Ruth Kyle MacDonnell (c. 1922 - September 28, 2004) was an American model, singer, and actress. She was featured as a "Television Ingenue" on the front page of ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine's May 31, 1948, issue.

Early years

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George B. MacDonnell of Larned, Kansas, she graduated from

Larned High School Larned High School is the public high school in Larned, Kansas, United States, and operated by Fort Larned USD 495 school district. The sports teams are called the Indians and the school colors are black and orange. History Larned High School was e ...

and Kansas State College and did post-graduate study at Ward-Belmont College, where she was a member of the Glee Club.

Career

In September 1945, MacDonnell was named Miss Nashville Air Transport Command, making her the group's "official sweetheart and pin-up girl". A contemporary newspaper account of the event reported that thousands of people were turned away from the "jam-packed" War Memorial Auditorium in which MacDonnell was selected over 26 other contestants. The win gained national attention for MacDonnell and worldwide distribution of her photograph to ATC stations. Winning led to MacDonnell's becoming a professional model for Harry Conover's agency. Conover had crowned her in the Miss ATC contest, and when he met her again at that fall's Army-Notre Dame football game, he offered her a job, which she accepted. She was featured in a full-page cover photograph on the May 5, 1946, issue of

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

magazine, a nationally distributed Sunday newspaper supplement. A paragraph inside the magazine referred to her as "already one of the top-ranking photographer's models." Warner Bros. signed MacDonnell to a film contract in 1947. She appeared in the film ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

'' (1953). She also performed in night clubs, including the Hotel Plaza's Persian Room in New York City and the Carousel in Pittsburgh. MacDonnell was named Miss Television 1948, the year in which an article in ''Life'' described her on-air persona as being "a cross between professional stage presence and conversational intimacy, between American girlishness and blond sexiness." She had her own 15-minute weekly variety program, '' For Your Pleasure'', on NBC in 1948. In September of that year, MacDonnell and the Norman Paris Trio were shifted from ''For Your Pleasure'' to the new half-hour ''Girl About Town'', which ended in June 1949. She also was a host of '' Hold That Camera'' and a panelist on '' Celebrity Time''. MacDonnell's Broadway credits include ''Park Avenue'', ''Make Mine Manhattan'' (1948) and ''Touch and Go'' (1949). Also on stage, she performed in ''Twin Beds''' national touring company in 1953. In January 1952, MacDonnell began her first radio show. WOR in New York carried ''The Kyle MacDonnell Show'', a 15-minute

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

program, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. She retired from show business in 1959 after her marriage.

Personal life

In 1942, MacDonnell married Norris J. McGaw in Larned, Kansas. After a divorce from him, she married Charles K. Laitus in 1948, but they divorced. On July 19, 1950, she married Richard H. Gordon, a theater writer and producer. They divorced in October 1954. In 1959, she married William H. Vernon, a banker who died in 1995.

Death

On September 28, 2004, MacDonnell died at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at age 82.

Papers

MacDonnell's papers are housed at the

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kans ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonnell, Kyle 1920s births 2004 deaths 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American actresses American musical theatre actresses Actresses from Kansas 20th-century American singers People from Larned, Kansas 21st-century American women