Rhonda Fleming

Her mother, Effie Olivia Graham (1891-1985), was a famous model and actress in New York. She has a son (Kent Lane), two granddaughters (Kimberly and Kelly) and four great-grandchildren (Wagner, Page, Lane and Cole). She has appeared in over 40 films, including David O.

A native-born Californian, Rhonda Fleming attended Beverly Hills public and private schools. Her father was Harold Cheverton Louis (1896-1951).

Fleming's mother was a famous Swedish blonde model in New York who made the cover of Harper's and other major magazines, and later appeared in the Al Jolson show "Dancing Around" at the Wintergarden Theater for two years and progressed from understudy to leading role. Her father worked in insurance. Her parents divorced when Rhonda was ten years old, and her elder sister, Beverly Louis (1918-1990), was fifteen years old. Young Rhonda took lessons in light opera for ten years as a child.

Attended and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California (class of 1941). This is the same school attended by, among others, Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily, Albert Brooks and Crispin Glover.

Selznick's Spellbound (1945), directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Jacques Tourneur's Out Of The Past (1947); and Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946).

For many years before the Internet made checking such things simple, Fleming erroneously claimed in multiple interviews to have been a 1946 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee for her minor role in the mystery classic The Spiral Staircase. Although the film was nominated for the Supporting Actress award, it was Ethel Barrymore who was cited, not Fleming.

She later got starring roles in such classics as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1948), Gunfight at the O. K.

Has appeared with John Payne in four films: The Eagle and the Hawk (1950), Crosswinds (1951), Tennessee's Partner (1955) and Slightly Scarlet (1956).

Has appeared with Ronald Reagan in four films: The Last Outpost (1951), Hong Kong (1952) Tropic Zone (1953) and Tennessee's Partner (1955).

Corral (1957), Home Before Dark (1958), Pony Express (1953), Slightly Scarlet (1956), While the City Sleeps (1956) and The Big Circus (1959). While she was always a competent actress, she was more renowned for her exquisite beauty, and the camera absolutely adored her. One time a cameraman on one of her films remarked on how he was so struck by her beauty that, as a gag, he intentionally tried to photograph her badly; he was astonished to discover that no matter how deliberately he botched it, she still came out looking ravishing. Among her co-stars over the years were Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, Burt Lancaster, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Rock Hudson and Ronald Reagan (with whom she made four films). In addition to motion pictures, Fleming made her Broadway debut in Clare Boothe Luce's "The Women", essayed the role of "Lalume" in "Kismet" at the Los Angeles Music Center and toured as "Madame Dubonnet" in "The Boyfriend". She made her stage musical debut in Las Vegas at the opening of the Tropicana Hotel's showroom. Later she appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in a one-woman concert of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin compositions. She also starred in a national ten-week concert tour with Skitch Henderson, featuring the music of George Gershwin.

She has guest-starred on numerous television series, including Wagon Train (1957), Police Woman (1974), The Love Boat (1977), Last Hours Before Morning (1975) and a two-hour special of McMillan & Wife (1971).

A one-time Las Vegas showroom singing act at the Tropicana, she also performed at the Hollywood Bowl in a one-woman concert of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin songs. Also did a ten-week tour with Skitch Henderson that focused on the music of George Gershwin. She recorded an album in 1958 for Columbia Records.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6660 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Waiting for the Wind (1990) reunited her with former co-star Robert Mitchum.

In 1991, she and her husband established the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women's Comprehensive Care at UCLA Medical Center. This clinic provides a full range of expert gynecologic and obstetric care to women.

Since 1992, she has devoted her time to a second facility at UCLA - the Rhonda Fleming Mann Resource Center for Women with Cancer, which opened in early 1994. This Center is the fulfillment of her vision to create a safe, warm place where women cancer patients and their families might receive the highest quality psychosocial and emotional care as well as assistance with the complex practical problems that arise with cancer.

Established Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women Comprehensive Care at the UCLA Medical Center (1993).

A member of the Westwood Presbyterian Church, Fleming received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1995.

In private life she resides in Century City, California, and was married for 23 years to Ted Mann, a producer and chairman of Mann Theatres, until his death in January 2001. She is a member and supporter of Childhelp USA, ARCS (Achievement Rewards For College Scientists); a Life Associate of Pepperdine University; a Lifetime Member of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; a Founding Member of the French Foundation For Alzheimer Research; a Benefactor of the Los Angeles Music Center: and a Member of the Center's Blue Ribbon Board of Directors. She is a Member of the Advisory Board of Olive Crest Treatment Centers for Abused Children and serves as a Board of Directors Trustee of World Opportunities International. Along with her husband she helped build the Jerusalem Film Institute in Israel. She also is a member of the Board of Trustees of The UCLA Foundation and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Health Research Program. In addition, she created at the City of Hope Hospital The Rhonda Fleming Mann Research Fellowship to further advance research and treatment associated with women's cancer.

She was a strong supporter of the Republican Party and was an honored speaker at the National Federal of Republican Women (2007).

She supported Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election.

Despite her death in October 2020, she was still able to vote for Donald Trump in that years presidential election by means of absentee ballot.