Dorothy Lamour

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Born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton December 10, 1914 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

Died September 22, 1996 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. Resting place Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Nationality American

Occupation Actress, Singer

Spouse(s) Herbie Kay (m. 1935–1939)

William Ross Howard III (m. 1943–1978)

Dorothy Lamour (December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

Lamour began her career in the 1930s as a big band singer. In 1936, she moved to Hollywood where she signed with Paramount Pictures. Her appearance as "Ulah" in The Jungle Princess (1936) brought her fame and also marked the beginning of her image as the "Sarong Queen". In 1940, Lamour made her first Road to... film Road to Singapore. The Road to... films were popular during the 1940s. The last film in the series, Road to Bali, was released in 1952. By that time, Lamour's screen career began to wane and she focused on stage and television work. In the 1970s, she revived her nightclub act and, in 1980, released her autobiography My Side of the Road. She made her final onscreen appearance in 1987.

Lamour married her second husband, William Ross Howard III, in 1943. They had two sons and remained married until Howard's death in 1978. Lamour died at her home in 1996 at the age of 81.

Born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, the daughter of Carmen Louise (née LaPorte) and John Watson Slaton, both of whom were waiters.[2] Lamour was of French Louisianan, Spanish, and Irish descent. Her parents' marriage lasted only a few years. Her mother married for the second time to Clarence Lambour, whose surname Dorothy later adopted and modified as her stage name.[3] That marriage also ended in divorce when Dorothy was a teenager.

Lamour quit school at the age of 14 and, after taking a business course, worked as a secretary to support herself and her mother. She began entering beauty pageants and was crowned "Miss New Orleans" in 1931. Lamour used the prize money to support herself while she worked in a stock theatre company. She and her mother later moved to Chicago where Lamour found a job working at Marshall Field's department store. She was discovered by orchestra leader Herbie Kay when he spotted her in performance at a Chicago talent show held at the Hotel Morrison. Kay hired her as a singer for his orchestra and, in 1935, Lamour went on tour with Kaye. Her work with Kay eventually led Lamour to vaudville and work in radio.[4] In 1935, she had her own fifteen-minute weekly musical program on NBC Radio. Lamour also sang on the popular Rudy Vallee radio show and The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Career