SANTA MONICA—Singer and actress Rhonda Fleming, 97, died on Wednesday, October 14.
She was nicknamed the “queen of technicolor” because of her ability to photograph. The actress starred in more than 40 films predominantly within the black and white era of film between the 1940s and 1950s.
Fleming was born August 10, 1923 in California and went to both private and public schools located in Beverly Hills.
She was one of few actresses to make the transition into the color era. Her first film in was “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” back in 1949.
She worked with politicians such as Ronald Regan and actors Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Burt Landcaster and Bing Crosby.
Fleming took her knowledge and talent to Broadway and made her debut in Clare Boothe Luce’s play “The Woman.”
Fleming starred in a national 10 week concert tour with Skitch Henderson featuring George Gershwin and sang on stage in Las Vegas.
“Suddenly my green eyes were green. My red hair was flaming red. My skin was porcelain white suddenly all this attention on how I looked rather than the roles I was playing,” said Fleming in a 1990 interview.
Her contributions to her community include opening the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women’s Comprehensive Care at UCLA Medical Center back in 1991, with her then husband Tedd Mann. Her secondary facility Rhonda Fleming Mann Resource Center for Women with Cancer 1994.
Fleming’s vision was to create a safe environment women with cancer can come with their friends and family for assistance when needed.
