Colleen Joy Miller (born November 10, 1932) is an American former actress. She starred in several films, such as the Westerns '' Gunfight at Comanche Creek'' (1963) and ''

Four Guns to the Border ''Four Guns to the Border'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Richard Carlson and starring Rory Calhoun, Colleen Miller, George Nader, Walter Brennan and Nina Foch.p.173 Fitzgerald, Michael G. & Magers, Boyd ''Ladies of the Wester ...

'' (1954).

Early life

The daughter of Elias and Lillian Miller, she was born in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

, and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Miller attended Lincoln High School in Portland and graduated at age fifteen. In 1949, she was chosen "Miss Portland". Her mother named her after actress

Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...

. As a child, Miller studied ballet, but when she was older she changed to popular dancing. After graduating, she worked as a professional dancer in a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

ballet company, and relocated to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

after three seasons to work at the

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

Career

While dancing in Las Vegas, Miller was spotted by a talent agent who signed her to a contract with

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

for his

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

Pictures company. She was 19 when she made her first film appearance in '' The Las Vegas Story'', starring

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films throughout her career. R ...

. She shared top billing with

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...

in her next film, a western titled ''

'', which co-starred

Nina Foch Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress who later became a drama instructor. Her career spanned 6 decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television credits. She ...

. She then had a leading role in ''

Playgirl ''Playgirl'' is an American magazine that has historically featured pictorials of nude and semi-nude men alongside general interest, lifestyle, celebrity journalism, and original fiction. For most of its history, the magazine printed monthly a ...

'' as a young Midwestern girl who comes to New York City to be a model and ends up involved in a shooting and a scandal. She then was signed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, where she co-starred with

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

in two films, ''

The Purple Mask ''The Purple Mask'' is a 1955 American swashbuckler film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone starring Tony Curtis and set in 1803 France.Database (undated)."''The Purple Mask'' (1955)" Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 26, 2013. Plot Franc ...

'' and '' The Rawhide Years''. Miller made one more film after 1958, a western titled '' Gunfight at Comanche Creek'' opposite

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enli ...

, before retiring from acting. However, she has an uncredited bit part in 1972's ''

Stand Up and Be Counted ''Stand Up and Be Counted'' is a 1972 American comedy film directed by Jackie Cooper and starring Jacqueline Bisset and Stella Stevens. It features the recording of "I Am Woman" (1971) by Helen Reddy. Plot Cast * Jacqueline Bisset - Sheila ...

''.

Personal life

On January 20, 1955, Miller married camera manufacturer Ted Briskin. They remained wed until 1975. She married Walter Ralphs, an heir to the

Ralphs Ralphs is an American supermarket Chain stores, chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Fo ...

supermarket chain, in 1976, until his death in 2010. She currently resides in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Filmography

References

Works cited

External links

* 1932 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses People from Yakima, Washington Actresses from Portland, Oregon Actresses from Washington (state) Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni RKO Pictures contract players Western (genre) film actresses 21st-century American women {{US-film-actor-1930s-stub