Veronica Lake
{{Short description|American actress (1922–1973)}}
{{pp|1=blp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Veronica Lake
| image = Veronica Lake still 2.jpg
| caption = Lake, {{circa|1952}}
| birth_name = Constance Frances Marie Ockelman
| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|11|14|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1973|07|07|1922|11|14|mf=y}}
| death_place = Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
| other_names = {{ubl|Constance Keane|Connie Keane}}
| education =
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1939–1970
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{Marriage|John S. Detlie|1940|1943|end=divorced}}
- {{Marriage|Andre de Toth|1944|1952|end=divorced}}
- {{Marriage|Joseph Allan McCarthy|1955|1959|end=divorced}}
- {{Marriage| Robert Carleton-Munro|1972}}
}}
| children = 4
}}
Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973), known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in films noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, her peek-a-boo hairstyle, and films such as Sullivan's Travels (1941) and I Married a Witch (1942). By the late 1940s, Lake's career began to decline, due in part to her alcoholism. She made only one film in the 1950s, but had several guest appearances on television. She returned to the big screen in the film Footsteps in the Snow (1966), but the role failed to revitalize her career.
Lake's memoir, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, was published in 1970. Her final screen role was in a low-budget horror film, Flesh Feast (1970). After years of heavy drinking, Lake died at the age of 50 in July 1973, from hepatitis and acute kidney injury.
Early life
Lake was born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Her father, Harry Eugene Ockelman, was of German and Irish descent,{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MG8H-R9J|title=Harry E Ockelman, United States Census, 1910 |website=FamilySearch|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=June 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101223/https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MG8H-R9J|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Parrish|first=Robert James|title=The Paramount Pretties|year=1972|publisher=Arlington House|isbn=0-025-08170-5|page=410}}{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Calvin Beck|title=Scream Queens: Heroines of the Horrors|year=1978|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-025-08170-5|page=169}}{{cite book|last=Burroughs Hannsberry|first=Karen|title=Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film|year=1998|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-786-40429-9|page=300}} and worked for an oil company aboard a ship. He died in an oil tanker explosion in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania in 1932.{{cite news |title=Cause for Blast on Tankship Is Undetermined |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101828921/harry-eugene-ockelman-1897-1932/ |work=Delaware County Daily Times |date=February 10, 1932 |location=Chester, Pennsylvania |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101828921/harry-eugene-ockelman-1897-1932/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101828927/harry-eugene-ockelman-1897-1932/ 11] |accessdate=May 14, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} Lake's mother, Constance Frances Charlotta (née Trimble; 1902–1992), of Irish descent, in 1933 married Anthony Keane, a newspaper staff artist also of Irish descent, and Lake began using his surname.{{cite magazine|date=May 17, 1943|title=I, Veronica|magazine=Life|volume=14|issue=20|page=78|issn=0024-3019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=700EAAAAMBAJ&q=veronica+lake}}
The Keanes lived in Saranac Lake, New York, where young Lake attended St. Bernard's School. She was then sent to Villa Maria, an all-girls Catholic boarding school in Montreal, Canada, from which she was expelled. Lake later claimed she attended McGill University and took a premed course for a year, intending to become a surgeon. This claim was included in several press biographies, although Lake later admitted it was bogus. Lake subsequently apologized to the president of McGill, who was simply amused when she explained her habit of self-dramatizing.{{cite magazine|date=May 17, 1943|title=I, Veronica|magazine=Life|volume=14|issue=20|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=700EAAAAMBAJ&q=veronica+lake}} When her stepfather fell ill during her second year,{{vague|date=October 2018}} the Keane family later moved to Miami, Florida. Lake attended Miami High School, where she was known for her beauty. She had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to her mother.{{harvnb|Chierichetti|2004|p=70}}
Career
=Constance Keane=
In 1938, the Keanes moved to Beverly Hills, California. While briefly under contract to MGM, Lake enrolled in that studio's acting farm, the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting (now the Beverly Hills Playhouse). She made friends with a girl named Gwen Horn and accompanied her when Horn went to audition at RKO. She appeared in the play Thought for Food in January 1939.{{cite news|date=January 29, 1939|title=Current Films|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|page=C4}} A theatre critic from the Los Angeles Times called her "a fetching little trick" for her appearance in She Made Her Bed.{{cite news|last=Von Blon|first=Katherine|date=August 21, 1939|title=She Made Her Bed|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|page=9}}
Keane's first appearance on screen was as an extra for RKO,{{cite magazine|date=May 17, 1943|title=I, Veronica|magazine=Life|volume=14|issue=20|page=77|issn=0024-3019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=700EAAAAMBAJ&q=veronica+lake}} playing a small role as one of several students in the film Sorority House (1939). The part wound up being cut from the film, but she was encouraged to continue. Similar roles followed, including All Women Have Secrets (1939), Dancing Co-Ed (also 1939), Young as You Feel (1940), and Forty Little Mothers (also 1940). Forty Little Mothers was the first time she let her hair down on screen.{{cite news|title=Veronica Lake, Full Face|last=Strauss|first=Theodore|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 8, 1942|page=X3}}
=Name change and stardom=
File:Veronica Lake - Studio portrait (1941).png (1941)]]
Lake attracted the interest of Fred Wilcox, an assistant director, who shot a test scene of her performing from a play and showed it to an agent. The agent, in turn, showed it to producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., who was looking for a new girl to play the part of a nightclub singer in a military drama, I Wanted Wings (1941). Hornblow changed the actress's name to Veronica Lake. According to him, her eyes, "calm and clear like a blue lake", were the inspiration for her new name.{{cite magazine|title=Veronica Lake is Paramount's Bid for Year's Best Glamor Starlet|magazine=Life|date=March 3, 1941|volume=10|issue=9|page=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUoEAAAAMBAJ&q=Constance+Keane+%22veronica+lake%22&pg=PA82|access-date=August 7, 2017| language=en}}
The film became a big hit, and made the teenage Lake a star overnight; even before the film came out, Lake was dubbed "the find of 1941".{{cite news|date=February 23, 1941|title=Cinderell Girl of '41|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=3}} During filming, Lake's long blonde hair accidentally fell over her right eye during a take and created a "peek-a-boo" effect. "I was playing a sympathetic drunk, I had my arm on a table ... it slipped ... and my hair – it was always baby fine and had this natural break – fell over my face ... It became my trademark and purely by accident", she recalled. The film's success influenced women to copy the style, which became Lake's trademark.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19730708&id=zb4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=5468,1042862|title='Peek-a-Boo' Star Veronica Lake Hepatitis Victim|date=July 8, 1973|newspaper=The Victoria Advocate|page=6-A|access-date=April 19, 2014}} However, Lake did not think this meant she would have a long career and maintained her goal was to be a surgeon. "Only the older actors keep on a long time ... I don't want to hang on after I've reached a peak. I'll go back to medical school", she said.
File:Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea in Sullivan's Travels trailer 2.jpg (1941). As seen, she is sporting her peek-a-boo hairstyle, with her hair covering one of her eyes.]]
Paramount announced Lake to star in China Pass and a remake of Blonde Venus.{{cite news|last=Churchill|first=Douglas|date=April 2, 1941|page=27|title=Warners Buys the Corn is Green |newspaper=The New York Times}} Instead, she was cast in Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels with Joel McCrea; and film noir This Gun for Hire (1942) with Robert Preston and Alan Ladd. Her scenes with Ladd in the latter became popular with audiences, prompting Paramount to reteam them in The Glass Key, with Lake replacing Patricia Morison in the leading role.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19480303&id=ASgcAAAAIBAJ&pg=6715,318905|title=Ladd, Lake Together In 'Saigon'|date=March 3, 1948|newspaper=The Deseret News|page=13|access-date=April 19, 2014}} Lake was meant to be reunited with McCrea in the comedy I Married a Witch, but his withdrawal from the project led to a delay in production; Fredric March was eventually cast as his replacement. Both films were highly successful, but also prevented a reunion with Hornblow for Hong Kong in which she was meant to co-star with Charles Boyer.{{cite news|title=Of Local Origin|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 24, 1941|page=27}}
File:Sullivan's Travels (1941) - Trailer.webm
Upon the United States' entrance into World War II, Lake traveled throughout the United States to raise money for war bonds. She also became a popular pin-up girl for soldiers, and participated in awareness campaigns to help decrease accidents involving women getting their hair caught in machinery.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-10-12-veronica-lake_x.htm|title=Veronica Lake's remains resurface|date=October 12, 2004|website=USA Today|access-date=June 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922122126/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-10-12-veronica-lake_x.htm|archive-date=September 22, 2012|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|Starr|2003|pp=128–29}}{{cite news|last=Brenner|first=John Lanouette|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19670826&id=9K0rAAAAIBAJ&pg=7213,5706895|title=Veronica Lake Gives Telegraph Exclusive Personal Interview|date=August 26, 1967|newspaper=The Telegraph|page=9|access-date=April 19, 2014}} Lake's only 1943 releases were both patriotic-themed. She made an appearance in Paramount's all-star musical revue Star Spangled Rhythm performing "A Sweater, Sarong and a Peek-A-Boo Bang" with Paulette Goddard and Dorothy Lamour. Her only film of the year was So Proudly We Hail! (1943) with Goddard and Claudette Colbert, in which she received acclaim for her role of a suicidal nurse. At the peak of her career, she was earning $4,500 a week.
=Personal struggles and box-office disappointments=
Despite her initial success, Lake suffered a series of setbacks that ultimately derailed her career. Her complex personality quickly led to her acquiring a reputation for being difficult to work with. On Sullivan's Travels, Lake did not disclose she was six months pregnant when filming began, upsetting director Preston Sturges to the point he had to be physically restrained.Steffen, James. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91851/sullivans-travels "Sullivan's Travels"]. Turner Classic Movies. Lake also clashed with co-star McCrea to the point that he dropped out of I Married a Witch, reportedly saying that "Life's too short for two films with Veronica Lake" (although he did later go on to work with her in Ramrod (1947)).Robert Osborne, Turner Classic Movies, October 6, 2010 His replacement Fredric March also clashed with Lake after he made crude remarks{{which?|date=August 2024}} about her during pre-production.Stafford, Jeff. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78841/i-married-a-witch#articles-reviews?articleId=66961 "I Married a Witch"]. Turner Classic Movies. Eddie Bracken was quoted as saying, "She was known as 'The Bitch' and she deserved the title."{{harv|Donnelley|2003|p=392}}{{harvnb|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=480}} I Married A Witch'' director René Clair had a differing view of Lake, saying "She was a very gifted girl, but she didn't believe she was gifted."{{harv|Terkel|1999|p=168}} Lake's behavior eventually spilt over into public view during a publicity stunt in which Lake's services as a dishwasher and revue performer were auctioned off for war bonds. One paper claimed Lake's "talk was on the grim side",{{cite news|title=Tobin Shines As Butler At Bond Lunch: $100,000 Luncheon Served at Tobin Home|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|location=Boston|date=June 13, 1944|page=1}} while columnist Hedda Hopper claimed that "Lake clipped her own wings in her Boston bond appearance ... It's lucky for Lake, after Boston, that she isn't out of pictures".{{cite news|last=Hopper|first=Hedda|title=Sonny Sings a Song!|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 20, 1944|page=5}}
With her role in The Hour Before the Dawn (1944), Lake changed her trademark hairstyle to encourage women working in war industry factories to adopt more practical, safer hairstyles. Lake had done so at the urging of the government to help decrease accidents involving women getting their hair caught in machinery. The film was not a success; Lake's image change and her unsympathetic role of Nazi spy Dora Bruckman earned negative reviews.
In late 1943, Lake took time off after undergoing a series of personal struggles. After tripping on a lighting cable while on the set of The Hour Before Dawn, Lake went into premature delivery and gave birth to a son who died shortly after birth. Within weeks, Lake had also filed for divorce from her husband. Lake also began drinking more heavily during this time.
Upon returning to work in 1944, Lake took stock of her career, claiming, "I had to learn about acting. I've played all sorts of parts, taken just what came along regardless of high merit. In fact, I've been a sort of general utility person. I haven't liked all the roles. One or two were pretty bad". Lake also expressed interest in renegotiating her deal with Paramount:
{{blockquote|The studio feels that way about it too. They have indicated they are going to fuss more about the pictures in which I appear. I think I'll enjoy being fussed about ... I want this to be the turning point and I think that it will. I am free and clear of unpleasant characters, unless they are strongly justified. I've had a varied experience playing them and also appearing as heroines. The roles themselves haven't been noteworthy and sometimes not even especially spotlighted, but I think they've all been beneficial in one way or another. From here on there should be a certain pattern of development, and that is what I am going to fight for if necessary, though I don't believe it will be because they are so understanding here at Paramount.}}
Lake returned with roles in the musical Bring On the Girls (1945) with Eddie Bracken and Sonny Tufts; and Hold That Blonde with Bracken. Lake enjoyed making the film, saying "it's a comedy, rather like what Carole Lombard used to do ... It represents a real change of pace".{{cite news|last=Schallert|first=Edwin|date=July 8, 1945|page=C1|title=Change of Pace in Roles Beckons Veronica Lake: Star to Pause at Career's Crossroads Roles to Shift for Veronica|work=Los Angeles Times}} However, neither film was successful, as were minor roles in Out of This World and Miss Susie Slagle's (1946).
=Final years at Paramount and freelance=
File:Lake-ladd-trailer.jpg in trailer for The Blue Dahlia (1946)]]
After her role in Miss Susie Slagle's, producer John Houseman cast Lake in the film noir The Blue Dahlia (1946). The film reunited her with Alan Ladd, who had become one of Paramount's top stars since their last pairing in The Glass Key. Lake was pleased with the role, but her performance in the film did not impress its screenwriter Raymond Chandler, who referred to her as "Moronica Lake".{{harvnb|Hiney|1999|p=154}} Nonetheless, it became her first success since So Proudly We Hail! and the largest of her career.
For the first time in her career, Lake ventured outside of Paramount with the United Artists Western Ramrod (1947). The film was directed by her then-husband Andre de Toth, in their first collaboration. The film also reunited her with Joel McCrea, despite his earlier insistence that he would not work with her again. The film was also successful, continuing her comeback.
Following a cameo in Variety Girl (1947), Lake and Ladd reunited again for the crime film Saigon (1948). Lake returned to her former peek-a-boo hairstyle for the film, which unlike their previous films was not a noir. Reaction to the film was mixed; although financial success, it received a more mixed critical reception in comparison to the couple's earlier vehicles. Coupled with the flops The Sainted Sisters and Isn't It Romantic, Paramount opted not to renew Lake's contract in 1948.
Following her release from Paramount, Lake took a top supporting role in Slattery's Hurricane (1949). The film, directed by de Toth, was released by 20th Century Fox. She also appeared with Zachary Scott in the Western Stronghold (1951). Shot in Mexico for Lippert Pictures, Lake later described the film as "a dog" and sued for unpaid wages on the film.{{cite news|title=Veronica Lake, Named as Film Suit Claimant|newspaper =Los Angeles Times|date=March 28, 1962|page=34}}
Lake and de Toth announced plans to make Flanagan Boy and Before I Wake, the latter from a suspense novel by Mel Devrett.{{cite news|title=Drama: D'Arrast, Glazer Plan Spanish Feature; Power Debates British Stage|last=Schallert|first=Edwin|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 11, 1950|page=11}} However, neither were made as the couple ran into financial difficulties. In April 1951, the IRS seized their home for unpaid taxes.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R3EzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3658,602906|title=Actress Loses Home For Not Paying Tax|date=April 7, 1951|newspaper=Lodi News–Sentinel|page=8|access-date=January 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027083504/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R3EzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5u4HAAAAIBAJ&pg=3658,602906|archive-date=October 27, 2015|url-status=live}} Later that same year, Lake and de Toth filed for bankruptcy.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LncoAAAAIBAJ&pg=4541,6166208|title=Veronica Lake Says She's Bankrupt|date=August 17, 1951|newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|page=1|access-date=January 10, 2013}} Bankrupt and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Lake left de Toth and flew alone to New York. Reflecting on her departure years later, Lake said:
{{blockquote|"They said, 'She'll be back in a couple of months,{{'"}} recalled Lake. "Well I never returned. Enough was enough already. Did I want to be one of the walking dead or a real person?"}}
Lake performed in summer stock theatre and in stage roles in England.{{cite news|last=Klemesrud|first=Judy|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1oIyAAAAIBAJ&pg=894,6028745|title=What Ever Happened to Veronica Lake?|date=March 14, 1971|work=The Palm Beach Post|page=C6|access-date=January 11, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In October 1955, she collapsed in Detroit, where she had been appearing on stage in The Little Hut.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19551028&id=-TlVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4458,4305402|title=Veronica Lake In Hospital|date=October 28, 1955|newspaper=The Age|page=1|access-date=April 19, 2014}}
Later years
After her third divorce, Lake drifted between cheap hotels in New York City, and was arrested several times for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. In 1962, a New York Post reporter found her living at the all-women's Martha Washington Hotel in Manhattan, working as a waitress downstairs in the cocktail lounge.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8ToaAAAAIBAJ&pg=7223,662510|title=Veronica Lake is a Waitress Now|date=March 22, 1962|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|page=11|access-date=April 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213095156/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8ToaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BScEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7223,662510|archive-date=December 13, 2013|url-status=live}} She was working under the name "Connie de Toth". Lake said she took the job in part because "I like people. I like to talk to them".{{cite news|title=Once Glittering Star: Veronica Lake Now Cocktail Waitress|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 23, 1962|page=2}}
The reporter's widely distributed story led to speculation that Lake was destitute. After the story ran, fans of Lake sent her money which she returned as "a matter of pride". Lake vehemently denied that she was destitute and stated, "It's as though people were making me out to be down-and-out. I wasn't. I was paying $190 a month rent then, and that's a long way from being broke".{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=757&dat=19730709&id=rrhNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4092,661735|title=Actress Veronica Lake Dies In Vermont Hospital|date=July 9, 1973|work=The Virgin Island Daily News|page=2|access-date=April 19, 2014}} The story did revive some interest in Lake and led to some television and stage appearances, including the 1963 off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward.[http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/1429 "Best Foot Forward (1963 Off-Broadway Revival)"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818214726/http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/1429 |date=2018-08-18 }}. Internet Off-Broadway Database.
In 1966, she had a brief employment as a hostess on a tv show in Baltimore, Maryland, along with a largely ignored film role in Footsteps in the Snow. She also continued appearing in stage roles. She went to Freeport in the Bahamas to visit a friend and stayed on, living there for a few years.
File:Flesh Feast trailer 2.jpg (1970), her final film]]
Lake's memoirs, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, which she dictated to writer Donald Bain, were published in the United Kingdom in 1969 and in the United States the following year. In the book, Lake discusses her career, her failed marriages; romances with Howard Hughes, Tommy Manville and Aristotle Onassis; her alcoholism; and her guilt over not spending enough time with her children. In the book, Lake stated to Bain that her mother pushed her into a career as an actress. Bain quoted Lake, looking back at her career, as saying, "I never did cheesecake like Ann Sheridan or Betty Grable. I just used my hair". She also laughed off the term "sex symbol" and instead referred to herself as a "sex zombie".
When she visited the UK to promote her book in 1969, she received an offer to appear on stage in Madam Chairman.{{cite news|title=Lake: 'To Work ... and to Live': Veronica Lake|last=Gale|first=Bill|newspaper = New York Times|date=August 24, 1969|page=D13}} Also in 1969, Lake essayed the role of Blanche DuBois in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire on the English stage; her performance won rave reviews.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19730708&id=ncEqAAAAIBAJ&pg=7411,3142317|title=Peek-A-Boo Veronica Lake Dies At 51|date=July 8, 1973|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|page=9-A|access-date=April 19, 2014}} With the proceeds from her autobiography, after she had divided them with Bain, she co-produced and starred in her final film, Flesh Feast (1970), a low-budget horror movie with a Nazi-myth storyline.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
Personal life
Lake's first marriage was to art director John S. Detlie, in 1940. They had a daughter, Elaine (born in 1941),{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vgQtAAAAIBAJ&pg=3782,207545|title=Veronica Lake Wins Divorce|date=December 2, 1943|work=The Miami News|page=1|access-date=January 10, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and a son, Anthony (born July 8, 1943). According to news from the time, Lake's son was born prematurely after she tripped on a lighting cable while filming a movie. Anthony died on July 15, 1943.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w6IhAAAAIBAJ&pg=1621,1211377|title=Veronica Lake's Baby, Born Prematurely, Dies|date=July 16, 1943|work=Reading Eagle|page=18|access-date=January 10, 2013}} Lake and Detlie separated in August 1943 and divorced in December 1943.
In 1944, Lake married film director Andre de Toth with whom she had a son, Andre Anthony Michael III (known as Michael DeToth), and a daughter, Diana (born October 1948). Days before Diana's birth, Lake's mother sued her for support payments.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ROk-AAAAIBAJ&pg=2220,896226|title=Veronica Lake Sued By Mother|date=October 12, 1948|work=The Tuscaloosa News|access-date=January 10, 2013}} After purchasing an airplane for de Toth, Lake earned her pilot's license in 1946. She later flew solo between Los Angeles and New York when leaving him.{{cite web|url=http://www.tcmdb.com/participant.jsp?participantId=107416|title=Veronica Lake |work=Turner Classic Movies Database|access-date=October 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425081415/http://www.tcmdb.com/participant.jsp?participantId=107416|archive-date=April 25, 2009|url-status=dead}} Lake and de Toth divorced in 1952.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a-YhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3746,539222|title=Veronica Lake Wins Divorce From Director|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|publisher=June 3, 1952|page=12|access-date=January 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027094923/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a-YhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v2QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3746,539222|archive-date=October 27, 2015|url-status=live}}
In September 1955, she married songwriter Joseph Allan McCarthy.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a_4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=5374,4239700|title=Veronica Lake Weds Ex-County Tunesmith|date=September 4, 1955|work=The Herald|page=2|access-date=January 11, 2013}} They were divorced in 1959. In 1969, she revealed that she rarely saw her children.
Death
File:Kathleen Ballard, Veronica Lake, April 11, 1971.jpg in 1971, two years prior to her death]]
In June 1973, Lake returned from her autobiography promotion and summer stock tour in England to the United States and while traveling in Vermont, visited a local doctor, complaining of stomach pains. She was discovered to have cirrhosis of the liver as a result of her years of drinking, and on June 26, she checked into the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.
She died there on July 7, 1973, of acute hepatitis and acute kidney injury.Vermont Death Records, 1909–2003. Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Montpelier, Vermont.{{cite news |last1=Hudson |first1=Edward |title=Veronica Lake, 53, Movie Star With the Peekaboo Hair, Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/08/archives/veronica-lake-53-movie-star-with-the-peekaboo-hair-dead.html |work=The New York Times |date= July 8, 1973 |url-access=subscription}} Her son Michael claimed her body.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sLhNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3440,916647|title=Veronica Lake to Be Buried in Islands|date=July 11, 1973|work=The Virgin Islands Daily News|page=1}} Lake's memorial service was held at the Universal Chapel in New York City on July 11.{{cite news|title=Rites for Miss Lake Today|date=July 11, 1973|work=The New York Times}}
She was cremated and, according to her wishes, her ashes were scattered off the coast of the Virgin Islands. In 2004, some of Lake's ashes were reportedly found in a New York antique store.{{cite web|last=Johnston|first=Lauren|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/veronica-lakes-ashes-for-sale|title=Veronica Lake's Ashes For Sale?|date=October 12, 2004|website=CBS News|access-date=April 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208234225/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/veronica-lakes-ashes-for-sale/|archive-date=February 8, 2014|url-status=live}}
Legacy
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Lake has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6918 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/veronica-lake|title=Hollywood Star Walk: Veronica Lake|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116060822/http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/veronica-lake/|archive-date=November 16, 2012|url-status=live}}
Filmography
File:Veronica Lake Paramount.jpg
File:Veronica Lake in So Proudly We Hail trailer.jpg (1943)]]
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1939
| Student | Uncredited, alternative title: That Girl from College |
| 1939
| {{sortname|The|Wrong Room|nolink=1}} | The Attorney's New Bride | Credited as Connie Keane |
| 1939
| One of a Couple on a Motorcycle | Uncredited |
| 1939
| Jane | Credited as Constance Keane |
| 1940
| Bit part | Credited as Constance Keane |
| 1940
| Granville girl | Uncredited |
| 1941
| Sally Vaughn | First featured role |
| 1941
| Movie Actress | Uncredited |
| 1941
| The Girl | Directed by Preston Sturges |
| 1942
| Ellen Graham | First film with Alan Ladd |
| 1942
| {{sortname|The|Glass Key|The Glass Key (1942 film)}} | Janet Henry | With Alan Ladd |
| 1942
| Jennifer | Directed by René Clair |
| 1942
| Herself | One of a number of Paramount stars making cameos |
| 1943
| Lt. Olivia D'Arcy | |
| 1944
| {{sortname|The|Hour Before the Dawn}} | Dora Bruckmann | |
| 1945
| Teddy Collins | |
| 1945
| Dorothy Dodge | |
| 1945
| Herself | One of a number of Paramount stars making cameos |
| 1945
| Sally Martin | |
| 1946
| Nan Rogers | |
| 1946
| {{sortname|The|Blue Dahlia}} | Joyce Harwood | With Alan Ladd |
| 1947
| Ramrod | Connie Dickason | Directed by her then-husband Andre de Toth; first film made outside Paramount since becoming a star |
| 1947
| Herself | One of a number of Paramount stars making cameos |
| 1948
| Saigon | Susan Cleaver | Last film with Alan Ladd |
| 1948
| {{sortname|The|Sainted Sisters}} | Letty Stanton | |
| 1948
| Candy Cameron | |
| 1949
| Dolores Greaves | Directed by André de Toth |
| 1951
| Mary Stevens | |
| 1966
| Therese | |
| 1970
| Dr. Elaine Frederick | Alternative title: Time Is Terror |
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1950
| Herself – Guest Performer | Episode #2.11 |
| 1950
| Mercy Device |
| 1950–1953
| Various | 3 episodes |
| 1951
| Valerie | Episode: "The Facts of Life" |
| 1952
| Abby Fane | Episode: "Brief Moment"[https://archive.org/details/variety185-1952-02/page/n96/mode/1up/search/%22veronica+lake%22?q=%22veronica+lake%22 Review] at Variety |
| 1952
| Paula | Episode: "Flight Overdue" |
| 1952
| Goodyear Television Playhouse | Judy "Leni" Howard | Episode: "Better Than Walking" |
| 1953
| Danger | | Episode: "Inside Straight" |
| 1954
| Nancy Willard | Episode: "The Gramercy Ghost" |
Selected stage credits
In popular culture
File:Veronica Lake still, Paramount Pictures.jpg
Clips from her role in The Glass Key (1942) were integrated into the 1982 film Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as character Monica Stillpond.
Lake was one of the models for the animated character Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, especially for her hairstyle.{{cite news|last=Weinraub|first=Bernard|title=An Animator Breaks Old Rules and New Ground in 'Roger Rabbit'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/01/movies/an-animator-breaks-old-rules-and-new-ground-in-roger-rabbit.html|work=The New York Times|date=August 1, 1988|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117031859/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/01/movies/an-animator-breaks-old-rules-and-new-ground-in-roger-rabbit.html|archive-date=January 17, 2017|url-status=live}}{{harv|Hischak|2011|p=214}}
In the 1997 film L.A. Confidential, Kim Basinger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a prostitute who is a Veronica Lake look-alike.{{cite news|title=Video: Period films connected by the past|date=April 17, 1998|newspaper=The Los Angeles Daily News|access-date=July 7, 2012|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83818977.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124242/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83818977.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 11, 2014|via=HighBeam}}{{harv|Hare|2008|p=219}}
A geographical feature called "Lake Veronica" was a recurring joke in the Rocky and Bullwinkle series and film.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-13-mn-477-story.html|title=Jay Ward Dies; He Created Rocky, Bullwinkle for TV|first=Burt A.|last=Folkart|date=October 13, 1989|via=LA Times|access-date=July 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715021515/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-13/news/mn-477_1_jay-ward|archive-date=July 15, 2012|url-status=live}}
In the video game BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea (2013–14), the visual style of the character Elizabeth was inspired by Veronica Lake's femme fatale roles.{{Cite web |last=Goldfarb, Andrew |date=August 7, 2013 |title=How Playing as Elizabeth Changes BioShock Infinite |url=http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/08/07/how-playing-as-elizabeth-changes-bioshock-infinite |url-status=live |access-date=November 6, 2013 |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |archive-date=February 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218204953/http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/07/how-playing-as-elizabeth-changes-bioshock-infinite }}
In April, 2023, Sparks released "Veronica Lake", a single from their album The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte. The song describes how Lake was asked to change her hairstyle so that women on the war assembly lines who imitated it wouldn't harm themselves by catching their hair in the machinery, and that, by agreeing to do so, she voluntarily gave up much of the popularity that she had gained by her distinctive hairstyle.{{Cite web |last=Peacock |first=Tim |date=April 21, 2023 |title=Sparks’ Pay Tribute To ‘Veronica Lake’ On New Single |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/sparks-new-single-veronica-lake/ |website=U Discover Music|access-date=January 23, 2025}}
Radio appearances
References
=Footnotes=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Burroughs Hannsberry|first=Karen|year=2009|title=Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-44682-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Chierichetti|first=David|year=2004|title=Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=0-06-056740-6}}
- {{cite book|last=Donnelley|first=Paul|year=2003|title=Fade To Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=0-7119-9512-5}}
- {{cite book|last=Hare|first=William|year=2008|title=L.A. Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City of Angels|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0786437405}}
- {{cite book|last=Hiney|first=Tom|year=1999|title=Raymond Chandler: A Biography|publisher=Grove Press|isbn=0-8021-3637-0}}
- {{cite book|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|year=2011|title=Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0786462711}}
- {{cite book|last1=Parish|first1=James Robert|author-link=James Robert Parish|last2=Pitts|first2=Michael R.|year=2003|title=Hollywood Songsters: Singers Who Act and Actors Who Sing: A Biographical Dictionary|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-415-94333-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Starr|first=Kevin|year=2003|author-link=Kevin Starr|title=Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940–1950|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-516897-6}}
- {{cite book|last=Terkel|first=Studs|year=1999|author-link=Studs Terkel|title=The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With Those Who Made Them|publisher=The New Press|isbn=1-565-84553-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/spectatortalkabo00terk}}
{{Refend}}
Further reading
- Lake, Veronica; Bain, Donald (1970). Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake. Citadel Press; {{ISBN|0-806-50225-8}}
- Lenburg, Jeff, Peekaboo: The Story of Veronica Lake. iUniverse, 2001; {{ISBN|978-0-595-19239-7}}.
- Oderman, Stuart, Talking to the Piano Player 2. BearManor Media, 2009; {{ISBN|978-1-59393-320-3}}
- {{cite magazine|url=https://diaboliquemagazine.com/the-cinema-of-veronica-lake/|magazine=Diabolique|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=The Cinema of Veronica Lake|date=11 February 2020}}
External links
{{Commons and category}}
- {{IMDb name|0000043}}
- {{TCMDb name}}
- {{iobdb name|17943}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Veronica}}
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