Rowena Cook Baggerly ( – March 2, 2004) was an American actress.

Early years

Baggerly was born Rowena Cook in Staten Island, New York. She lived in Pasadena for much of her childhood and grew up wanting to be a ballerina. Her education in Pasadena was complemented by private schools and two years studying abroad. She was involved in school plays, which turned her interest toward acting as a career.

Career

In 1939, Cook was the female winner (along with John Archer) in the first round of competition on the radio program ''

Gateway to Hollywood ''Gateway to Hollywood'' is an American old-time radio talent show. It was broadcast on CBS from January 8, 1939, to December 31, 1939. Like other programs from ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' to ''American Idol,'' the show sought to turn relatively ...

'', "a series of on-air screen tests". Her rewards for winning included the screen name Alice Eden, membership in the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, and a six-month film contract. Billed as Alice Eden, Cook portrayed a town drunk's daughter in the film ''

Career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

'' (1939). Her post-contest experience led her to change her approach to her career. Although she had studied dramatics for years, she found that in Hollywood she was considered "more as just a contest winner than as a schooled performer." When her contract ended, she resumed use of her birth name and sought work as a freelance actress. Those efforts led to a role in ''

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

'' (1940), with producer

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891 – January 25, 1977) was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies ''The Count of Mon ...

enhancing her part after seeing her screen test.

Public service

During World War II, Cook obtained release from her film contract to go to New York, where by day she helped train female Navy recruits, while at night she continued acting, including performing in a stage production of ''John Loves Mary''. When her husband Vaughn Baggerly was stationed in Tokyo during the Korean War, she was a volunteer worker with a rehabilitation program operated in that city by the Red Cross.

Personal life

While she was in Hollywood, Cook's marriage to an actor lasted less than a year. In 1948 she married Vaughn Baggerly, who directed the play in which she appeared. He later became a career Army officer, and they remained wed until his death in 1990. Although both of them left the theater as a profession, they worked with local theatrical groups in places where they lived.

Death

On March 2, 2004, Baggerly died in Governors Park nursing home in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area featu ...

, at age 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baggerly, Rowena Cook 1910s births 2004 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American radio actresses Actresses from Pasadena, California 21st-century American actresses