Mamie Van Doren

Mamie Van Doren is a retired American actress who started as beauty contest winner Joan Lucille Olander in Rowena, South Dakota. After winning Miss Palm Springs and Miss Eight Ball in 1949, she was signed by Howard Hughes to minor film roles at RKO. In 1953 she joined Universal and took the stage name Mamie Van Doren. She appeared in The All American and Francis Joins the WACS, but grew tired of similar parts and sought work at other studios. Van Doren became known for teen dramas, musicals, comedies, exploitation films and rock and roll pictures, with several later gaining cult followings. Her films include Star in the Dust (1956), Teacher's Pet (1958), High School Confidential (1958), Girls Town (1959) and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968). She also acted on television and in stage productions such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dames at Sea, and received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1994.