Lake, Veronica

(1919-1973)

   One of the great movie stars of the 1940s, Veronica Lake was born Constance Ockleman in Brooklyn, New York. Although her first acting role was at the age of eight, she did not begin performing seriously until her family moved to Hollywood in 1938. She got her first film role under the name of Constance Keane in 1939. Her first part as Veronica Lake was in I Want Wings, which was a success in 1941, followed by Hold Back the Dawn the same year. Lake was described as “one of the most beautiful” stars in Hollywood, and her blond hair covering one eye “peek-a-boo” style, became her trademark. She appeared in Sullivan’s Travels and This Gun for Hire in 1942 and was a hit with Claudette Colbert in So Proudly We Hail in 1943. However, it was her pairing with Alan Ladd in The Glass Key in 1942 that established her most successful screen partnership. They also appeared together in Duffy’s Tavern (1945), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Saigon (1948). The latter did not do particularly well at the box office, and Paramount did not renew her contract after 1948. Lake appeared in a number of television shows between 1949 and 1951 and then worked on Broadway for about eight years. However, her string of broken marriages and alcoholism clearly affected her career, and she was forced to find employment in casual, low-paid work other than acting. She moved to Florida in 1965 and appeared in two low-budget films. In 1969, she moved to England but returned after two years and another divorce destitute and ill. She spent her last days in the hospital.

   See also Cinema.