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(Eleanor Stansbury)
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| ? |
is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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takes ballet lessons as a child
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studies voice from the time she is 13
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| c. 46 |
is the "Merry Widow" at 18. Later she does The Vagabond King, Desert Song, and Fledermaus.
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| ? |
sings with the Cosmopolitan Opera Company in Philadelphia
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| ? |
goes to Hollywood and is persuaded to switch to popular music
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she and columnist Louella Parsons are pretty chummy. Louella wants Eleanor's stage name to be Gretchen, which is actress Loretta Young's real name. Helene says: "Absolutely not!" They then settle on Helene, which she will go by for the years to come.
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| 49 |
marries former silent film star Kenneth Harlan. He has been married 5 times previously, to Flo Hart, a Ziegfeld Follies dancer; Marie Prevost, an actress; Doris Booth, a Massachusetts socialite; Helen Speiner, a dancer; and Phyllis McClure, a screen writer.
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| April 52 |
she and Harlan separate
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| 28 December 53 |
obtains a divorce from Harlan in Los Angeles on grounds of cruelty. He's 58; she's 25. It is a "real friendly" divorce, she tells newsmen outside the courtroom. "It is just too bad we didn't get along," she says, "He's really very nice. Matter of fact, I think I'll take him out to lunch." She claims he had falsely accused her of misconduct. Harlan will get his last divorce from a 25-year-old dancer in 1959.
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is part of the opening act for Frank Sinatra for his first performance at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas
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performs in Las Vegas with The Ben Blue Orchestra
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becomes very good friends with famous songwriter Jimmy McHugh
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| August 54 |
is seen at the Encore with dance director Charles O’Curran, the ex of singer-actress Betty Hutton
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| June 55 |
sings at the Dunes in Las Vegas
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| October 55 |
a nightclub act is arranged for her in Las Vegas, and this wins her a featured part in Allied Artist's Calculated Risk. "It takes a lot of patience to get what you want out of life," she says.
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| 56 |
rooms in a North Hollywood apartment with another girl, a studio employee
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| April 57 |
wins her role in Four Girls in Town in a "walking screen test" held by Universal-International executives out of nearly 100 actresses. It is finally judged that her ambulatory mechanics are the "most provocative."
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| 57 |
marries Morton Pinsky of Chicago, a physician
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| ? |
the Pinskys make their home in Alhambra, California
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| 4 September 58 |
her son, David Drew, is born. He will become the renown TV and radio personality "Dr. Drew."
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| c. 61 |
moves with her family to Pasadena, California
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| 64 |
her daughter, Dana Carol, is born. She will become a paralegal.
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| 05 |
the Pinskys still reside in Pasadena, California
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Sources:
The Marion Star, Pottstown Mercury, The New York Times, People Today, Great Bend Daily Tribune |
Recommended Books:
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Links:
Filmography |
