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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Hollywood has always welcomed with open arms exotic, sexy imports to its gallery of glamour girls and serious actresses; look at how Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich and Sophia Loren have been embraced. Buxom and alluring French siren Denise Darcel fell into the secondary ranks of thick-accented, post-WWII hopefuls which would include a wave of other temptations such as Märta Torén, Viveca Lindfors, Corinne Calvet and Bella Darvi.
This particularly luscious Parisian was born Denise Billecard on September 8, 1925, one of five daughters born to a baker and his wife. The daughters were raised outside of Paris in a small town for a time, but Denise eventually moved back to Paris after WWII as a young adult and college student (University of Dijon). She was working as a dime store cashier when she entered and won a beauty contest that resulted in a lot of publicity for her as "The Most Beautiful Girl in France". She capitalized on this by developing her own nightclub act and touring around the Riviera with it -- blazing a name for herself.
Denise came to the United States as the wife of an American Army captain, but the marriage soured quickly after about a year. She turned to the movies. In her first, the war film To the Victor (1948), she managed to turn heads despite her small, unbilled appearance as a club singer. She made the most of her sexy version of "La vie en rose" and, with that, moved into a top femme acting role with the western Thunder in the Pines (1948), which had both pre-"Superman" George Reeves and post-"Dick Tracy" Ralph Byrd fighting for her attention. She then was the sole femme in the successful war picture Battleground (1949), providing sexy distraction amid all the bombings. This alone pushed her sex symbol status to its peak. As a result she provided a little extra steam in the jungles with her exotic part in the Lex Barker entry Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950).
And then it was over. Despite providing more sexy cabaret entertainment in the film Young Man with Ideas (1952) starring Glenn Ford, and grabbing notice in such man-oriented action in Westward the Women (1951) with Robert Taylor, Flame of Calcutta (1953) with Patric Knowles and Vera Cruz (1954) co-starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, Ms. Darcel's film career fell completely away.
She never took herself or her image too seriously during her prime and was known and admired for her fine sense of humor, playing the sexy foil to such comic stars as Olsen and Johnson on stage -- in "Pardon My French" (1950) -- and Milton Berle on TV. She even hosted her own short-lived TV quiz show Gamble on Love (1954) at one point. But as far as movies were concerned, she returned only once more to film the utterly forgettable and exploitative 7 Women from Hell (1961).
Hollywood folklore has it that Ms. Darcel gave the cold shoulder to the heated romantic advances of both Columbia mogul Harry Cohn and producer playboy Howard Hughes, and thereby sealed her own fate. While waiting out the snub, she left Hollywood and made live appearances on stage, in dinner theaters and around the nightclub circuit, appearing in such plays and musicals as "Oh, Captain!" (1958), "The Little Hut" (1961) and "Can-Can" (1961).
She once was an opening act for singer/dancer Joel Grey, and made even more money the more she playfully revealed herself to her paying customers. But she was never invited back to Hollywood. Married and divorced five times in all, the vivacious Ms. Darcel remained close to her two sons, Chris and Craig, and made ends meet later by working as a Las Vegas casino dealer. She died of an aneurysm on December 23, 2011, at age 86.- Eva Böttcher was born on 30 April 1928 in Hamburg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Ein Herz und eine Seele (1973), Die Mohrin (1967) and Spartacus (1976). She was married to Wolfgang Reinbacher. She died on 23 December 2011 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Charlotte Duchesne was born on 27 October 1918 in Nantes, France. She was an actress, known for Bossemans et Coppenolle (1938) and Mystère à Shanghai (1950). She was married to Stanislas-André Steeman. She died on 23 December 2011 in Menton, France.
- Aom Kusman was born on 24 June 1946 in Soekaboemi, Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies [now Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia]. He was an actor, known for Apanya Dong (1983), Bukan main (1991) and Ojek (1991). He died on 23 December 2011 in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.
- Editorial Department
- Editor
- Sound Department
Olof Källström was born on 20 August 1948 in Byske, Skellefteå, Västerbottens län, Sweden. He was an editor, known for Jersey Girl (2004), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Kleptomania (1993). He was married to Anne. He died on 23 December 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Valerio Martinez was born in 1927 in Spain. He was an actor, known for Capital City (1989). He died on 23 December 2011 in Islington, London, England, UK.
- Bruce Ruxton was born on 6 February 1926 in Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was married to Jill Marguerite McMahon and Ruth Mary Proud. He died on 23 December 2011 in Tewantin, Queensland, Australia.
- Marko Markovic was born on 26 July 1935 in Leskovac, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He was an actor, known for SS Strike at Dawn (1958), Drugarica ministarka (1989) and Falsifier (2013). He died on 23 December 2011 in Belgrade, Serbia.
- Woody Kauffman was born on 18 March 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a producer, known for Unknown Sender (2008) and Arnold's Wrecking Co. (1973). He was married to Shirley Kauffman. He died on 23 December 2011 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
- Make-Up Department
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Robert Hickman was born on 10 October 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Burke's Law (1963), The Amazing Spider-Man (1977) and Captain EO (1986). He died on 23 December 2011.