (1948) with George Reeves
Saigon (1948) with Alan Ladd
Variety Girl (1947)
Ramrod (1947) with Joel McCrea and Don DeFore
The Blue Dahlia (1946) with Alan Ladd, William Bendix, and Hugh Beaumont
Miss Susie Slagle's (1946) with Sonny Tufts and Lloyd Bridges
Duffy's Tavern (1945) with Eddie Bracken
Out of This World (1945) with Eddie Bracken
Hold That Blonde (1945) with Eddie Bracken and Albert Dekker
Bring on the Girls (1945) with Sonny Tufts, Eddie Bracken, and Yvonne De Carlo
The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) with Franchot Tone
So Proudly We Hail! (1943) with Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, George Reeves, Barbara Britton, and Sonny Tufts
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
I Married a Witch (1942) with Fredric March and Susan Hayward
The Glass Key (1942) with Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, Richard Denning, Bonita Granville, William Bendix, and Frances Gifford
This Gun for Hire (1942) with Alan Ladd and Robert Preston
Sullivan's Travels (1942) with Joel McCrea and Franklin Pangborn
I Wanted Wings (1941) with Ray Milland, Brian Donlevy, and William Holden
Young as You Feel (1940) with Spring Byington and Jack Carson
Forty Little Mothers (1940) with Eddie Cantor
All Women Have Secrets (1939) with Virginia Dale, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lind Hayes, Wanda McKay, Janet Waldo, and Joyce Mathews

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
To Tell The Truth, episode originally aired 1969 or 1970
Broadway Television Theatre, episode The Gramercy Ghost, originally aired January 4, 1954
Danger, episode Inside Straight, originally aired March 31, 1953
Lux Video Theatre, episode Thanks For a Lovely Evening, originally aired January 12, 1953
The Name's the Same, 1951-1955 ABC game show hosted by Robert Q. Lewis. Lake appeared on a 1953 episode
I've Got a Secret, episode originally aired September 18, 1952
Goodyear Television Playhouse, episode Better than Walking, originally aired October 26, 1952
Tales of Tomorrow, episode Flight Overdue, originally aired March 28, 1952
Somerset Maugham TV Theatre, episode The Facts of Life, originally aired May 14, 1951
Lights Out, episode Beware This Woman, originally aired December 4, 1950
Lux Video Theatre, episode Shadow On the Heart, originally aired October 16, 1950

veronica lake now showing

Watch Veronica Lake in a 1952 episode of the ABC TV series Tales of Tomorrow titled Flight Overdue