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Sheree North

 
Artist: Sheree North
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Betty Garrett, Gale Storm

Influenced By:

Marilyn Monroe
  • Genres: Vocal Music
  • Instrument: Guitar, Vocals, Performer

Biography

During the 1950s, 20th Century Fox groomed Sheree North as the studio's next Marilyn Monroe. Although she never took Monroe's place, North forged a fine acting career in her own right. She even managed to bridge the gap between others' perception of her as a ditzy blonde bombshell and a "real" actress.

In addition to her acting skills, North also distinguished herself as a comedian and a dancer. In fact, she began working as a dancer in the early '40s when she was only ten years old, and she wasn't too much older when she found work in clubs. It was her dancing that caught the eye of movie executives when she appeared in Hazel Flagg on Broadway. When the musical made it to the silver screen in 1954 as Living It Up, North went with it in the same role.

North's screen credits from the early Hollywood years include The Trouble With Girls starring Elvis Presley, the Gordon MacRae film The Best Things in Life Are Free, and the Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda film Madigan. By the end of the '50s, the ditzy bombshell roles dried up for North and she moved on to work in television and theater. By the end of the '60s she returned to movies, among them John Wayne's The Shootist, Charles Bronson's Breakout, Maniac Cop, Susan's Plan, and Defenseless. She also appeared in Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend. The actress' television work includes appearances on Seinfeld, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Untouchables, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Archie Bunker's Place. Among her stage roles are The Madwoman of Chaillot, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, and a touring production of Breaking Up the Act, which co-starred Gale Storm and Betty Garrett. ~ Linda Seida, All Music Guide
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Actor: Sheree North
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jan 17, 1933 in Hollywood, California
  • Died: Aug 14, 2002 in Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: The Organization, No Down Payment, How to Be Very, Very, Popular
  • First Major Screen Credit: How to Be Very, Very, Popular (1955)

Biography

Born Dawn Bethel, North began dancing professionally at age 10 and, during her teens, modeled and danced in clubs and for film loops; meanwhile, she got married at 15 and soon had a child. She got bit roles in a couple of films, and in 1953 gained Hollywood's attention with a wild dance performance in the Broadway musical Hazel Flagg. North reprised her role in the play's screen version, Living It Up (1954), with Martin and Lewis. Soon thereafter she was signed to a film contract by Fox, which tried to make her into a '50s-style platinum blond "sexpot" and potential replacement for Marilyn Monroe; the studio mounted a big publicity campaign and starred her in several light productions. She proved herself to be a skilled comedian and dancer and a reasonably good actress. However, within a few years other actresses usurped her "dumb blond" roles, and after 1958 she disappeared from the screen for almost a decade. She went on to perform in stock, on the road, and on TV. Gradually, she developed a reputation as a serious actress, an unprecedented transformation of performing personas for an actress of her generation. In the late '60s she began appearing regularly in films in character roles, and she sustained a busy screen and TV career through the '90s. ~ All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Sheree North
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Sheree North
Born Dawn Shirley Crang
January 17, 1932(1932-01-17)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died November 4, 2005 (aged 73)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other name(s) Sherree Bessire
Shirley Mae Bessire
Spouse(s) Fred Bessire (1948-1953)
John "Bud" Freedman
(1955-1956)
Dr. Gerhardt Sommer
(1958-1963)
Alan Pitt (?-1973-?)[1]
Phillip Norman (?-2005) (her death)

Sheree North (January 17, 1932 – November 4, 2005) was an American actress, singer, and dancer.

Contents

Early life

North was born as Dawn Shirley Crang in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of June, a pearl appraiser and real estate agent.[2] She began dancing in USO shows during World War II at age ten. At 15, she married Fred Bessire and had a child at 16. She continued dancing in clubs under the moniker Shirley Mae Bessire.[3]

Career

After being spotted by a choreographer performing at the Macayo Club in Santa Monica, North was cast as a chorus girl in the 1953 film Here Come the Girls starring Bob Hope. Around that time, she adopted the stage name Sheree North and made her Broadway debut in the musical Hazel Flagg, for which she won a Theatre World Award. She went on to reprise her role in the film version Living It Up.[3]

In 1954, North signed on with 20th Century-Fox. The following year, she won the lead role in How to Be Very, Very Popular, a role that was initially rejected by Marilyn Monroe. Media attention over the choice of North in the role that Monroe rejected resulted in North appearing on the cover of Life magazine with the coverline "Sheree North Takes Over From Marilyn Monroe".[3][4] Film historians, then and now, continue to cite North's electrically charged dancing to "Shake, Rattle and Roll", as the film's most memorable scene.[5]

Sheree North on the cover of Life magazine (March 21, 1955)

After the success of How to Be Very, Very Popular, North was groomed by Fox as the "new Marilyn Monroe". However, the studio soon lost interest in promoting her and focused attention on a new Monroe-esque actress, Jayne Mansfield.[3] Decades later, North would play Monroe's mother in the 1980 television movie Marilyn: The Untold Story.[5]

After North's contract with Fox ended in 1958, she continued to land roles in films and had guest spots in television shows such as CBS's Gunsmoke and two medical dramas, Breaking Point and Ben Casey on ABC. In the 1960s, she returned to Broadway in the very successful musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, which featured Elliott Gould and Barbra Streisand.

Later years

Her film roles included one as a fugitive-aiding photographer in Don Siegel's Charley Varrick (1973) and as John Wayne's long-lost love in the actor's final film, The Shootist (1976).

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, North appeared in guest spots on Hawaii Five-O, Matlock, Magnum, P.I., The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which she played Lou Grant's girlfriend, and The Golden Girls, in which she played Blanche Devereaux's sister, Virginia.

She starred in the NBC sit-com I'm a Big Girl Now with Diana Canova, Danny Thomas, Rori King and a young Martin Short. The series aired 19 episodes during the 1980-1981 season.[6]

In 1983, she appeared in the ensemble cast of the Steven Bochco series Bay City Blues, starring Michael Nouri, Dennis Franz, Pat Corley and Sharon Stone. The hour-long drama series aired 8 episodes.[7]

In the 1990s, she appeared as Kramer's mother, Babs Kramer, in two episodes of the TV series Seinfeld. North's last onscreen role came in the 1998 John Landis film Susan's Plan.

Personal life

North was married four times and had two children. In 1948, at age 15, she married Fred Bessire, a draftsman with whom she had a daughter, Dawn. The marriage ended in 1953. In 1955, she married music publisher John "Bud" Freedman, but the marriage ended a year later. Her third marriage to psychologist Gerhardt Sommer resulted in another daughter, Erica Eve, but that marriage also ended in divorce in 1963.[8]

At the time of her death, North was married to Phillip Norman.[5]

Death

On November 4, 2005, North died from complications during unspecified surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[5]

Theatre

Filmography

Television

Awards and honors

Theatre World Award

  • Won: For performance in Hazel Flagg (1953)

Emmy Award

  • Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series, Marcus Welby, M.D. episode "How Do You Know What Hurts Me?" (1976)
  • Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Archie Bunker's Place (1980)

Notes

  1. ^ . St. Petersburg Independent. 1973-01-10. 
  2. ^ Sheree North Biography (1933-)
  3. ^ a b c d Hayward, Anthony (2005-11-22). "Obituary: Sheree North". Independent, The (London). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20051122/ai_n15848161. Retrieved 2008-01-13. 
  4. ^ Sheree North at Variety.com
  5. ^ a b c d Oliver, Myrna (2005-11-05). "Sheree North; blond bombshell recast career with character roles". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/11/07/sheree_north_blond_bombshell_recast_career_with_character_roles/. 
  6. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080232/
  7. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084982/episodes
  8. ^ Sheree North at Filmreference.com

External links


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