American actress
Faith Domergue
|
---|
Domergue in 1946
|
Born
| (
1924-06-16
)
June 16, 1924 or
(
1925-06-16
)
June 16, 1925
[a]
|
---|
Died
| (
1999-04-04
)
April 4, 1999 (age 73?74)
|
---|
Occupation
| Actress
|
---|
Years active
| 1941?1974
|
---|
Spouses
|
(
m.
1946;
div.
1947)
(
m.
1947;
div.
1958)
Paolo Cossa
(
m.
1966; died 1992)
|
---|
Children
| 2
|
---|
Faith Marie Domergue
(
;
[7]
June 16, 1924, or 1925 ? April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age 16 by media and aircraft
mogul
Howard Hughes
, she was signed to a contract with Hughes's
RKO Radio Pictures
and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller
Vendetta
, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.
Domergue appeared in
science-fiction
and horror pictures, such as
Cult of the Cobra
,
This Island Earth
,
It Came from Beneath the Sea
, and
The Atomic Man
, all released in 1955, earning her a reputation as an early "
scream queen
". Domergue's later career consisted of
B movies
, television guest roles, and European productions.
Early life
[
edit
]
Domergue was born in
New Orleans
, Louisiana, on June 16, 1924 or 1925 (sources differ),
[8]
of part-
Creole
descent.
[9]
She was
adopted
by Adabelle Wemet when six weeks old.
[9]
When Faith was 18 months old, Adabelle married Leo Domergue.
The family moved to
California
in 1928, where Domergue attended Beverly Hills Catholic School and St. Monica's Convent School. While a sophomore at
University High School
, she signed a contract with
Warner Bros.
,
and made her first on-screen appearance with an uncredited walk-on role in
Blues in the Night
(1941).
The same year, she appeared on the cover of
Photoplay
as
Faith Dorn
; the name change, she later claimed, was "because
Jack Warner
was too stupid to pronounce Domergue".
Career
[
edit
]
1943?1950: Early work; Howard Hughes
[
edit
]
After graduating in 1942, Domergue continued to pursue a career in acting, but after sustaining injuries in a near-fatal car accident, her plans were put on hold.
While recuperating from the accident, she attended a party aboard Howard Hughes' yacht.
Enamored with her, Hughes bought out her contract with Warner Bros.,
signed her to a three-picture deal with RKO,
and cast her in the thriller
Vendetta
(1950). The film had a long and troubled production history, with reshoots and several changes of director, further exacerbated by Hughes's health problems following a near-fatal
plane crash
he endured in July 1946.
The production extended over four years and cost $3.5 million.
[16]
By the time of
Vendetta
'
s premiere in 1950, Domergue had left Los Angeles for
Palm Springs
, and was pregnant with her second child.
After the film's release, Domergue separated from Hughes, disappointed with the way the film and her career had been handled: "I was told he spent five million dollars publicizing me", she said, "but [the] film was[n’t properly] released. It was all wasted".
The critical reception was also dismissive.
The New York Times
panned the film as "a garrulous, slow, and obvious period piece, weighed down by a profusion of exotic accents, undistinguished dialogue, and unconvincing play acting... set against a background of the wild, Corsican countryside, which does give the picture an atmosphere of suspenseful authenticity".
[18]
The review damned Domergue's performance with faint praise: "Faith Domergue, the heralded newcomer, is less than a fiery heroine. But despite the flamboyant lines that are her lot, the attractive Miss Domergue does occasionally contribute genuine emotional acting to the proceedings".
[18]
Following
Vendetta
, Domergue freelanced in the film noir
Where Danger Lives
(1950), playing a
femme fatale
opposite
Robert Mitchum
and
Claude Rains
.
Bosley Crowther
, in
The New York Times
, criticized Domergue's performance for "manifest[ing] nothing more than a comparatively sultry appearance and an ability to recite simple lines".
[19]
1951?1959: Universal and science-fiction films
[
edit
]
After having lived briefly in
England
with her husband, Domergue returned to the United States in 1953, when she signed a contract with
Universal Pictures
.
Her final credit for RKO was the drama
This Is My Love
(1954), which was shot after the release of her first film with Universal,
The Duel at Silver Creek
(1952), in which she appeared opposite
Audie Murphy
.
[21]
In 1955, Domergue appeared in another Western,
Santa Fe Passage
, playing an ammunition retailer opposite
John Payne
and
George Keymas
.
[22]
Domergue then appeared in a series of
science-fiction
,
monster
, and
horror films
. The first of these was
Cult of the Cobra
(Universal Pictures 1955), in which six American Air Force officers discover a Lamian
cult
of snake worshippers.
[23]
This was followed with a role in
Columbia Pictures
's
It Came from Beneath the Sea
(1955), a science-fiction, monster film that was a major commercial success, grossing $1.7 million at the box office.
[24]
The following year, Domergue starred in
This Island Earth
(also 1955), Universal's first
color
science-fiction film.
[25]
The film received moderate critical praise for its performances, writing, and inventive special effects.
[25]
Domergue's tenure in these pictures earned her a reputation as an early
scream queen
.
[26]
Domergue appeared in a string of European productions: the British science-fiction film
The Atomic Man
(1955), directed by
Ken Hughes
; British noir films
Soho Incident
(1956)
[27]
and
Man in the Shadow
(1957),
[28]
released in the United States as
Violent Stranger
; and the Italian production,
The Sky Burns
(1958).
1960?1974: Late career and retirement
[
edit
]
In the late 1950s and 1960s, she made many appearances on television series,
[29]
including
Sugarfoot
, two episodes of
Hawaiian Eye
,
two episodes of
Have Gun ? Will Travel
, two episodes of
Bonanza
,
The Rifleman
, and two episodes of
Perry Mason
. In her first
Perry Mason
episode, "The Case of the Guilty Clients" (1961), she played murderer Conception O'Higgins, and in "The Case of the Greek Goddess" (1963), she played murder victim Cleo Grammas.
By the late 1960s, Domergue was appearing mainly in low-budget "B" horror movies and European productions. Domergue's last foray in science fiction was
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
(1965), an American version of a Russian film, mainly backed by Russian producers and populated with Russian actors.
She began traveling to Italy in 1952, living in Rome for extended periods. She relocated to Europe permanently in 1968, moving from Rome to Geneva, Switzerland, and Marbella, Spain, until the death of her Italian husband, Paolo, in 1991. In the late 1960s, she appeared in several Italian
giallo
films, including
Lucio Fulci
's
One on Top of the Other
(1969), and
Alberto De Martino
's
The Man with Icy Eyes
(1971). Her final film credit was for
The House of Seven Corpses
(1974), an independent horror film shot in
Salt Lake City
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1942, Domergue began an intermittent relationship with Howard Hughes. After she discovered that Hughes was also seeing
Ava Gardner
,
Rita Hayworth
, and
Lana Turner
, the couple broke up in 1943. She later described those experiences in her 1972 book
My Life with Howard Hughes
.
[32]
[33]
On January 28, 1946, Domergue married bandleader
Teddy Stauffer
at the
San Diego
Superior Courthouse. On October 8, 1947, hours after divorcing Stauffer in
Ciudad Juarez
, she married director
Hugo Fregonese
there.
[32]
Their first child, Diana Maria, was born on January 1, 1949, in Buenos Aires. Their second child, John Anthony, was born on August 22, 1951, in Los Angeles. John, who became an urban planner, died on what would have been his mother's 94th birthday.
[34]
The couple separated twice before Domergue was granted an uncontested divorce on June 24, 1958.
[35]
[36]
[37]
In 1966, she married director Paolo Cossa, with whom she remained until his death in 1992.
[9]
Despite the divorces, Domergue remained a practicing
Roman Catholic
.
Death
[
edit
]
Domergue spent her later years in retirement in
Palo Alto, California
.
She died on April 4, 1999, in
Santa Barbara
of cancer.
[39]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
In the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic film
The Aviator
, Domergue was played by
Kelli Garner
.
[40]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Sources of Domergue's birth year vary; some list 1924,
[1]
[2]
[3]
while others list 1925.
[4]
[5]
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Obituaries: Faith Domergue; Film Star Contracted by Howard Hughes"
.
Los Angeles Times
. April 17, 1999.
- ^
Raw, Laurence (2012).
Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960
. McFarland. p. 70.
ISBN
978-0-786-44474-8
.
- ^
Hollywood Femmes Fatales and Ladies of Film Noir
. Vol. 3. Lulu Com. 2011.
ISBN
978-1-257-77212-4
.
- ^
"Faith Domergue"
.
British Film Institute
. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016.
- ^
Vallance, Tom (May 11, 1999).
"Obituary: Faith Domergue"
.
The Independent
.
- ^
Willis, John A.; Blum, Daniel C. (1990).
Screen World (Vol. 41)
. Vol. 41. Crown Publishers. p. 225.
ISBN
9780517578414
.
- ^
"Say How: D"
. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
. Retrieved
February 27,
2019
.
- ^
Sources of Domergue's birth year vary; those that list 1924 include:
Sources that list 1925 include:
- ^
a
b
c
Vallance, Tom (May 11, 1999).
"Obituary: Faith Domergue"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
September 26,
2016
.
- ^
"Faith Domergue: She Follows Harlow and Russell"
.
Life
. July 17, 1950.
- ^
a
b
"Movie Review -- At the Globe"
.
The New York Times
. December 26, 1950
. Retrieved
September 27,
2016
.
- ^
Crowther, Bosley (January 1, 1951).
"THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'The Milkman,' at the Mayfair Shows Jimmy Durante and Donald O'Connor in Leads"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
September 25,
2016
.
- ^
Fitzgerald, Mike.
"Faith Domergue"
.
Western Clippings
(Interview). Interviewed by Faith Domergue. Albuquerque, New Mexico
. Retrieved
September 23,
2016
.
- ^
"Santa Fe Passage (1955)"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. American Film Institute
. Retrieved
September 9,
2016
.
- ^
"Cult of the Cobra (1955)"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. American Film Institute
. Retrieved
September 26,
2016
.
- ^
'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955' (January 25, 1956).
Variety Weekly
.
- ^
a
b
H.H.T. (June 11, 1955).
"
'This Island Earth' Explored From Space"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
September 22,
2016
.
- ^
Bergan, Ronald (May 17, 1999).
"Faith Domergue"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
September 24,
2016
.
- ^
"Soho Incident (1956)"
.
British Film Institute
. Archived from
the original
on August 9, 2016
. Retrieved
September 26,
2016
.
- ^
"Man in the Shadow (1957)"
.
British Film Institute
. Archived from
the original
on August 9, 2016
. Retrieved
September 26,
2016
.
- ^
Westfahl, Gary (1999?2016).
"Domergue, Faith"
.
Gary Westfahl's Bio-Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film
. Retrieved
September 26,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"The Private Life and Times of Faith Domergue"
.
Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
. Retrieved
September 22,
2016
.
- ^
Erickson, Hal.
"Faith Domergue Biography"
.
Fandango
. Rovi
. Retrieved
September 27,
2016
.
- ^
"John Anthony Fregonese, 1951-2018
obits.oregonlive.com
retrieved June 16, 2021
- ^
"Faith Domergue"
glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen
retrieved June 16, 2021
- ^
"Faith Domergue"
.
- ^
Maltin, Leonard.
"Overview for Faith Domergue"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Penguin Group
. Retrieved
September 25,
2016
.
- ^
Galloway, Doug (April 16, 1999).
"Faith Domergue"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
March 4,
2009
.
- ^
"Faith Domergue 1924-1999"
. November 8, 2015
. Retrieved
September 24,
2016
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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