Hollywood icon Mamie Van Doren is back in the limelight and looking more fabulous than ever. The retired actress and model, now 95 years old, stands as one of the last living legends from the golden age of Hollywood in the 1950s.
Social Media Return
After stepping away from the public eye for some time, Van Doren reappeared on social media this week to promote her latest memoir, You Thought I Was Dead: My Life of Celebrities, Sex, and Champagne. Despite nearing a century in age, the former screen siren continues to radiate glamour and appears far younger than her years.
Beaming in an Instagram video, Van Doren wore a long blonde wig accented with youthful pink streaks and a ruffled black blouse that tastefully covered her famous cleavage. Addressing the camera, she quipped, 'You may not know me if you're of a certain age, but I was present for the sunset of Hollywood's golden age.' She then shared a cheeky confession about her time in Tinseltown: 'I rubbed elbows with some of the legends of the silver screen, and if the vibe was right, sometimes we rubbed other things.'
Fan Reactions
Van Doren's fans were captivated by her timeless beauty. One admirer commented, 'You are THE TOTAL ICON! What an inspiration for ALL WOMEN to keep being sexy, glamorous and fun at any age!' Another wrote, 'Not dead, and sharp as a whistle! Looking forward to reading your memoir.'
Memoir Details
You Thought I Was Dead is Van Doren's second memoir, following 1987's Playing The Field: My Story, which was re-released in 2013 with new artwork and photographs. The new book promises to delve even deeper into her extraordinary life. A blurb describes it as 'a candid, no-holds-barred memoir in which Hollywood icon Mamie Van Doren busts myths, settles old scores, and unveils untold stories from a life lived at the glittering and gritty edges of the Golden Age.'
Hollywood Legacy
In the 1950s, Van Doren was known as one of the 'Three Ms' alongside Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The trio of blonde bombshells were infamous for their sex kitten personas. While Van Doren was arguably less renowned than Monroe or Mansfield, she carved out a notable career and remained in the spotlight for decades.
Born in South Dakota in 1931, Van Doren began her journey in beauty pageants before being discovered by legendary producer Howard Hughes. She landed small film roles and gained attention after getting engaged to heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey, who was 35 years her senior. Universal Studios signed her to a contract, aiming to mold her into their own version of Monroe. She soon shared the screen with A-listers like Tony Curtis, Clark Gable, and Doris Day.
By the end of the 1950s, Van Doren lost her Universal contract and spent much of the next decade starring in B-movies, many of which became camp classics. In 1964, she appeared nude in the raunchy comedy 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt and posed for Playboy to promote the film.
Personal Life and Honors
Van Doren has been married five times and has been with her fifth husband, actor and dentist Thomas Dixon, since 1979. In 1994, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, cementing her place in history.
Her new memoir, released this month, promises to reveal even more about her wild life, including raunchy roles and sizzling pin-up pictorials from the '50s and '60s. Fans eagerly await the unfiltered stories from this enduring Hollywood legend.
