Sheree North
| Sheree North | |
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 North in a mid-1950s publicity photo |
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| Born | Dawn Shirley Crang January 17, 1932 Los Angeles, California |
| Died | November 4, 2005 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, dancer |
| Years active | 1951–1998 |
| Spouse |
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Sheree North (January 17, 1932 – November 4, 2005) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She was known for being 20th Century Fox's answer to Marilyn Monroe from 1954 to 1956. During these two years, she had lead roles in How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955), opposite Betty Grable; The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956), with Tom Ewell and Rita Moreno; and The Best Things in Life Are Free, with Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine (1956).
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[edit] Early life
North was either born as Dawn Shirley Bethel[2] or as Dawn Shirley Crang[3] in Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1932, the daughter of June Shoard and Richard Crang,[2] her stepfather was Edward Bethel.[4] She began dancing in USO shows during World War II at age ten. At 15, she married Fred Bessire; she had a child at 16. She continued dancing in clubs under the stage name Shirley Mae Bessire.[5]
[edit] Career
North made her film debut as one of the many club members in Excuse My Dust (1951). She was then spotted by a choreographer performing at the Macayo Club in Santa Monica, and 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 (originally Sherree). She would then make her Broadway debut in the musical Hazel Flagg, for which she won a Theatre World Award. She reprised her role in the film version, Living It Up (1954).[5] In early 1954 she appeared in a live TV version of Cole Porter's Anything Goes on The Colgate Comedy Hour with Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra and Bert Lahr.[6]
In 1954, North signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. Fox had plans to mold North as a Marilyn Monroe replacement. North was soon convinced by Fox to bleach her hair blonde. The studio would then screen test North for Monroe's roles (while wearing Monroe's own studio wardrobe) in The Girl in Pink Tights and There's No Business Like Show Business as a threat to Monroe. North was not cast in either part.
The following year, she won the lead role opposite Betty Grable in How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955), a role that was rejected by Monroe. Media attention resulted in North appearing on the cover of Life magazine with the cover line "Sheree North Takes Over From Marilyn Monroe".[5][7] Film historians, then and now, cite North's electrically-charged dancing to "Shake, Rattle and Roll", as the film's most memorable scene.[8]
[edit] Starlet on the rise
After the modest box-office success of How to Be Very, Very Popular, Fox's studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck, suggested promoting North. The studio got her guest appeances on some well-known television series including What's My Line?; in which she had to sign her name on a chalkboard; she wrote her name as: Shereë North. She then appeared in a skit entitled Anthything Goes on a episode of Shower of Stars.
Soon after, Fox gave North the lead role in The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956), co-starring Tom Ewell and Rita Moreno. North was happy to get a lead role. Directed by Frank Tashlin, the filming of The Lieutenant Wore Skirts went smoothly, and the film was completed on time and on budget. North enjoyed working with her co-stars, Tom Ewell, Rita Moreno, and Rick Jason.
When released in January 1956, The Lieutenant Wore Skirts was a huge box-office success. The film was the 13th-highest grossing film of the year. Fox was thrilled with the success of the film.
Later that same year, believing North was now a box-office draw, Fox cast her in a supporting role opposite Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine in the big-budget picture The Best Things in Life Are Free The film was a success, but the studio began to lose interest in North, and started to promote another sex symbol, Jayne Mansfield.
[edit] Career decline
In 1957, North won a dramatic role in The Way to the Gold, also starring Jeffrey Hunter. North proved she could act in The Way to the Gold, and the film drew modest box-office success. In the fall of 1957, Fox cast North in the all-star drama, No Down Payment. The film co-starred several newcomers, such as Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, and Barbara Rush. No Down Payment was released with high hopes, and drew mild box-office praise.
The next year North won a role in the war-time drama, In Love and War (1958), starring Robert Wagner. This film was a success, which convinced Fox to cast North opposite Pat Boone in the musical comedy Mardi Gras (1958). This film was a modest box-office success, but the studio decided not to renew North's contract.
After North's contract with Fox ended in 1958, she continued act in movies, and had guest spots on television shows such as Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Breaking Point, and Ben Casey. In the 1960s she returned to Broadway in the Harold Rome musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, which featured Elliott Gould and introduced Barbra Streisand.
[edit] Later years
North's next role was the lead in the science fiction film Destination Inner Space (1966). In 1969, she appeared in The Trouble with Girls starring Elvis Presley.
Some of her other performances were in Don Siegel's Charley Varrick (1973), and as John Wayne's long-lost love in the actor's final film, The Shootist (1976). She had supporting roles in two Charles Bronson movies, Breakout (also starring Robert Duvall and Randy Quaid) in 1975 and Telefon (featuring Donald Pleasence and Lee Remick) in 1977. In 1980, she played Marilyn Monroe's mother in the made-for-TV film Marilyn: The Untold Story.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, North appeared in guest spots on Hawaii Five-O, The Streets of San Francisco, 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, in two episodes.
She starred in the ABC sitcom 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.[9]
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 eight episodes.[10]
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.
[edit] Personal life
North was married four times and had two children. In 1948, at age 16, 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; the marriage ended a year later. Her third marriage to psychologist Gerhardt Sommer resulted in another daughter, Erica Eve; that marriage also ended in divorce in 1963.[11]
At the time of her death, North was married to Phillip Norman.[8]
[edit] Death
On November 4, 2005, North died from complications during cancer[4] surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[8]
[edit] Theatre
- Hazel Flagg (February 11, 1953 – September 19, 1953)
- I Can Get It for You Wholesale (March 22, 1962 – December 8, 1962)
- The Glass Menagerie (Laguna-Moulton Playhouse – January 3, 2000)
[edit] Filmography
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[edit] Television
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[edit] Awards and honors
- Won: For performance in Hazel Flagg (1953)
- 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)
[edit] Notes
- ^ . St. Petersburg Independent. 1973-01-10.
- ^ a b Sheree North Obituary
- ^ Theatre World 2005–2006
- ^ a b "Sheree North". FilmBug.Com. http://www.filmbug.com/db/72054. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ a b c Hayward, Anthony (2005-11-22). "Obituary: Sheree North". Independent, The (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sheree-north-516411.html. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
- ^ "Anything Goes! on DVD". Television Academy Foundation's Archive of American Television. http://emmytvlegends.org/anything-goes-on-dvd.
- ^ Sheree North at Variety.com
- ^ a b c 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/.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080232/
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084982/episodes
- ^ Sheree North at Filmreference.com
[edit] External links
- Sheree North at the Internet Movie Database
- Sheree North at the Internet Broadway Database
- Sheree North at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Sheree North Tiger dance at YouTube
