Denise Darcel

Denise Darcel

Born: September 8, 1924
Died: December 23, 2011
in Paris, France
Denise Darcel was a French vaudevillian, actress and singer, who from 1948 through 1963, appeared in films in Hollywood, and briefly on theatre, television and radio. Darcel's debut on the legitimate stage came in 1950, when she appeared in Pardon Our French, premiering October 5th, at the Broadway Theatre. Her first film appearance of note was in Battleground (1949). She made quite an impression in Tarzan and the Slave Girl (1950) opposite Lex Barker, then co-starred with Robert Taylor in Westward the Women (1952) and Glenn Ford in Young Man with Ideas (1952). In 1953, she was seen in the swimming musical Dangerous When Wet, which starred Esther Williams (1953). Her most important film was Vera Cruz (1954) where she played the female lead opposite Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster. Her last film (1961) was Seven Women from Hell. Darcel appeared on various TV shows in the 1950s. In 1954, she was hostess/MC of Gamble on Love, a summer program on the DuMont Television Network. Darcel asked questions of married couples who sought to win the grand prize of a mink coat. A review in Billboard described her as "Gallic to the point of unintelligibility." Also in 1954, Colonel Productions produced a pilot of Chez Denise, a 30-minute "comedy-intrigue" program starring Darcel, which apparently did not sell. After her film and television career began to wane, Darcel, aged 41, became a stripper, appearing in West Coast theatres in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Oakland, and Los Angeles. She retired from stripping after a few years and returned to the cabaret circuit, making a few appearances on television. In 1991,[she was cast as "Solange La Fitte" in the Los Angeles 20th anniversary revival of the musical Follies, produced by the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. She would later repeat the role of Solange in 1995 for revivals in Houston and Seattle. In September 2009, she was honored with the Cinecon Career Achievement Award, presented in Hollywood at a banquet held at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. Prior to the ceremony, a new 35mm color print of her 1953 film, Flame of Calcutta, was screened at the Egyptian Theatre. After the screening, at the banquet, she cheerfully announced to the audience, "I'm back".

Movies for Denise Darcel...

Title: Combat!
Character: Annette
Released: October 2, 1962
Type: TV
Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American soldiers fighting the Germans in France during World War II. The program starred Rick Jason as platoon leader Second Lieutenant Gil Hanley and Vic Morrow as Sergeant "Chip" Saunders.
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Seven Women from Hell
Title: Seven Women from Hell
Character: Claire Oudry
Released: October 1, 1961
Type: Movie
Seven women from different backgrounds, nationality, age, class, and marital status find themselves in New Guinea, February 1942 - when the Japanese army takes over unexpectedly, and sends them into a war camp in the jungle.
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Title: Tightrope
Released: September 8, 1959
Type: TV
Tightrope is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960, under the alternate sponsorship of the J.B. Williams Company, and American Tobacco. Produced by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene in association with Screen Gems, the series stars Mike Connors as an undercover agent named "Nick" who was assigned to infiltrate criminal gangs. The show was to have originally been titled Undercover Man but it was changed before going to air.
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Title: Music For A Summer Night
Released: June 3, 1959
Type: TV
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Title: Naked City
Character: Madeleine Douvay
Released: September 30, 1958
Type: TV
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.
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Title: Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Character: Self
Released: July 29, 1957
Type: TV
Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.
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Vera Cruz
Title: Vera Cruz
Character: Countess Marie Duvarre
Released: December 25, 1954
Type: Movie
After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz.
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Flame of Calcutta
Title: Flame of Calcutta
Character: Suzanne Roget aka The Flame
Released: July 20, 1953
Type: Movie
A British captain and a French official's daughter save the East India Company.
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Dangerous When Wet
Title: Dangerous When Wet
Character: Gigi Mignon
Released: June 18, 1953
Type: Movie
The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day, traveling health-tonic salesman, Windy Weebe, comes to town and suggests they could swim the English Channel. Sponsored by "Liquapep" and coached by Windy, the family arrive in Europe. There it is decided that daughter Katie is the only one strong enough to enter the contest. But while she should be focused on the difficult and risky task ahead, Katie is pursed by dashing Frenchman, André Lanet... This comedic musical is well remembered for the scene when Katie dreams she is swimming with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry!
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Young Man with Ideas
Title: Young Man with Ideas
Character: Dorianne Gray
Released: May 2, 1952
Type: Movie
A Montana lawyer gets distracted after moving to California with his wife and children.
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Westward the Women
Title: Westward the Women
Character: Fifi Danon
Released: December 16, 1951
Type: Movie
There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.
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Tarzan and the Slave Girl
Title: Tarzan and the Slave Girl
Character: Lola
Released: June 23, 1950
Type: Movie
The Lionians, a tribe of lion worshippers, make a desperate attempt to find a cure for the mysterious disease plaguing their village. Their Chief decides to kidnap Jane and Lola, a half-breed nurse, in order to help repopulate his civilization. Tarzan must rescue them while fending off blowgun attacks from people called the Waddies who are disguised as bushes.
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Title: What's My Line?
Character: Self - Mystery Guest
Released: February 2, 1950
Type: TV
Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
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Battleground
Title: Battleground
Character: Denise
Released: November 9, 1949
Type: Movie
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
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Thunder in the Pines
Title: Thunder in the Pines
Character: Yvette Cheron
Released: November 11, 1948
Type: Movie
Loggers Jeff Collins and Boomer Benson compete for a mail-order bride by means of a timber-cutting contest.
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To the Victor
Title: To the Victor
Character: Bar Singer (uncredited)
Released: October 26, 1948
Type: Movie
An American serviceman remains in France after WWII and becomes a black marketeer.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self - Singer
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.