Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson (born
September 30,
1931) is the former, popular
runner-up in the
1953 Miss America beauty pageant, and a legendary
American television and
film actress who co-starred in
Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend and
The Art of Love with
James Garner. Also, she appeared in
Ocean's Eleven with her ex-boyfriend
Frank Sinatra. In addition, she is probably best-known for her role as Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson of the popular
1970s
crime drama,
Police Woman. She later won the
Saturn Award in
1981 for her role as Kate Miller in
Dressed to Kill.
The daughter of a small-town newspaper publisher, Dickinson was born
Angeline Brown, the middle of three sisters, in
Kulm,
North Dakota, to parents Frederica and Leo H. Brown. For being a such a cute child at a very young age, her first job was to sell
Hershey's Kisses for five cents, so her siblings could buy ice cream cones. Despite having been the peaches and cream girl, her father was an alcoholic, so her family moved to
Burbank,
California in
1942, when little Angie was only 11. Before attending Bellamarine Jefferson
High School, she was already a teen beauty and had won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights Contest late in
1946. She was also popular with her class, and by
1947, she graduated from high school at only 15. At the same time, she was also looking for a job. Prior to attending
Glendale Community College and before transferring to Immaculate Heart College, she took a position as a secretary at the former Burbank (now
Bob Hope Airport), working in a parts factory from 1950 to late 1952. In
1953, she qualified for a
beauty pageant just in time, and placed second. The following year, she also graduated from Immaculate Heart College with a degree in
business. She originally intended to be a writer, having grown up with a publishing father, but there had already been a change of plan for this future beauty.
When the happy-go-lucky lady married a football player, she decided to use the name Angie Dickinson and to pursue an acting career. That same year, she was also approached by
NBC to guest-star on a number of variety shows, including
The Colgate Comedy Hour, and became a member of the
Rat Pack during which time she worked with longtime friend
Frank Sinatra. The two would later star in the film
Ocean's Eleven and she would remain on good terms with "Ol' Blue Eyes" until Sinatra's death in the
spring of
1998.
After being the popular
runner-up in the
Miss America pageant, and establishing a name for herself on the big screen, Dickinson became one of the more versatile, popular and younger leading
character actors of the
1950s and
1960s,
guest-
staring in dozens of TV series. On
New Year's Eve 1954, she made her acting debut in an episode of
Death Valley Days. This part led to other roles in such productions as
Buffalo Bill Jr, eight episodes of
Matinee Theatre,
General Electric Theater,
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,
Broken Arrow,
Gunsmoke,
Cheyenne,
Meet McGraw,
The Restless Gun,
Perry Mason,
Mike Hammer,
Wagon Train and
Men Into Space. In
1965, she had a recurring role as Carol Tredman on
Dr. Kildare. As a result, Dickinson became a household name to many viewers.
Though Dickinson enjoyed a very successful movie career for nearly two decades, she never received an
Oscar nomination for any of her performances. She played small roles in
Lucky Me (1954),
The Return of Jack Slade (1955),
Man with the Gun (1955), and
Hidden Guns (1956). She had her first starring role in
Gun the Man Down (1956), and her career had skyrocketed from there, making her one of
Hollywood's
sex symbols. She also starred in B movies, mostly
westerns, beginning with
Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957), co-starring onscreen with legendary actor
James Garner, which merited her more respect from the industry. In another western,
Rio Bravo (1959), she played a party woman who is almost locked up by Sheriff
John Wayne. As the
1960s were approaching, and before she became a blonde, she starred in dozens of movies, making her one of the most prominent leading ladies of the decade, starting with
The Bramble Bush and
Ocean's Eleven, (both released in 1960) with
Frank Sinatra. These were followed by
A Fever in the Blood (1961),
The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961) and
Rome Adventure also known as
Lovers Must Learn (1962). In
Jessica (1962), she plays the straight-laced young woman of
Italian heritage. In
The Killers, she is slapped by a villainous boyfriend, future U.S. President
Ronald Reagan. (Dickinson was also said to have been romantically involved with
John F. Kennedy at one time, thereby providing two intriguing connections to American presidents). She also co-starred in
The Art of Love (1965), in which she plays the love interest of both
James Garner and
Dick Van Dyke, and is reunited onscreen with Garner. She also enjoyed success in a string of movies made during the
1960s and
1970s, with
The Last Challenge (1967) and
Some Kind of Nut (1967). She starred in another Western,
Young Billy Young (1969) with
Robert Mitchum and
Jack Kelly. She also plays an alluring teacher in
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) with
Telly Savalas, a scary doctor in
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971), and her best movie role, (the widow) Wilma in
Big Bad Mama (1974).
Police Woman
After years of turning down many roles due to her daughter's
autism, Dickinson came to the small screen in
1974 to play a different police character on an episode of the hit series
Police Story. That one guest appearance proved to be so popular that
NBC had decided to turn it into a weekly detective series called
Police Woman, which making her one of the first female TV
police officers in a role which proved to solidify and re-define her status as a star. Most of all, she became a
pop icon of the
1970s, as her own show was seen in over 70 countries. It was also
NBC's answer to both successful
1970s
crime drama series,
Kojak and
The Rockford Files, two series airing concurrently on two different networks. On
Police Woman, though, she played Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson, a cool, sexy and classy blonde policy who goes undercover at the
Los Angeles Police Department. She's a tough broad and lovely to criminals and to her best friends. Co-starring on the show were a couple of familiar actors,
Earl Holliman (who replaced
Bert Convy of
Tattletales and
Super Password fame), as Sgt. Anderson's
Italian-speaking commanding officer and long-time friend, Lt. Bill Crowley and
Ed Bernard as Det. Joe Styles. On the first day of shooting, both Dickinson and Holliman were filming a scene in the hospital since somebody's mother had been very ill; however, the chemistry of the two worked very well and it was like falling in love with each other on the set. In early
1976, she and co-star (
Earl Holliman) were both invited to the Television Broadcasters' Awards to praise the actor's achievement. He lauded the veteran actress's career accomplishments, including her work with such late actors as
Frank Sinatra and
John Wayne, both of whom acted with Dickinson earlier in her career. On many occasions, Dickinson gave her sister a chance to play the role of an autistic sister, Cheryl, during the
1974 season. The role lasted only one season. In its first year, it was a ratings winner among many other popular
1970s
detective series, and Dickinson was nominated for three
Emmys as
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series between
1975 and
1977, but did not win. She was also nominated for four
Best TV Actress Golden Globes between
1975 and
1978, and won the award once. As she continued to play the no-nonsense cop, her marriage was in such serious turmoil that she found herself needing to slow down and concentrate more on her austistic daughter in
1977. By the end of its fourth season in
1978,
Police Woman had by far its most complex season. Not only were the ratings dropping, but Dickinson's world was falling apart. Her daughter's serious
autistic behavior required her to spend more time with her, and daughter Leah would also have a professional caregiver. Subsequently,
NBC decided to cancel the series after four seasons and 91 episodes. But by all accounts, Dickinson enjoyed playing the best cop on (arguably) one of the best cop shows and will always be fondly remembered for it. The same year the show came to an end, she reprised her Pepper Anderson role on the television special,
Ringo, co-starring with
Ringo Starr and the late
John Ritter.
After a two-year absence to spend time with her daughter and during the time of a devastating divorce, she returned to the big screen in
Dressed to Kill, which earned her a
1981 Saturn Award for
Best Actress. That same year, she also had another substantial role in
Death Hunt. Earlier that year, she had been producers' first choice to play 'Krystle Carrington' on
Dynasty, but she turned down the role and it went to
Linda Evans. She tried to make a comeback on TV with
Cassie & Co., but the show failed to attract much attention. She also starred in dozens of TV movies such as,
One Show Make it Murder,
Jealousy,
A Touch of Scandal,
Hollywood Wives,
Stillwatch. On the big screen, she reprised her role as Wilma in
Big Bad Mama II (1987), and completed the TV movie
Kojak: Fatal Flaw, in which she was reunited once again with old friend
Telly Savalas.
In addition to co-starring with
Uma Thurman in
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), she played Burt Reynolds's wife in
The Maddening (1995) - an impressive film. She also co-starred with
Rick Aiello and
Robert Cicchini as their mother in
The Don Analyst. As the new millennium approached, she played an alcoholic woman in
Pay it Forward (2000), and she also played Arliss Howard's mother in
Big Bad Love (2001) the following year. Finally, she returned to act in a small role in
Ocean's Eleven (2001); a remake of a very popular Rat Pack heist film produced more than four decades ago.
In
1952, Angie married Gene Dickinson, a former football player. While Angie was busy working on guest-starring roles, she also began dating
Frank Sinatra. The marriage to Dickinson ended in divorce
1960.
She was married to musician/composer
Burt Bacharach from 1965-1980, with whom she has a daughter. In addition, she is also rumoured to have been one of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy's mistresses. When asked about the affair, she said, "It was the best 20 seconds of my life." After she was married, the following year, she had a daughter named, Lea Nikki, in
1966, who was born three months premature and much later diagnosed with
Asperger's Syndrome. This marriage also ended in divorce.
Dickinson is a recipient of the state of
North Dakota's
Roughrider Award.
Lucky Me (
1954)
Tennessee's Partner (
1955)
The Return of Jack Slade (
1955)
Man with the Gun (
1955)
Hidden Guns (
1956)
Down Liberty Road (
1956) (short subject)
Tension at Table Rock (
1956)
Gun the Man Down (
1956)
The Black Whip (
1956)
Gunsmoke (
1956) (TV)
Sins Of The FatherShoot-Out at Medicine Bend (
1957)
China Gate (
1957)
Calypso Joe (
1957)
Run of the Arrow (
1957) (dubbing voice for
Sara Montiel)
I Married a Woman (
1958)
Cry Terror (
1958)
*
Rio Bravo (
1959)
Frontier Rangers (
1959)
I'll Give My Life (
1960)
The Bramble Bush (
1960)
*
Ocean's Eleven (
1960)
A Fever in the Blood (
1961)
The Sins of Rachel Cade (
1961)
Rome Adventure (
1962)
Jessica (
1962)
Captain Newman, M.D. (
1963)
The Killers (
1964)
The Art of Love (
1965)
The Chase (
1966)
Cast a Giant Shadow (
1966)
The Poppy Is Also a Flower (
1966)
The Rock (
1967) (short subject)
Point Blank (
1967)
The Last Challenge (
1967)
Sam Whiskey (
1969)
Some Kind of a Nut (
1969)
Young Billy Young (
1969)
Pretty Maids All in a Row (
1971)
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (
1971)
The Outside Man (
1972)
Police Woman (TV series,
1974–
1978)
Big Bad Mama (
1974)
The Angry Man (
1979)
Klondike Fever (
1980)
Dressed to Kill (
1980)
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (
1981)
Death Hunt (
1981)
Big Bad Mama II (
1987)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (
1993)
Wild Palms (
1993)
The Maddening (
1995)
Sabrina (
1995)"REMEMBRANCE"TV Movie adapted from Danielle Steel Novel.(1996)
The Sun, the Moon and the Stars (
1996)
The Last Producer (
2000)
Duets (
2000)
Pay It Forward (
2000)
Big Bad Love (
2001)
Ocean's Eleven (
2001) (cameo)
Elvis Has Left the Building (
2004)Upcoming:
3055 Jean Leon (
2006) (documentary)
Chronicles of Narnia 2 (
2007) (action)
*
*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Angie Dickinson
