Mona Freeman

Mona Freeman

Mona Freeman in That Brennan Girl (1946)
Born Monica Elizabeth Freeman
(1926-06-09)June 9, 1926
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died May 23, 2014(2014-05-23) (aged 87)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress, painter
Years active 1944–1972
Spouse(s)
  • Pat Nerney (1945–52; divorced); 1 child
  • H. Jack Ellis (1961–92; his death)
Children Monie Ellis

Mona Freeman (June 9, 1926 – May 23, 2014), born as Monica Elizabeth Freeman, was an American actress and painter.[1] Her daughter, Monie Ellis (born 1947), became an actress as well.[2]

Career

Freeman was a model while in high school, and after becoming the first "Miss Subways" of the New York City transit system, eventually signed a movie contract with Howard Hughes.[3]

Her contract was later sold to Paramount Pictures. Her first film appearance was in the 1944 film Till We Meet Again.[4][5] She became a popular teenage movie star. After a series of roles as a pretty, naive teenager she complained of being typecast.[4]

As an adult, Freeman's career slowed and she appeared in mostly B-movies, though an exception was her role in the film noir Angel Face (1952). She also co-starred in the hit film Jumping Jacks with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1952, she was called a "vest pocket Venus" by sculptor Yucca Salamunich because her proportions were the same as those of the Venus de Milo but three-quarter size.

Freeman's appearances in films ended in the 1950s but she continued to work in television. Among her appearances were seven guest roles on The United States Steel Hour from 1960–1962 and three on Perry Mason, all of them roles as Mason's client: Jane Wardman in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Lurid Letter", Rosanne Ambrose in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Illicit Illusion", and Ellen Payne in the 1965 episode, "The Case of the 12th Wildcat".[6]

Freeman was also a portrait painter and after 1961, she concentrated on painting. Her best-known portrait is that of businesswoman Mary See, founder of See's Candies.[4]

Personal life and death

Freeman was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Pelham, New York.[4] She married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945.[4][7] The couple had one daughter, Mona.[4] They divorced in 1952.[7] In 1961 she married H. Jack Ellis.[4]

Mona Freeman died on May 23, 2014 at the age of 87 after a long illness at her Beverly Hills home.[4]

Select feature filmography

Select television roles

References

  1. ↑ Lamparski, Richard (July 1, 1982). Whatever became of-- ?: eighth series: the best (updated) and newest of the famous Lamparski profiles of personalities of yesteryear. Crown Publishers. p. 110. ISBN 9780517548554. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Mona Freeman - The Private Life and Times of Mona Freeman". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ Ilnytzky, Ula (October 12, 2012). "Decades of Miss Subways smiled on NYC straphangers". Associated Press. Retrieved June 10, 2014 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chawkins, Steve (June 6, 2014). "Film star Mona Freeman, typecast as teen in '40s and '50s, dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ Till We Meet Again at the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ Mona Freeman at the Internet Movie Database
  7. 1 2 "Mona Freeman". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Gale. 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2014 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
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