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Angie Dickinson

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Angie Dickinson (born September 30, 1931) is the former, popular runner-up in the 1953 Miss America beauty pageant, and a legendary American television and film actress who co-starred in Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend and The Art of Love with James Garner. Also, she appeared in Ocean's Eleven with her ex-boyfriend Frank Sinatra. In addition, she is probably best-known for her role as Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson of the popular 1970s crime drama, Police Woman. She later won the Saturn Award in 1981 for her role as Kate Miller in Dressed to Kill.

Contents

Early life

The daughter of a small-town newspaper publisher, Dickinson was born Angeline Brown, the middle of three sisters, in Kulm, North Dakota, to parents Frederica and Leo H. Brown. For being a such a cute child at a very young age, her first job was to sell Hershey's Kisses for five cents, so her siblings could buy ice cream cones. Despite having been the peaches and cream girl, her father was an alcoholic, so her family moved to Burbank, California in 1942, when little Angie was only 11. Before attending Bellamarine Jefferson High School, she was already a teen beauty and had won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights Contest late in 1946. She was also popular with her class, and by 1947, she graduated from high school at only 15. At the same time, she was also looking for a job. Prior to attending Glendale Community College and before transferring to Immaculate Heart College, she took a position as a secretary at the former Burbank (now Bob Hope Airport), working in a parts factory from 1950 to late 1952. In 1953, she qualified for a beauty pageant just in time, and placed second. The following year, she also graduated from Immaculate Heart College with a degree in business. She originally intended to be a writer, having grown up with a publishing father, but there had already been a change of plan for this future beauty.

When the happy-go-lucky lady married a football player, she decided to use the name Angie Dickinson and to pursue an acting career. That same year, she was also approached by NBC to guest-star on a number of variety shows, including The Colgate Comedy Hour, and became a member of the Rat Pack during which time she worked with longtime friend Frank Sinatra. The two would later star in the film Ocean's Eleven and she would remain on good terms with "Ol' Blue Eyes" until Sinatra's death in the spring of 1998.

Younger beautiful character actress

After being the popular runner-up in the Miss America pageant, and establishing a name for herself on the big screen, Dickinson became one of the more versatile, popular and younger leading character actors of the 1950s and 1960s, guest-staring in dozens of TV series. On New Year's Eve 1954, she made her acting debut in an episode of Death Valley Days. This part led to other roles in such productions as Buffalo Bill Jr, eight episodes of Matinee Theatre, General Electric Theater, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Broken Arrow, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, Meet McGraw, The Restless Gun, Perry Mason, Mike Hammer, Wagon Train and Men Into Space. In 1965, she had a recurring role as Carol Tredman on Dr. Kildare. As a result, Dickinson became a household name to many viewers.

Sexy 1950s and 1960s movie beauty

Though Dickinson enjoyed a very successful movie career for nearly two decades, she never received an Oscar nomination for any of her performances. She played small roles in Lucky Me (1954), The Return of Jack Slade (1955), Man with the Gun (1955), and Hidden Guns (1956). She had her first starring role in Gun the Man Down (1956), and her career had skyrocketed from there, making her one of Hollywood's sex symbols. She also starred in B movies, mostly westerns, beginning with Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957), co-starring onscreen with legendary actor James Garner, which merited her more respect from the industry. In another western, Rio Bravo (1959), she played a party woman who is almost locked up by Sheriff John Wayne. As the 1960s were approaching, and before she became a blonde, she starred in dozens of movies, making her one of the most prominent leading ladies of the decade, starting with The Bramble Bush and Ocean's Eleven, (both released in 1960) with Frank Sinatra. These were followed by A Fever in the Blood (1961), The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961) and Rome Adventure also known as Lovers Must Learn (1962). In Jessica (1962), she plays the straight-laced young woman of Italian heritage. In The Killers, she is slapped by a villainous boyfriend, future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. (Dickinson was also said to have been romantically involved with John F. Kennedy at one time, thereby providing two intriguing connections to American presidents). She also co-starred in The Art of Love (1965), in which she plays the love interest of both James Garner and Dick Van Dyke, and is reunited onscreen with Garner. She also enjoyed success in a string of movies made during the 1960s and 1970s, with The Last Challenge (1967) and Some Kind of Nut (1967). She starred in another Western, Young Billy Young (1969) with Robert Mitchum and Jack Kelly. She also plays an alluring teacher in Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) with Telly Savalas, a scary doctor in The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971), and her best movie role, (the widow) Wilma in Big Bad Mama (1974).

Television work

Police Woman

After years of turning down many roles due to her daughter's autism, Dickinson came to the small screen in 1974 to play a different police character on an episode of the hit series Police Story. That one guest appearance proved to be so popular that NBC had decided to turn it into a weekly detective series called Police Woman, which making her one of the first female TV police officers in a role which proved to solidify and re-define her status as a star. Most of all, she became a pop icon of the 1970s, as her own show was seen in over 70 countries. It was also NBC's answer to both successful 1970s crime drama series, Kojak and The Rockford Files, two series airing concurrently on two different networks. On Police Woman, though, she played Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson, a cool, sexy and classy blonde policy who goes undercover at the Los Angeles Police Department. She's a tough broad and lovely to criminals and to her best friends. Co-starring on the show were a couple of familiar actors, Earl Holliman (who replaced Bert Convy of Tattletales and Super Password fame), as Sgt. Anderson's Italian-speaking commanding officer and long-time friend, Lt. Bill Crowley and Ed Bernard as Det. Joe Styles. On the first day of shooting, both Dickinson and Holliman were filming a scene in the hospital since somebody's mother had been very ill; however, the chemistry of the two worked very well and it was like falling in love with each other on the set. In early 1976, she and co-star (Earl Holliman) were both invited to the Television Broadcasters' Awards to praise the actor's achievement. He lauded the veteran actress's career accomplishments, including her work with such late actors as Frank Sinatra and John Wayne, both of whom acted with Dickinson earlier in her career. On many occasions, Dickinson gave her sister a chance to play the role of an autistic sister, Cheryl, during the 1974 season. The role lasted only one season. In its first year, it was a ratings winner among many other popular 1970s detective series, and Dickinson was nominated for three Emmys as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series between 1975 and 1977, but did not win. She was also nominated for four Best TV Actress Golden Globes between 1975 and 1978, and won the award once. As she continued to play the no-nonsense cop, her marriage was in such serious turmoil that she found herself needing to slow down and concentrate more on her austistic daughter in 1977. By the end of its fourth season in 1978, Police Woman had by far its most complex season. Not only were the ratings dropping, but Dickinson's world was falling apart. Her daughter's serious autistic behavior required her to spend more time with her, and daughter Leah would also have a professional caregiver. Subsequently, NBC decided to cancel the series after four seasons and 91 episodes. But by all accounts, Dickinson enjoyed playing the best cop on (arguably) one of the best cop shows and will always be fondly remembered for it. The same year the show came to an end, she reprised her Pepper Anderson role on the television special, Ringo, co-starring with Ringo Starr and the late John Ritter.

Leading 1980s actress

After a two-year absence to spend time with her daughter and during the time of a devastating divorce, she returned to the big screen in Dressed to Kill, which earned her a 1981 Saturn Award for Best Actress. That same year, she also had another substantial role in Death Hunt. Earlier that year, she had been producers' first choice to play 'Krystle Carrington' on Dynasty, but she turned down the role and it went to Linda Evans. She tried to make a comeback on TV with Cassie & Co., but the show failed to attract much attention. She also starred in dozens of TV movies such as, One Show Make it Murder, Jealousy, A Touch of Scandal, Hollywood Wives, Stillwatch. On the big screen, she reprised her role as Wilma in Big Bad Mama II (1987), and completed the TV movie Kojak: Fatal Flaw, in which she was reunited once again with old friend Telly Savalas.

1990s and later work

In addition to co-starring with Uma Thurman in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), she played Burt Reynolds's wife in The Maddening (1995) - an impressive film. She also co-starred with Rick Aiello and Robert Cicchini as their mother in The Don Analyst. As the new millennium approached, she played an alcoholic woman in Pay it Forward (2000), and she also played Arliss Howard's mother in Big Bad Love (2001) the following year. Finally, she returned to act in a small role in Ocean's Eleven (2001); a remake of a very popular Rat Pack heist film produced more than four decades ago.

Personal life

In 1952, Angie married Gene Dickinson, a former football player. While Angie was busy working on guest-starring roles, she also began dating Frank Sinatra. The marriage to Dickinson ended in divorce 1960.

She was married to musician/composer Burt Bacharach from 1965-1980, with whom she has a daughter. In addition, she is also rumoured to have been one of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's mistresses. When asked about the affair, she said, "It was the best 20 seconds of my life." After she was married, the following year, she had a daughter named, Lea Nikki, in 1966, who was born three months premature and much later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.[[Citing sources citation needed]] This marriage also ended in divorce.

Dickinson is a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award.

Filmography

"REMEMBRANCE"--Margaret Fullerton--TV Movie adapted from Danielle Steel Novel.(1996) Upcoming:

External links

 

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