I must confess that this interview was sparked by a conversation I had with model, actress and photographer Julie Strain; and not because I was one of Mamie Van Doren’s many loyal fans. When I learned that Julie Strain had dedicated her latest book to Ms. Van Doren, it intrigued me as to why. If you are interested in Mamie Van Doren, available information is as close as your computer’s keyboard. Just a few strokes and you will be surfing Mamie in no time.

When I began conducting my research, this is exactly where I began. Providing a wealth of information, some factual some fictitious, the internet did not disappoint me. Some of it was fitting for the likes of Jerry Springer, while other would make the feature story on 60 Minutes. Reading through her Vietnam diary, I was very touched by her actions and thoughts. Yet, it was not until I actually spoke with Ms. Van Doren that I began to see a side of her that many are not normally privileged to.

She was born Joan Lucille Olander and at the age of 8 moved with her family from South Dakota to Los Angeles, California. By the age of thirteen, the shapely teen had already begun her acting career and would soon draw the attention of RKO Studios. She once spent a summer working in Las Vegas as a showgirl and even posed for the pin up artist Alberto Vargas. Little did she know her portrait would end up in the 1951 July issue of Esquire. Upon her return to Los Angeles she hired her first manager, changed her name and landed herself a role in the motion picture "Forbidden". From there she never looked back.

Modamag.com: How did Howard Hughes discover you? Mamie: It was through a beauty contest, I was Miss Palm Springs. He was in the audience at the time of the contest, he owned RKO Studios and I got a call from the casting director at the studio asking me to come over. He (Hughes) gave me a contract for four or five movies. Then I saw him, not on a regular basis, but whenever he felt like he wanted to see someone he would call. My mother was the chaperone at that time; she wouldn’t let me go out alone with him. There were a couple of times when we did go alone. But that was sort of the beginning of learning the ins and outs of the studio, being on the set and watching actors and knowing that was probably where I would like to end up in my life. I felt that God had given me my physical attributes and so I capitalized on it. Acting came very easy to me, my singing, everything was so easy for me; when I got in front of a camera it felt like I had been there all my life. But I had to study; I did not take advantage of some of the natural things I was gifted with. I felt this was very important to be a good actress.

Modamag.com: How did you get your screen name Mamie Van Doren?

Mamie: I was named after Mamie Eisenhower; Eisenhower was the President at that time. My birth name is Joan Olander; I was name for Joan Crawford. They didn’t think that was a very glamorous name. So they gave me Mamie (May-me) Van Doren. Of course when you were at the studios in those days you didn’t have a choice, you had to do everything they told you to do.

Modamag.com: Where did the Van Doren come from?

Mamie: It came from a young actor, his name was Robert Van Doren. He came to me and said, " Mamie, you’ve got my last name." I said, "Really?" They had changed his name to John Smith. He was tall, blonde and good looking. He did a lot of westerns. But that is how I got it… Mamie Van Doren.

Modamag.com: Is there any particular person, or incident, you would credit with catapulting your film career?

Mamie: Yes. When Howard left my life I was studying theater. There was a little theater called Bliss-Hayden. I was doing a play called "Come Back Little Sheba" and taking acting lessons at the theater. The night I was performing, one of the talent scouts from the studio saw me and I got my contract through that play. The studio is what really started me. But I’ll back up a little. Before Universal, I met a man named Jimmy McHugh who was a songwriter. He wrote, "I’m In The Mood For Love", "Sunny Side Of The Street", "Don’t Blame Me", all those great songs from the 30’s and 40’s. And he really thought I had a talent for singing. He signed me to a manager’s contract. And he is the one who put me through schools. He paid for my schooling. I would go to school in the morning and then go to night school. I wanted to double up and learn and learn and learn. He was the one who was really responsible for getting me started in the movies.

Modamag.com: When you say "schooling", this is acting school? Mamie: Acting school, just learning about theater and he took me on a different road rather than just being seen in a nightclub or singing with a band. He knew there was no future in that unless you are a great recording artist.

I would go to the theater shows downtown at the Biltmore. I would see all the wonderful shows and plays. And I did a lot of plays. And then I was really well prepared when I got my contract with the studio. I was well prepared to go into my first movie and that was opposite Tony Curtis in "All American".

Modamag.com: Who was your favorite male (and female) co-star and why?

Mamie: I think Tony Curtis would have to be one of them, and Clark Gable and Jeff Chandler.

Modamag.com: And female?

Mamie: Female stars, I really didn’t have any female stars opposite of me. A big star would not work really with me, a female star. That’s probably why I never worked with them. Even a male star, they had a hard time, except for Gable; he didn’t care what you looked like he knew what he could do. He had a lot of confidence in himself. It’s funny, but men don’t want anyone who might upstage them.

Modamag.com: And the females, why the females; the same thing? They don’t want to be upstaged? Mamie: The same thing, absolutely. Absolutely. In fact I had done the picture with Clark Gable and Doris Day, "Teacher’s Pet". Doris and I didn’t hit it off at all. She was always one of my favorite singers when I was growing up, but when she found out I was in the movie she had a fit. Some of my scenes were cut out because of it. I had one really cute scene with Cable, kissing him and they took it out.

Modamag.com: You have a cameo role in the new motion picture "Slackers" (Sony Pictures) which is due to premiere September 15^th ;can you tell us a bit about the film’s story line and your part in the picture?

Mamie: The story line is I guess about a bunch of slackers, people out of work. I really don’t know. I didn’t even read the script. When I got to the set, They said I shouldn’t even pay attention to the script." This is unheard of you know. I worked during a time when every word had to be 100%, everything had to be just the way it was in the book. If you changed one line, you would have to have the writer on the set. But this whole thing was so different working, now, compared to when I was working in the movies, because everything is sort of improvised. It was exciting because it kept you on your toes and really made you do the best job you can do.

Modamag.com: What is your part in the movie?

Mamie: My part is a whore. An old prostitute that was ill in the hospital.

Modamag.com: What other changes in the motion picture industry have you noticed since coming back?

Mamie: It’s pretty much the same outside of things being done faster. It has that same quality of Hollywood, only different people. Just a whole new generation of people coming in.

Modamag.com: How good of friends were you with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield?

Mamie: I was reared here in Los Angeles. I came here with my mom pre-war (1942) when I was eight. Marilyn and I kind of went to the same places. We knew each other growing up. We had a report with one another.

Modamag.com: I read you were saddened by Monroe’s death, but it was Jayne Mansfield’s death that really shook you up. Is this true?

Mamie: Yes, because she had taken a job for me in Biloxi, Mississippi where we had been working at the same time. We had worked there the year prior to her death. I was held over in New York in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and I ask her if she would change her dates. And then I heard she had gotten killed doing the gig I thought my God this is really awful. I couldn’t believe it. I was sick when Marilyn died, but I was afraid to walk across the street after that. It was just like one after another.

Modamag.com: At the time did you really think there might be a curse on Hollywood blonde bombshells?

Mamie: Yes I did. I thought I was doomed. I was afraid to ride in a plane. Then I couldn’t get a job in Hollywood after they died. I was like an embarrassment to them. They didn’t even want to know about me.

Modamag.com: Why?

Mamie: I think the era of the blondes… it was such a terrible way that Jayne died, it wasn’t accepted anymore. I think the three of us kept each other alive, kept the flame burning.