Mona Freeman

An American actress and painter, Mona Freeman was a teenage model who became the New York City transit system's first Miss Subways in 1940. Born in Baltimore and raised in Pelham, New York, she moved to Hollywood, where Paramount Pictures signed her; her first film appearance came in Till We Meet Again (1944). After a run of naive teenager roles made her a popular teenage star, she complained of being typecast, and her adult career slowed into mostly B-movies. An exception was the film noir Angel Face (1953), and she also co-starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the hit Jumping Jacks (1952). Film work ended for her in the 1950s, but she kept working on television, with guest parts on the anthology The United States Steel Hour between 1960 and 1962 and three turns as Perry Mason's client. She focused on portrait painting after 1961 and died in 2014.