Leslie Brooks


Leslie Brooks was an American film actress, model and dancer.
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, her parents brought her to Southern California at an early age, where around 1940 she started work as a photographic model. At the beginning of her showbiz career she appeared as Lorraine Gettman.
As Leslie Brooks, she began appearing in movie bit roles for Columbia in 1941. Brooks started landing more sizable parts in such movies as Nine Girls, Cover Girl, and the lead in the film noir classic Blonde Ice. She retired from films in 1949, but returned to make one last film in 1971.

Personal life

Miss Brooks was born in Lincoln on July 13 1922, daughter of Paul and Fern Clark Gettman. However, she spent much of her childhood with her paternal grandparents who ran the hotel at Crofton, and attended high school in Omaha. Brooks was married twice and had four daughters. She wed her first husband, actor Donald Anthony Shay, January 6, 1945, in Beverly Hills, California. They had a daughter, Leslie Victoria, and divorced in 1948. She married Russ Vincent in 1950, and remained married until his death 51 years later. Brooks and Vincent had three daughters together; Dorena Marla, Gina L. and Darla R..

Death

Brooks died on July 1, 2011 at the age of 88 in Sherman Oaks, California and was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Selected filmography