Mamie Van Doren performances

Van Doren in Untamed Youth (1957)

American actress Mamie Van Doren (born February 6, 1931) has been in 41 films from 1951 to 2012. Van Doren was discovered by Howard Hughes as Miss Eight Ball, and Hughes put Van Doren in 4 RKO movies, including Jet Pilot, His Kind of Woman, and Two Tickets to Broadway. These movies would have Van Doren playing minor roles, where she was often uncredited or credited as Joan Olander.

In 1953, Van Doren signed to Universal, with Universal having hopes of Van Doren becoming their version of Marilyn Monroe. Her first major film role, The All American, helped to shape her distinctive role in the 1950s as a "bad girl". Van Doren rose to fame, starring in rebellious-teen films, exploitation films, teen dramas, and musicals. These films, such as Untamed Youth, Running Wild, Teacher's Pet and High School Confidential, made her different from Monroe's roles as a "dumb blonde". These films, which would sometimes be risque, would challenge the Hays Code.

In the 1960s, Van Doren starred in several independent B-movies due to her contract with Universal not being renewed in 1960. Her last film with Universal was the 1960 film The Private Lives of Adam and Eve. In 1964, she starred in 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, a film directed by Tommy Noonan and inspired by the success of Promises! Promises! (1963), which Van Doren had turned down.

Filmography

Year	Film title	Role	Studio	Notes	Ref.
1951	Footlight Varieties	Blonde in theater	RKO Radio Pictures	Credited as Joan Olander
	His Kind of Woman	Lodge guest at bar
	Two Tickets to Broadway	Showgirl
1953	Forbidden	Singer	Universal Pictures	Uncredited
	The All American	Susie Ward		First major film role
1954	Hawaiian Nights	Glamour girl		Uncredited Short film
	Yankee Pasha	Lilith, Harem slave
	Francis Joins the WACS	Cpl. Bunky Hilstrom
1955	Ain't Misbehavin'	Jackie
	The Second Greatest Sex	Birdie Snyder
	Running Wild	Irma Bean
1956	Star in the Dust	Ellen Ballard		Last film under contract with Universal. Van Doren stopped accepting roles from the studio, because they were not giving her the breakthrough roles she so desperately craved.
1957	Untamed Youth	Penny Lowe	Warner Brothers	In this film, Van Doren became the first actress to sing rock 'n roll in an American musical film.
	The Girl in Black Stockings	Harriet Ames	United Artists	Van Doren's final film to be lined-up for her by Universal in 1956. a.k.a.: Wanton Murder and Wanton Murder Mystery
	Jet Pilot	WAF	RKO Radio Pictures	Uncredited. Filmed from 1949 to 1953, but not released until 1959
1958	Teacher's Pet	Peggy DeFore	Paramount Pictures	Van Doren's role was originally bigger, but was edited to be smaller because of the outfits she was required to wear in the film.
	High School Confidential	Gwen Dulaine	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
	Born Reckless	Jackie Adams	Warner Brothers
1959	Guns, Girls, and Gangsters	Vi Victor	United Artists
	The Beat Generation	Georgia Altera	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
	The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina	Sabrina		Her first non-Hollywood motion picture release
	The Big Operator	Mary Gibson	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
	Girls Town	Silver Morgan		The first film to feature Van Doren nude. She appears nude through a fuzzy shower door.
1960	Vice Raid	Carol Hudson	United Artists
	College Confidential	Sally Blake	Universal Pictures
	Sex Kittens Go to College	Dr. Mathilda West	Allied Artists
	The Private Lives of Adam and Eve	Evie Simms/Eve	Universal Pictures	In this film, Van Doren wore only leaves for dream sequences.
1961	The Blonde from Buenos Aires
1964	The Candidate	Samantha Ashley
	Freddy in the Wild West	Olivia	-	a.k.a.: The Sheriff Was a Lady (alternative title)
	3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt	Saxie Symbol	Harlequin International Pictures	Filmed as a sequel/spinoff of Promises! Promises!, a film that Van Doren had turned down.
1966	The Las Vegas Hillbillys	Boots Malone	Woolner Brothers	Co-starred Jayne Mansfield. This is the only time that any of the "Three M's" appeared together in a motion picture.
	The Navy vs. the Night Monsters	Nora Hall	Realart Pictures Inc.	The first of two science fiction films that Van Doren made.
1967	You've Got to Be Smart	Miss Hathaway
1968	Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women	Moana	American-International Television	The last science fiction film of Van Doren's career.
1970	The Arizona Kid	Sharon Miller
1975	That Girl from Boston	Princess Tassel
1986	Free Ride	Debbie Stockwell	Galaxy International Releasing
1999	The Vegas Connection	Rita
2002	Slackers	Miss Van Graaf	Screen Gems
2012	The American Tetralogy	Mazu or the Goddess of the Sea