Mamie Van Doren

Mamie Van Doren (/ˈmeɪmi væn ˈdɔːrən/; born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and model. A blonde bombshell, she is one of the "Three M's" along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, who were friends and contemporaries. In 1953, Van Doren, then named Joan Lucille Olander, signed a seven-year contract with Universal, which hoped that she would be their version of Monroe. During her time at Universal, she starred in teen dramas, exploitation films, musical, and comedy films among other genres. She has married five times, and had intimate affairs with many other Hollywood actors. She was one of the leading sex symbols in the 1950s.

Van Doren was born and raised in Rowena, South Dakota, but her parents moved to Sioux City, Iowa and eventually to Los Angeles in 1942 before she married Jack Newman. In 1949, at the age of eighteen, she won Miss Palm Springs and Miss Eight Ball. As Miss Eight Ball, she was discovered by film producer Howard Hughes, who put her in the RKO films His Kind of Woman (1951), Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), and Jet Pilot (1957) with minor roles. In 1950, she was dating heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey in New York City and was engaged with him. However, she left him to go back to L.A. On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal, who wanted Van Doren to be Universal's equivalent of Marilyn Monroe. While at Universal, Van Doren changed her name to Mamie Van Doren, with the "Van Doren" part coming from Universal telling Van Doren she was more Dutch than Swedish, and the "Mamie" part coming from then-First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.

During her time at Universal, Van Doren starred in movies such as The Second Greatest Sex (1955), Running Wild (1955) and The All American (1953). Outside of Universal, she starred in Untamed Youth (1957), Teacher's Pet (1958), High School Confidential (1958), Born Reckless (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), and Sex Kittens Go To College (1960). She starred on television shows such as What's My Line?, The Jack Benny Program, and The Bob Cummings Show. After Universal failed to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren struggled to find work as a free agent. Van Doren starred in many B movies, such as Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) with Mansfield, and particularly, 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964) with Tommy Noonan. Van Doren had previously refused Noonan's offer to star in Promises! Promises! (1963), and was replaced. However, Van Doren starred as Saxie Symbol in 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, which, according to Van Doren, was inspired by the success of Promises! Promises! This film challenged the Hays Code, and the same year, she appeared in the June 1964 Playboy magazine with nude photos of her on the set of the film.

Van Doren went to Vietnam during the Vietnam War to entertain troops in the 1970s. Partially due to the sudden deaths of Mansfield and Monroe, Van Doren decided to retire from acting. In 1987, Van Doren released her autobiography, Playing the Field: My Story. On February 1, 1994, Van Doren received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, Van Doren created her website describing herself as “the first authentic kitten on Cyberspace". On her website, Van Doren posed nude in photos and videos, told stories, and wrote many updates on her life. Van Doren continued her website until it shut down in the 2010s. In 2022, Van Doren released her most recent book, China & Me, and has recently begun writing a third autobiography, Secrets of the Goddess.