In the 1950s and 1960s, former screen actress Mamie Van Doren (b. 1931) was, along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, the personification of glamour and beauty. While Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield died prematurely in the 1960s—the trio was known as ‘The Three M’s’—Ms. Van Doren’s career had skyrocketed as a leading lady in a number of juvenile delinquent rock ‘n’ roll pictures during the late 1950s.

Now at age 86, the former actress, singer, model and sex symbol who was discovered by Howard Hughes when she was still a teenager, had a nightclub act and appeared on the stage after she was no longer in demand as a film actress. She wrote her autobiography “Playing the Field: My Story” (1987), and maintained her own website and a blog until a few years ago.

This interview was conducted in Los Angeles back in August 2000. As we sat down, she gracefully took the time to talk about Marilyn Monroe, what it was like working in Hollywood during the 1950s and not working there at all from the 1960s, the impact of B movies, and—first things first—how she entered the film business.

Ms. Van Doren, how did your career take off in the late 1940s?

When I was fifteen, turning sixteen, my mom and I went to Palm Springs for a vacation, where we stayed in a little motel. They had a contest there for Miss Palm Springs, and they asked if I wanted to represent the motel. The contest was held at the Chi Chi Club on Palm Canyon Drive—and I won. Howard Hughes was out there in the audience, and later on, I got a call from RKO, the studio he owned, and that was the beginning for me. Jimmy McHugh, who had written a lot of famous songs, became my manager. He sent me to private schools and dramatic schools. At RKO, the roles I played were mostly bit parts, but I was working and getting a salary. I didn’t really have the background of acting, so Jimmy McHugh, who had been managing quite a few ladies, put me through schooling. I also appeared in about five plays, two of them were directed by Aaron Spelling. He was having a hard time back then, he didn’t have any money. In fact, I loaned him a hundred dollars at one time. We were all trying to make it in those days. Then I was discovered in the play “Come Back, Little Sheba” by a scout from Universal. I went over to the studio, and it is very funny, they were looking for a nightclub singer for a film called “Forbidden” [1953] with Tony Curtis. I got the job after director Rudolph Mathé heard me sing ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby.’ That was on Friday, and they were going to start shooting the following Monday, so I had just the weekend to learn the song ‘You Belong to Me,’ prerecorded by someone else, but I had to match my mouth to the record. I was learning the song, learning the mouth movements and everything, and it turned to be just fine. They offered me a seven-year contract, and I started at $260 a week. In those days, that was a lot. By then, I thought I was in.

And you were?

No, not at all. Once you got in the studio, that was only the beginning, really. You had to work to keep your contract. They had sixty people under contract, all fighting for those roles. You had to get out and get publicity, perfect your diction; it was like going to school. Unlike other studios, Universal had a talent department. They would teach you, and the training you got was incredible. Then you’d go to the set, you’d watch Joan Crawford or James Stewart work, you’d learn how to walk in front of the camera, etc. I was tested for my first role with Tony Curtis, “The All-American” [1953], and the next one was “Yankee Pasha” [1954] with Jeff Chandler. You had to fight for every role. The film industry was very male-oriented; there were no women with any power. So as a young woman, I was there pretty much on my own and had to find my own way. But I did one movie after another, I was out there the whole time, later on also doing publicity and dating stars of the top studios, and that’s how you became known. And I met Ray Anthony, a very popular bandleader, and I got pregnant, but I couldn’t hide it after the fourth month, so we got married. The studio wasn’t too happy with that: a sex symbol wasn’t supposed to get married and have babies.

How would you describe yourself, looking back to your early years as an actress?

I was really pre-feminist. I never really did the things most women did. When I got my contract, I knew I would never give in to something I didn’t want to do. Now, it’s like I’m post-feminist—I fought the system before anyone else did. Hollywood was very conservative back then, and when Ronald Reagan was President of the Screen Actors Guild [1947-52], Hollywood was super conservative. But I continued on and did some movies that today are more popular than some of the big A movies. Albert Zugsmith produced some of my movies, like “The Beat Generation” [1959] which had to do with the hippies at the end of the 1950s, or “High School Confidential!” [1958] at MGM—those movies were all ahead of their time, and were not given the approval of the Legion of Decency, which was something that had to be given by the Catholic Church. They sort of blacklisted me and told people not to see any of my movies; it was really quite bad. I was blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1960s to the point that I couldn’t even get anybody to raise any money for my movies. I was considered too sexy—I guess that’s what you should call it, I don’t know what it was—and whatever I had, I had to cover myself from my neck down, but that still didn’t help me any further. I just had a name that was very hard to sell.

Later on, you went to Vietnam to entertain the troops. What impact did this have on you?

Well, you know, Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, Jayne Mansfield passed away five years later—both in their mid-thirties—and that was just a very, very bad thing. Hollywood didn’t want to be reminded of blondes at that time, which was also one of the reasons why they didn’t want me anymore. It was a very difficult time in my life; I really had to hang on. So my son and I moved to Orange County, and we’ve lived here ever since. I simply had to get away from Hollywood, especially since I couldn’t get a job. Then I was asked to go to Vietnam—at a time when everybody was afraid to go over there—and I decided to go. I took a big insurance policy out for my son, my mother, and my father, and I just went over there. I really risked my life, but what changed my entire life was going over there and seeing that war: seeing all these wounded and sick kids who were trying to hang on to their life, while I thought I was going through a difficult time in my life. Now, when I look back at it, I just can’t believe I did that. It’s hard to describe how I felt and what was going on in my mind. When I came back, I was invited to the White House—I was Henry Kissinger’s date at the time. He was a peacemaker, trying to bring Hanoi and Washington closer together in Paris.

But your career was basically over?

I couldn’t get any screen roles. I was not in that genre of movie stars at that time, and they also had new actresses coming up. Americans are also different from Europeans. Here it is ‘hot and cold’: one year, you’re popular, and the next year nobody hears from you. It’s the same with rock stars. They don’t stay behind their people, unlike in Europe where they stayed behind Brigitte Bardot, for example—actresses over there have a following.

Is there anyone you would call your mentor?

Mae West was, in many ways. She was the one who went to jail for having the word ‘sex’ in a show she did in New York, she was the one who fought an entire system, and when she came to Hollywood, she opened the door for a lot of people. Then there was Jean Harlow—she was more a glamorous type—and then Marilyn came along in the 1950s. She really opened the door for me. When I got my contract at Universal, I was their answer to Marilyn Monroe. They made my hair platinum, and they gave me a lot of sexy roles—dumb roles, actually. The studio didn’t really know how to groom a female star because they only had male stars—Rock Hudson, Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis. So they didn’t know what to do with a well-endowed blonde, except giving her dumb roles.

How well did you know Marilyn Monroe?

I knew her since I was twelve years old when I lived behind the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. During the war years, when I was about twelve, I always went to the swimming pool, I used to go there all the time, sneak in the back and swim there. Marilyn was with a modeling agency, and one day, they were there taking pictures of her. Once I got in the way when they were taking a shot of her, and the photographer got mad. So he said, ‘Get out of the way, kid,’ but she thought I stayed at the hotel with my mom and dad. She said, ‘Well, you have no right to say that to her.’ That was our first meeting, and later, when we were both in pictures, we ran into each other all the time at parties. The last time I saw her was a few months before she died. I was doing a play in New York called “Wildcat.” It was late afternoon; I was having an early dinner in the Russian Tea Room, so I wouldn’t have a big stomach when I got on stage—I always ate early in the afternoon—she was sitting there too. Previously, I had done a movie in Italy, at the same time when she got the David di Donatello Award for her performance in “The Prince and the Showgirl” [1957] in Taormina, Sicily. That was the equivalent of the Academy Award. Since I was in Italy at the time, Marilyn had asked me if I could pick it up for her. So I did, and later, when I saw her again at the Russian Tea Room, I asked if she had received the statue. She had, but she wasn’t doing well then. She had not been living well, she had been drinking heavily that day, and she really looked disturbed. Marilyn was being used, she knew that and she was trying to cope with it. And the drugs made things much, much worse. It exaggerated everything. She was so vulnerable to the world, but what a sweet person she really was, lovable, compassionate—I have nothing but grace for Marilyn, and she should have been at least nominated for an Academy Award for “Bus Stop” [1956]. But in those days, they preferred to nominate the Bette Davis kind of stars. You know, talking about Marilyn Monroe is strange. To me, she’s a person; to most people, she’s an idea.

What about Jayne Mansfield?

Jayne Mansfield became popular through a New York play that was written for me, called “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” I had turned it down because it was a satire on Marilyn, and I didn’t want to be compared to her anymore. So it was then given to an unknown, named Jayne Mansfield. Whether she would have become famous otherwise, I don’t know. In films, she played mostly character roles, while Marilyn did more sophisticated movies, and I did several rock ‘n’ roll movies. The three of us were often compared, maybe because we had blonde hair, but all three of us were very different.

You will always be associated with your rock ‘n’ roll movies, I suppose? How instrumental was producer Albert Zugsmith in this particular era of your career?

I met Zuggy at Universal, he was one of the producers on the lot, and he wanted me in “Star In the Dust” [1956], a Western with John Agar. They said I wasn’t the type for it, so they put a dark blonde wig on me. They wanted me to look like Grace Kelly with breasts. I got that role, and after I left Universal, he left too and went to MGM, where he got a four-picture contract. That’s where I did movies like “The Beat Generation,” “Girls Town,” and “The Big Operator” [all 1959]. At Warner Brothers, I worked with Howard W. Koch on two movies, “Born Reckless” [1958] and “Untamed Youth” [1957], still one of the most famous and most popular of today when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll. I was the first girl to do rock ‘n’ roll on the silver screen—they didn’t even know what rock ‘n’ roll was. Nobody had ever seen a woman do it. So they brought a choreographer in to teach me the steps, but I said, ‘You don’t learn rock ‘n’ roll, it must come from inside!’

“Untamed Youth” (1957, trailer)

The films you mention now were quite the opposite of the romantic comedy “Teacher’s Pet” [1958] which you made with Clark Gable and Doris Day. How did you get cast for that movie?

I was at the commissary, and Clark Gable saw me. Later that day, I got a call from my agent; he told me that Gable had seen me, and wanted me in his movie. So they sent me the script, but my role of Peggy DeFore, a stripper, was much larger in the script than what it was in the movie, you know. They cut a lot of it out.

“Teacher’s Pet” is also one of the few major features—’A movies’—that you appeared in, isn’t it? What’s in your opinion the difference between A and B movies?

You knew, in those days, there were hardly any women who headlined movies. Men always had first billing, unless it was a Joan Crawford or Bette Davis movie. But I starred in most of my so-called B movies. Those movies didn’t have a leading man with a name, and that’s why they were called B movies. It was hard for a man to want somebody like me to play opposite. Men always wanted something that will make them look better—except Gable; he was different. He had played with Jean Harlow, Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe; he never felt that somebody would upstage him. He was one hell of a man. When Marilyn did a movie, she usually had a male over her. She should have been starring in her movies. The only one she really starred in, was “Bus Stop” [1956]. That was not a B movie, but—give me a break—“The Misfits” [1961] wasn’t a B movie because Clark Gable was in it. B movies were always more fun for me, and I think it’s unfair to say that I made B movies simply because I was in them. In my opinion, none of my movies were B movies; they were just as A as you could get. Because I didn’t have a big male lead opposite of me, I don’t think that should put any of those movies in another category. I knew I made a lot of money for the people who backed my movies; they put their money in, and they always got it back. They made more money than those big movies, like the “Ma and Pa Kettle” and “Frances the Talking Mule” series which kept Universal’s payroll going. I have done A movies too, but I preferred doing B movies—if that’s what people want to call them, then so be it. Elvis Presley did B movies; Jack Nicholson did B movies,… So when I am referred to as ‘The Queen of the B Movies,’ I leave that to the person who reads it. If I could become popular and people could see that we were ahead of our time, then that’s great for me. Take “Running Wild” [1955], “Untamed Youth” [1957], or “The Beat Generation” [1959], all those movies we did, I think they’re great. And you have to remember we had wonderful stars in our pictures, people like Louis Armstrong, Eddie Cochran, Paul Anka—I mean, are those B people? Being ahead of our time was like, ‘Oh, you don’t dare to do this.’ Or, ‘Well, you can’t do that.’ So you’re fighting the system all the time, and that’s what I did all those years.

Mamie Van Doren singing ‘The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll’ in “Teacher’s Pet,” directed by George Seaton, and written by Fay and Michael Kanin

Is there anything you regret, wrong decisions you might have made, for example?

No, not really. You know, the one thing that was so great in those days was that a woman named Brigitte Bardot came along with “Et Dieu créa la femme” [1956, a.k.a. “And God Created Woman”]. Over here, we were fighting censorship in the 1950s and 1960s when you couldn’t even show you had a bust. We had to cover everything, and when Bardot’s movie was released in an art house in Los Angeles, my God, people were lining up all the way down Wilshire Boulevard to see it. I also stood in line, and I thought, ‘Why can’t I do that?’

Did you ever hope to make a come-back after staying away from the Hollywood limelight for such a long time?

After Vietnam, I went to the White House in 1973, the following year, I met my husband-to-be [Thomas Dixon], and then I didn’t go back to Hollywood for the next eighteen years. I was invited to come up once in a while, but I would never go because I thought nobody would remember me. About eight or nine years ago, a personal friend of mine, Skip E. Lowell, who has a cable show called “Skip E. Low Looks at Hollywood,” asked me to go to a Hollywood party. I thought it would be embarrassing; people might not even know who I am. My husband urged me to go, so I wore a very simple black dress, and when I got out of the car, people still recognized me. I realized that they still knew me. I had also written my autobiography “Playing the Field” a few years before. At first, when I wrote it, I thought, ‘My God, nobody is going to buy that book.’ But when it was published, I was invited on all the top shows, “Today” two mornings in a row, “Larry King” twice, etc., so it really took off, and the book did well considering I had been away for so many years. So I started going back to Hollywood. I wrote my book back then on a small Apple when you had to save every chapter, otherwise, it would get lost. I have been familiar with computers since 1985, and recently, I celebrated the second anniversary of my website [not available anymore]. I started that not to make money, but I wanted people to know me through my own eyes instead of through someone writing about me. My husband and I started this whole thing.

Do you maybe have one more final thought you’d like to share before we say goodbye?

I have always been very open about my life; I never felt I had anything to hide. I have never been in any scandal; I always kept away from scandals, I have a sense of knowing when to get out of it and when not to, and I have never done anything to hurt anyone. So now I’m just glad to be waltzing around and enjoy my life more than I ever have.

And health-wise? Because you’re still in great shape.

Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t do drugs, and get enough sleep. A healthy lifestyle will increase your lifespan considerably.

Los Angeles, California
August 2000

FILMS

JET PILOT (1949, release delayed until 1957) DIR Josef von Sternberg PROD – SCR Jules Furthman CAM Philip G. Cochran, Winton C. Hoch ED Michael R. McAdam, Harry Marker MUS Bronislau Kaper CAST John Wayne, Janet Leigh, Jay C. Flippen, Paul Fix, Richard Rober, Roland Winters, Hans Conreid, Ivan Triesault, John Bishop, Mamie Van Doren (Guest [uncredited])

HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951) DIR John Farrow PROD John Farrow, Robert Sparks SCR Frank Fenton, Jack Leonard CAM Harry J. Wild ED Frederic Knudtson, Eda Warren MUS Leigh Harline CAST Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Tim Holt, Charles McGraw, Marjorie Reynolds, Raymond Burr, Leslie Banning, Jim Backus, Philip Van Zandt, Mamie Van Doren (Lodge Guest at Bar [uncredited])

FOOTLIGHT VARIETIES (1951) DIR – SCR Hal Yates PROD George Bilson CAM J. Roy Hunt, Frank Redman ED Edward W. Williams, Jay Whittredge CAST Leon Errol, The Sportsmen, Liberace, Jerry Murad’s Harmonicals, Frankie Carle Orchestra, RED Buttons, Inesita, Buster West, Melissa Mason, Mamie Van Doren (Blonde in Theater)

TWO TICKETS TO BROADWAY (1951) DIR James V. Kern SCR Sid Silvers, Hal Kanter (story by Sammy Cahn) CAM Edward Cronjager, Harry J. Wild ED Harry Marker MUS Walter Scharf CAST Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Gloria DeHaven, Eddie Bracken, Ann Miller, Bob Crosby, Barbara Lawrence, Joe Smith, Charles Dale, Mamie Van Doren (uncredited)

THE ALL-AMERICAN (1953) DIR Jesse Hibbs PROD Aaron Rosenberg SCR D.D. Beauchamp (story by Leonard Freeman) CAM Maury Gertsman ED Edward Curtiss CAST Tony Curtis, Lori Nelson, Richard Long, Mamie Van Doren (Susie Ward), Gregg Palmer, Paul Cavanagh, Barney Phillips, Jimmy Hunt, Stuart Whitman, Douglas Kennedy

FORBIDDEN (1953) DIR Rudolph Maté PROD Ted Richmond SCR William Sackheim, Gil Doud (story by William Sackheim) CAM William Daniels ED Edward Curtiss MUS Frank Skinner CAST Tony Curtis, Joanne Dru, Lyle Bettger, Marvin Miller, Sen Yung, Alan Dexter, David Sharpe, Peter Mamakos,     Howard Chuman, Mamie Van Doren (Singer)

YANKEE PASHA (1954) DIR Joseph Pevney PROD Howard Christie SCR Joseph Hoffman (based on the novel by Edison Marshall) CAM Carl Guthrie ED Virgil Vogel CAST Jeff Chandler, Rhonda Fleming, Mamie Van Doren (Lilith), Lee J. Cobb, Bart Roberts, Hal March, Tudor Owen, Arthur Space, Benny Rubin, Phil Van Zandt

FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS (1954) DIR Arthur Lubin PROD TED Richmond SCR Devery Freeman, James B. Allardice (story by Herbert Baker based on the character ‘Francis’ created by David Stern) CAM Irving Glassberg ED Ted J. Kent, Russell Schoengarth CAST Donald O’Connor, Julia Adams, Chill Wills, Mamie Van Doren (Corporal Bunky Hilstrom), Lynn Bari, ZaSu Pitts, Joan Shawlee, Allison Hayes, Mara Corday, Karen Kadler

AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ (1955) DIR Edward Buzzell PROD Samuel Marx SCR Edward Buzzell, Philip Rapp, Devery Freeman (based on the novel ‘Third Girl From the Right’ by Robert Carson). CAM Wilfrid M. Cline ED Paul Weatherwax MUS Joseph Gershenson CAST Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, Jack Carson, Mamie Van Doren (Jackie), Reginald Gardiner, Barbara Britton, Dani Crayne, Carl Post, Roger Etienne, Harris Brown

RUNNING WILD (1955) DIR Abner Biberman PROD Howard Pine SCR Leo Townsend (based on the novel by Ben Benson) CAM Ellis W. Carter ED Edward Curtiss, Ray Snyder MUS Joseph Gershenson CAST William Campbell, Mamie Van Doren (Irma), Keenan Wynn, Kathleen Case, Jan Merlin, John Saxon, Walter Coy, Grace Mills, Chris Randall, Michael Fox

THE SECOND GREATEST SEX (1955) DIR George Marshall PROD Albert J. Cohen SCR Charles Hoffman CAM Wilfrid M. Cline ED Frank Gross MUS (songs) Pony Sherrell, Phil Moody, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Joan Whitney, Alex Kramer CAST Jeanne Crain, George Nader, Kitty Kallen, Bert Lahr, Mamie Van Doren (Birdie Snyder), Keith Andes, Kathleen Case, Mary Marlo, Paul Gilbert, Tommy Rall

STAR IN THE DUST (1956) DIR Charles Haas PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Oscar Brodney (basED on the novel ‘Law Man’ by Lee Leighton CAM John L. Russell, Jr. ED Ray Snyder MUS Frank Skinner CAST John Agar, Mamie Van Doren (Ellen Ballard), Richard Boone, Coleen Gray, Leif Erickson, James Gleason, Randy Stuart, Terry Gilkyson, Paul Fix, Harry Morgan

UNTAMED YOUTH (1957) DIR Howard W. Koch PROD Aubrey Schenk SCR John C. Higgins (story by Stephen Longstreet) CAM Carl Guthrie ED John Schreyer MUS Les Baxter CAST Mamie Van Doren (Penny), Lori Nelson, John Russell, Don Burnett, Eddie Cochran, Lurenne Tuttle, Yvonne Lime, Jeanne Carmen, Robert Foulk, Wayne Taylor

THE GIRL IN THE BLACK STOCKINGS (1957) DIR Howard W. Koch PROD Aubrey Schenk SCR Richard Landau (story ‘Walton Murder’ by Peter Godfrey) CAM William Margulies ED John F. Schreyer MUS Les Baxter CAST Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, Mamie Van Doren (Harriet Ames), Ron Randell, Marie Windsor, John Denner, John Holland, Diana Vandervlis, Richard Cutting, Larry Chance

LE BELLISSIME GAMBE DI SABRINA, a.k.a. THE BEAUTIFUL LEGS OF SABRINA (1958) DIR Camillo Mastrocinue CAST Willy Birgel, Antonio Cifariello, Adrian Hoven, Raffaele Pisu, Mamie Van Doren

TEACHER’S PET (1958) DIR George Seaton PROD William Perlberg SCR Fay Kanin, Michael Kanin CAM Haskell Boggs ED Alma Macrorie MUS Roy Webb CAST Clark Gable, Doris Day, Gig Young, Mamie Van Doren (Peggy DeFore), Nick Adams, Peter Baldwin, Marion Ross, Charles Lane, Jack Albertson, Florenz Ames

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL! (1958) DIR Jack Arnold PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Lewis Meltzer, Robert Blees (story by Robert Blees) CAM Harold J. Marzorati ED Ben Lewis CAST Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Mamie Van Doren (Gwen Dulaine), Diane Jerges, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Anthony, Jackie Coogan, Charles Chaplin Jr., Lyle Talbot

BORN RECKLESS (1958) DIR Howard W. Koch PROD Aubrey Schenk SCR Richard Landau (story by Aubrey Schenk, Richard Landau) CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED John F. Schreyer MUS Buddy Bregman CAST Mamie Van Doren (Jackie), Jeff Richards, Arthur Hunnicutt, Carol Ohmart, Tom Duggan, Tex Williams, Donald Barry, Nacho Galindo, Orlando Rodriguez, Johnny Olenn

GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS (1959) DIR Edward L. Cahn PROD – SCR Robert E. Kent CAM Kenneth Peach ED Fred Feitshans. MUS Emil Newman CAST Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr, Lee Van Cleef, Elaine Edwards, John Baer, Carlo Fiore, Paul Fix, W. Beal Wong

THE BEAT GENERATION (1959) DIR Charles Haas PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Richard Matheson, Mewis Meltzer CAM Walter H. Castle ED Ben Lewis MUS Albert Glasser CAST Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren (Georgia Altera), Ray Danton, Fay Spain, Louis Armstrong, Maggie Hayes, Jackie Coogan, Jim Mitchum, Cathy Crosby, Charles Chaplin, Jr.

THE BIG OPERATOR (1959) DIR Charles Haas PROD Albert Zugsmith, Red Doff SCR Robert Smith, Allen Rivkin (based on a story by Paul Gallico) CAM Walter H. Castle ED Ben Lewis MUS Van Alexander CAST Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren (Mary Gibson), Ray Danton, Mel Torme, Jim Backus, Jackie Coogan, Ray Anthony, Ben Gage, Charles Chaplin, Jr.

GIRLS’ TOWN (1959) DIR Charles Haas PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Robert Smith (story by Robert Hardy Adrews) CAM John L. Russell ED Leon Barsha MUS Van Alexander CAST Mamie Van Doren (Silver Morgan), Mel Torme, Paul Anka, Ray Anthony, Maggie Hayes, Cathy Crosby, Gigi Perreau, Elinor Donahue, Harold Lloyd, Jr., Charles Chaplin, Jr., The Platters

VICE RAID (1960) DIR Edward L. Cahn PROD Robert E. Kent SCR Charles Ellis CAM Stanley Cortez ED Grant Whytock MUS Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter CAST Mamie Van Doren (Carol Hudson), Richard Coogan, Brad Dexter, Frank Gerstle, Barry Atwater, Carol Nugent, Joseph Sullivan, Chris Algaide, Jeanne Bates, Julie Reding

SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE (1960) DIR – PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Robert Hill (story by Albert Zugsmith) MUS Dean Elliott CAST Mamie Van Doren (Mathilda West), Tuesday Weld, Mijanou Bardot, Mickey Shaughnessy, Louis Nye, Pamela Mason, Marty Milner, Conway Twitty, Jackie Coogan, John Carradine

COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL (1960) DIR – PROD Albert Zugsmith SCR Irving Shulman CAST Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Mamie Van Doren (Sally Blake), Rocky Marciano, Mickey Shaughnessy, Cathy Crosby, Herbert Marshall, Conway Twitty, Randy Sparks, Elisha Cook, Jr., Robert Montgomery, Jr., William Wellman, Jr.

UNA AMERICANA EN BUENOS AIRES, a.k.a. THE BLONDE FROM BUENOS AIRES (1961) DIR George Cahan CAST Carlos Estrada, Catherine Zabó, Juan Carlos Mareco, Nathán Pinzón, Guido Gorgatti, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Mamie Van Doren

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ADAM AND EVE (1961) DIR Albert Zugsmith PROD Red Doff SCR Robert Hill CAM Phil Lathrop ED Eddie Broussard MUS Van Alexander CAST Mickey Rooney, Mamie Van Doren (Evie / Eve), Fay Spain, Mel Torme, Marty Milner, Cecil Kellaway, Tuesday Weld, Paul Anka, Ziva Rodann

FREDDY UND DAS LIED DER PRÄRIE, a.k.a. THE SHERIFF WAS A LADY (1964) DIR Sobey Martin CAST Freddy Quinn, Beba Lonear, Rik Battagliar, Mamie Van Doren (Olivia), arlo Croccolo, Klaus Dahler, Vladimir Medar, Milivoje Popovic-Mavid, Mirko Boman

THREE NUTS IN SEARCH OF A BOLT (1964) DIR Tommy Noonan PROD – SCR Tommy Noonan, Ian McGlashan CAM Fouad Said ED William Martin MUS Phil Moody CAST Mamie Van Doren (Saxie Symbol), Tommy Noonan, Ziva Rodann, Paul Gilbert, John Cronin, Peter Howard, T.C. Jones, Charles Irving, Alvy Moore, Robert Kenneally

THE CANDIDATE (1964) DIR Robert Angus PROD Maurice Duke SCR Joyce Ann Miller, Quenton Vale, Frank Moceri CAM Stanley Cortez ED William Martin MUS Steve Karmen, Sid Robin CAST Mamie Van Doren (Samantha), June Wilkinson, Ted Knight, Eric Mason, Rachel Romen, Robin Raymond, William Long, Jr., John Matthews, Herb Vigran, Art Allessi

THE LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS (1966) DIR Arthur C. Pierce PROD – SCR Larry E. Jackson CAM William DeDiego MUS Deal Elliott CAST Ferlin Husky, Mamie Van Doren (Boots), Don Bowman, Billie Bird, Del Reeves, Wilma Burges, Roy Drusby, Jayne Mansfield

THE NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS (1966) DIR – SCR Michael A. Hoey PROD George Edwards CAM Stanley Cortez ED George White MUS Gordon Zahler CAST Mamie Van Doren (Lt. Nora Hall), Anthony Eisley, Pamela Mason, Billy Gray, Bobby Van, Walter Sande, Phillip Terry

YOU’VE GOT TO BE SMART (1967) DIR – SCR Ellis Kadison MUS Stan Worth CAST Tom Stern, Roger Perry, Gloria Castillo, Mamie Van Doren (Miss Hathaway), Preston Foster, Jeff Bantam, Mike Bantam, Fritz Bantam

VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF PREHISTORIC WOMEN (1968) DIR Derek Thomas [Peter Bogdanovich] PROD Norman D. Wells SCR Henry Ney CAM Flemming Olsen ED Bob Collins MUS Keith Benjamin CAST Mamie Van Doren (Moana), Mary Marr, Paige Lee, Margot Hartman, Irene Corton, Pam Helton, Frankie Smith, Georgi Tejkh, Judy Cowart

I FRATELLO DI ARIZONA, a.k.a. THE ARIZONA KID (1971) DIR Luciano Carlos SCR Luciano Carlos, Lino Brocka (story by Lino Brocka) CAST Chiquito, Bernard Bonning, Gordon Mitchell, Mamie Van Doren, Mariel  a Branger, Bernard Bonnin, Cass Martin, Pilar Velázquez, Victor Israel

FREE RIDE (1986) DIR Tom Trbovich PROD Tom Boutross SCR Ronald Z. Wang, Lee Fulkerson, Robert Bell (story by Ronald Z. Wang) CAM Paul Lohmann ED Ron Honthaner MUS David C. Williams CAST Gary Hershberger, Reed Rudy, Dawn Schneider, Peter De Luise, Brian MacGregor, Warren Berlinger, Mamie Van Doren (Debbie), Bebette Props, Chick Vennera, Anthony Charnota

THE VEGAS CONNECTION (1999) DIR Lou Vadino PROD Serge Poupis, Suzanne DeLaurentiis SCR Dennis Lanning CAM Dwight F. Lay CAST Ashley F. Brooks, Karen Armstrong, Robert Carradine, Mark Chaet, Kelly Christopher, Gina Gian, Nicole Gian, Brent Keast, Kim Krentz, Mamie Van Doren (Rita)

SLACKERS (2002) DIR Dewey Hicks PROD Neal H. Moritz, Erik Feig SCR David H. Steinberg CAM James R. Bagdonas ED Tara Timpone MUS Venus Brown, Justin Stanley, Joseph L. Altruda CAST Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman, James King, Jason Segel, Robert B. Martin Jr., Laura Prepon, Travis Davis, Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, Mamie Van Doren (Mrs. Van Graaf [uncredited])

TV MOVIE

GLORY YEARS (1987) DIR Arthur Allan Seidelman PROD – SCR Gary H. Miller CAM Stanley Taylor ED Janet Ashikaga MUS David Fisher, Rocky Davis CAST George Dzundza, Archie Hahn, Tawney Kitaen, Tim Thomerson, Michael Fairman, Joey Bishop, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Mamie Van Doren (Minnie)