Arlene Dahl

Dahl was an entrepreneur who founded two companies, Arlene Dahl Enterprises and Dahlia, a fragrance company. Despite her acting success, she faced financial challenges, declaring bankruptcy in 1981. She then entered the field of astrology, writing a syndicated column and operating a premium phoneline company. She also wrote numerous books on beauty and astrology. In her personal life, Dahl had six husbands, including actors Lex Barker and Fernando Lamas, and was the mother to three children, the eldest of whom is actor Lorenzo Lamas. She lived between New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida, until her death in 2021.

• Name — Arlene Dahl • Birth Name — Arlene Carol Dahl • Born — 11 August 1925 • Birthplace — Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. • Died — 29 November 2021 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Actress • businesswoman • author • Years Active — 1944–2012 • Children — 3, including Lorenzo Lamas • Relatives — AJ Lamas (grandson) Shayne Lamas (granddaughter)

Dahl was born on August 11, 1925, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Idelle (Swan) and Rudolph Dahl, a Ford Motor dealer and executive. Her parents were both of Norwegian descent. She cited her year of birth as 1928, although her birth record (1925-43442, available through the Minnesota Historical Society) shows she was born on August 11, 1925. An August 13, 2014, article in the New York Social Diary by David Patrick Columbia, titled "Losses and Gains", references her 89th birthday celebration with her husband, children, and family. As a child, Dahl took elocution and dancing lessons and was active in theatrical events at Margaret Fuller Elementary School, Ramsey Junior High School, and Washburn Senior High School. After graduating from high school, she performed in a local drama group and briefly worked as a model for department stores. Dahl's mother was involved in local amateur theatre. Dahl briefly attended the University of Minnesota.

A year after graduation from high school, Dahl lived in Chicago, where she worked as a buyer for Marshall and Brown. She then traveled to New York City and worked as a model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, where she successfully auditioned for a part in the musical Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston in 1945. This led to her gaining the lead in another play, Questionable Ladies, which was seen by a talent scout from Hollywood. Dahl had an uncredited bit part in Life with Father (1947). She was promoted to leading lady in My Wild Irish Rose (1947) with Dennis Morgan, a big hit that led to an offer from MGM for a long-term contract.

Dahl began working for MGM to play a supporting role in her first film, The Bride Goes Wild (1948), starring Van Johnson and June Allyson. She remained there to play the female lead in the Red Skelton comedy A Southern Yankee (1948). Eagle-Lion hired her to star as the female lead in Reign of Terror (1949). Then at MGM, she acted opposite Van Johnson in Scene of the Crime (1949); Robert Taylor in Ambush (1950); Joel McCrea in The Outriders (1950); Fred Astaire and Skelton in Three Little Words (1950), playing Eileen Percy; and Skelton again in Watch the Birdie (1950). Except for The Outriders, all these movies were profitable for MGM. MGM gave Dahl the lead in several B movies, such as Inside Straight (1951) and No Questions Asked (1951), both of which flopped.

In 1960, she appeared in the TV series Riverboat in the role of Lucy Belle in the episode "That Taylor Affair". The same year, she married Texas oilman Christian Holmes and announced her retirement from acting. The marriage did not last, but Dahl increasingly diversified her work to become a lecturer and beauty consultant while she continued acting. She had a supporting role in Kisses for My President (1964) and appeared in Land Raiders (1969), The Pleasure Pit (1969), and the French film Du blé en liasses. She also appeared on TV in Burke's Law and Theatre of Stars. Her focus by now was on business. After closing her company in 1967, she began serving as vice president at the advertising agency Kenyon and Eckhardt that same year. In a 1969 interview, she said her old films were "such an embarrassment".

Dahl also returned to Broadway in the early 1970s, replacing Lauren Bacall in the role of Margo Channing in Applause. On television, she had a role on the soap opera One Life to Live and guest-starred on Love, American Style, Jigsaw John, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. She also made a TV movie, The Deadly Dream (1971). "I like acting," she said in 1978, "but I had better like business better or I'll lose my shirt."

• Illustration — Dahl in 2000 In 1981, Dahl declared personal bankruptcy, with liabilities of almost $1 million and assets of only $623,970. Her chief creditor was the U.S. Small Business Administration, which guaranteed a $450,000 loan for her as an executive in a cosmetics firm. She had lost $163,000 from burglaries of jewelry and furs from her Manhattan apartment, and she earned only $11,367 in 1980 and $10,517 in 1979. Dahl appeared on ABC's soap opera One Life to Live from 1981 to 1984 as Lucinda Schenck Wilson. The character was planned as a short-term role (she guest-starred from late 1981 to early 1982 and in late 1982), but Dahl later was offered a one-year contract to appear on the series from September 1983 to October 1984. In 1988, she starred in the film A Place to Hide. Her last feature film role, which followed a hiatus of more than two decades, was in Night of the Warrior (1991). It co-starred her son Lorenzo Lamas. She entered the field of astrology in the 1980s, writing a syndicated column and later operating a premium phoneline company. Dahl wrote more than two dozen books on the topics of beauty and astrology. Dahl guest-starred on episodes of shows starring her son, Renegade and Air America.

In 1951, Dahl began writing for a triweekly beauty column for Let's Be Beautiful, a newspaper owned by Chicago Tribune founder Robert McCormick. In the mid-1950s, Dahl founded Arlene Dahl Enterprises, selling lingerie, nightgowns, pajamas, and cosmetics. She invented the Dahl Beauty Cap, a knitted sleeping cap for women. Dahl began working at Sears Roebuck as director of beauty products in 1970, earning nearly $750,000 annually, but she left in 1975 to found a short-lived fragrance company, Dahlia.

Dahl had six husbands: • Actor Lex Barker: They met in the early 1950s, wed on April 16, 1951, and divorced the following year (Barker later married Lana Turner). • Actor Fernando Lamas: They married in 1954. In 1958, Dahl and Lamas had their only child, Lorenzo Lamas. Shortly after giving birth to Lorenzo, Dahl slowed and eventually ended her career as an actress, although she still appeared in films and on television occasionally. Dahl and Lamas divorced in 1960. • Christian R. Holmes: He was heir to the Fleischmann yeast fortune and an oilman. They married on October 15, 1960, and had one child, Dahl's only daughter. Holmes and she were divorced November 29, 1963. • Russian wine writer and entrepreneur Alexis Lichine. They were married from 1964 to 1969. • TV producer/yacht broker Rounsevelle W. "Skip" Schaum: They were married from 1969 to 1976. Her second son was born during this marriage. • Packaging designer Marc Rosen: They were married from 1984 until her death. She divided her time between New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. She has nine grandchildren (including AJ Lamas and Shayne Lamas) and two great-grandchildren. She died in her Manhattan apartment on November 29, 2021, at age 96.

• Year — Title — Role • 1947 — My Wild Irish Rose — Rose Donovan • 1948 — The Bride Goes Wild — Tillie Smith Oliver • A Southern Yankee — Sallyann Weatharby • 1949 — Scene of the Crime — Gloria Conovan • Reign of Terror — Madelon • 1950 — Ambush — Ann Duverall • The Outriders — Jen Gort • Three Little Words — Eileen Percy • Watch the Birdie — Lucia Corlone • 1951 — Inside Straight — Lily Douvane • No Questions Asked — Ellen Sayburn Jessman • 1952 — Caribbean Gold — Christine Barclay McAllister • 1953 — Desert Legion — Morjana • Jamaica Run — Ena Dacey • Sangaree — Nancy Darby • Here Come the Girls — Irene Bailey • The Diamond Queen — Queen Maya • 1954 — Woman's World — Carol Talbot • Bengal Brigade — Vivian Morrow • 1956 — Slightly Scarlet — Dorothy Allen • Wicked as They Come — Kathleen "Kathy" Allen • 1957 — Fortune Is a Woman — Sarah Moreton Branwell • 1959 — Journey to the Center of the Earth — Carla Göteborg • 1964 — Kisses for My President — Doris Reid Weaver • 1967 — Les Poneyttes — Shoura Cassidy • 1969 — The Pleasure Pit — Laureen • 1970 — Land Raiders — Martha Cardenas • 1991 — Night of the Warrior — Edie Keane • 2003 — Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There — Herself

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1953–1954 — The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse — Host • 1954–1955 — Lux Video Theatre — Ilsa Lund — Episodes: "Casablanca" and "September Affair" • The Ford Television Theatre — Mary McNeil/Jody Hill — 2 episodes • 1958 — Opening Night — Host — (canceled after a few weeks) • 1963–1965 — Burke's Law — Princess Kortzoff/Eva Martinelli/Gloria Cooke/Maggie French — 4 episodes • 1965 — Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Valerie — Episode: "Perilous Time" • 1971 — The Deadly Dream — Connie — Television movie • 1976 — Jigsaw John — Episode: "Sand Trap" • 1979–1987 — The Love Boat — Monica Cross/Natalie Martin/Ellen Kirkwood/Jessica York — 4 episodes • 1981 — Fantasy Island — Amelia Shelby — 1 Episode • 1981–1984 — One Life to Live — Lucinda Schenk Wilson • 1995–1997 — Renegade — Virginia Biddle/Elaine Carlisle — 2 episodes • 1995 — All My Children — Lady Lucille • 1999 — Air America — Cynthia Garland — Episode: "Eye of the Storm"

• Year — Program — Episode/source • 1953 — Broadway Playhouse — "No Man of Her Own" • 1953 — Stars over Hollywood — "Remember Bill"

Arlene Dahl was recorded at birth as Arlene Carol Dahl. Her recorded language was English. She married Lex Barker, Fernando Lamas and Alexis Lichine. One child is recorded: Lorenzo Lamas. Other recorded relations include AJ Lamas and Shayne Lamas.