Dolores Jean Moran (January 27, 1926 – February 5, 1982) was an American film actress and model.

Early years

Moran was born in Stockton, California, and attended elementary and secondary schools there. She won the Northern California Oratorical Contest and starred in school plays.

Film career

In 1942, aged 16, Moran, originally named Jacqueline, the daughter of James G. Moran and his wife, Esther Moran was signed by Warner Bros. to a seven-year contract, with her parents' permission. Moran's brief career as a film actress began with uncredited roles in such films as ''

Yankee Doodle Dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George To ...

'' (1942) as "the Pippirino" (with whom George blows off a date to go out with Mary). By 1943, she had become a

pin-up girl A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

appearing on the cover of such magazines as ''Yank''. She was given supporting roles in films, such as ''

Old Acquaintance ''Old Acquaintance'' is a 1943 American drama film released by Warner Bros. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Henry Blanke with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The film was adapted from a screenplay by John Van Druten, L ...

'' (1943) with

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

. Warner Bros. attempted to increase interest in her, promoting her along with

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

as a new screen personality when Bacall was cast alongside

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

in ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

'' (1944). The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran languished, and subsequent films did little to further her career. '' The Horn Blows at Midnight'' (1945) gave her a leading role with

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

and

Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...

, but her film appearances after this were sporadic, and she suffered ill health that reduced her ability to work. Her film career ended in 1954 with a featured role in the John Payne and

Lizabeth Scott Lizabeth Virginia Scott (born Emma Matzo; September 29, 1921 – January 31, 2015) was an American actress, singer and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, known for her "smoky voice" and being "the most beautiful face of film noir durin ...

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'' Silver Lode''.

Personal life

She married film producer

Benedict Bogeaus Benedict Bogeaus (May 4, 1904, in Chicago – August 23, 1968, in Hollywood), was an independent film producer and former owner of General Service Studios. Biography and filmography Bogeaus' business career started when he was seventeen, workin ...

in Salome, Arizona in 1946. Their son Brett Benedict became a businessman. They divorced in 1962; Moran had an affair with director

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A ...

while filming ''To Have and Have Not'', which Hawks undertook mainly as revenge for his rejection by Bacall in favor of Bogart. Bacall chided Bogart in one scene where she copied one of Moran's lines and fluttered her eyes at Bogart to emphasize how corny she thought Moran's acting skills were. In 1968, Moran was the recipient of bequest valued at $300,000 (worth nearly $2.5 million in 2022 dollar

. Anthony Ponce, "a recluse apricot grower", bequeathed the bulk of his estate to her because he appreciated her kindness 20 years earlier when she worked as a carhop at a drive-in. Ponce's will directed that $6,000 go to his nephew and five nieces, with the rest to go to Moran. The nieces and nephew contested the will.

Death

In 1982, Dolores Moran died of cancer, aged 56.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1926 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses Female models from California People from Stockton, California Warner Bros. contract players People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Deaths from lung cancer in California {{US-film-actor-1920s-stub