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Colleen Miller

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Colleen Miller
Miller in The Purple Mask (1955)
Born
Colleen Joy Miller[1]

(1932-11-10) November 10, 1932 (age 92)
OccupationActress
Years active1952–1972
Spouses
Ted Briskin
(m. 1955⁠–⁠1975)
Walter Ralphs
(m. 1976; died 2010)
Children2

Colleen Joy Miller (born November 10, 1932)[2] is an American former actress. She starred in several films, such as the Westerns Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) and Four Guns to the Border (1954).

Early life

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The daughter of Elias and Lillian Miller,[3] she was born in Yakima, Washington, and raised in Portland, Oregon.[4][5] Miller attended Lincoln High School in Portland[3] and graduated at age fifteen.[4] In 1949, she was chosen "Miss Portland".[3] Her mother named her after actress Colleen Moore.[6]

As a child, Miller studied ballet, but when she was older she changed to popular dancing.[6] After graduating, she worked as a professional dancer in a San Francisco ballet company, and relocated to Las Vegas after three seasons to work at the Flamingo.[5]

Career

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Photo of "Universal starlets" in 1954 (from left: Myrna Hansen, Mamie Van Doren, Allison Hayes, Colleen Miller)

While dancing in Las Vegas, Miller was spotted by a talent agent who signed her to a contract with Howard Hughes for his RKO Pictures company.[5] She was 19 when she made her first film appearance in The Las Vegas Story, starring Jane Russell.[5]

She shared top billing with Rory Calhoun in her next film, a western titled Four Guns to the Border, which co-starred Nina Foch.[5] She then had a leading role in Playgirl as a young Midwestern girl who comes to New York City to be a model and ends up involved in a shooting and a scandal. She then was signed by Universal Pictures, where she co-starred with Tony Curtis in two films, The Purple Mask and The Rawhide Years.[7]

Miller made one more film after 1958, a western titled Gunfight at Comanche Creek opposite Audie Murphy, before retiring from acting.[8] However, she has an uncredited bit part in 1972's Stand Up and Be Counted.

Personal life

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On January 20, 1955, Miller married camera manufacturer Ted Briskin.[9] They remained wed until 1975.[4] She married Walter Ralphs, an heir to the Ralphs supermarket chain, in 1976, until his death in 2010. She currently resides in California.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1952 The Las Vegas Story Mary Starred Jane Russell, Victor Mature
1953 Man Crazy Judy Bassett
1954 Four Guns to the Border Lolly Bhumer co-starred with Rory Calhoun, Walter Brennan
1954 Playgirl Phyllis Matthews co-starred with Barry Sullivan
1955 The Purple Mask Laurette de Latour co-starred with Tony Curtis
1956 The Rawhide Years Zoe Fontaine co-starred with Tony Curtis
1957 The Night Runner Susan Mayes co-starred with Ray Danton
1957 Man in the Shadow Skippy Renchler co-starred with Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles
1957 Hot Summer Night Irene Partain co-starred with Leslie Nielsen
1958 Step Down to Terror Helen Walters co-starred with Charles Drake and Rod Taylor
1963 Gunfight at Comanche Creek Abbie Stevens co-starred with Audie Murphy and Ben Cooper
1972 Stand Up and Be Counted Nun Uncredited

References

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  1. ^ Hopper, Hedda (February 20, 1955). "Looking at Hollywood with Hedda Hopper". The Honolulu Advertiser. Hawaii, Honolulu. p. 58. Retrieved October 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Hoffman, Henryk (2000). "A" Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 420. ISBN 9780786406968.
  3. ^ a b c Korman, Seymour (February 3, 1957). "Lucky Colleen". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. p. 123. Retrieved October 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c "The Private Life and Times of Colleen Miller". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen.
  5. ^ a b c d e Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 173.
  6. ^ a b Scott, John L. (October 10, 1954). "Actress Inherits a Career". The Los Angeles Times. p. Part IV - 3. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 174–5.
  8. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, p. 175.
  9. ^ "Ted Briskin Weds Actress". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 22, 1955. p. 9. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via ProQuest.

Works cited

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  • Fitzgerald, Michael G.; Magers, Boyd (2006). Ladies of the Western: Interviews with Fifty-One More Actresses from the Silent Era to the Television Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-60796-2.
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