Dolores Faith

Dolores Faith
Faith in 1961
Born	Dolores Faith Hedges (1941-07-15)July 15, 1941 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 15, 1990(1990-02-15) (aged 48) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1961–1972
Spouse	James Robert Neal ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1977)​

Dolores Faith Hedges (July 15, 1941 – February 15, 1990), better known as Dolores Faith, was an American actress. She is best remembered as the mute girl Zetha in the 1961 science fiction film The Phantom Planet. Her brief career came to an end when she married millionaire James Robert Neal.^[1]

Early life

Dolores Faith Hedges was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 15, 1941. She was of Hungarian and Italian descent.^[1] She lost her hearing at age four from an accident, but it later returned by age eight. A natural blonde, she dyed her hair black to better match her olive skin.^[1] She graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California, in 1958. She was a member of the "Sock 'n' Buskin" drama club.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Faith began as a model and as a dance instructor before acting.^[1] In 1959, she was given a screen test by Warner Bros. They chose not to hire her because of her resemblance to both Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. She became a Hollywood Deb Star in 1962 and was featured in Life magazine in 1963.^[2][3]

Faith probably is best remembered for three low-budget science fiction films: The Phantom Planet, The Human Duplicators and Mutiny in Outer Space. She also appeared in dramas. In V.D., she was a young vixen who gets gonorrhea from the "hero" (who got it from a prostitute). In Wild Harvest, she plays the mistress of a ruthless, womanizing vineyard manager whom she sides against after getting fed up. She was also in Shell Shock, a war drama.

On television, she appeared in episodes of Ripcord, Have Gun - Will Travel and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a two-part episode released theatrically as One of Our Spies Is Missing.

Personal life

Faith met Texas millionaire and Maxwell House heir James Robert Neal (1921-2006) and the couple became a regular sight at various public events.^[2] In November 1972, they were married in Las Vegas after a long courtship, and she retired from acting.^[4] They divorced in April 1977.^[2] They remarried years later and remained married until her death.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Most sources state that Faith died in Miami, Florida, on February 15, 1990, at the age of 48. In his book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles, author Tom Lisanti claimed that Faith was alive and living in Florida as of 2006.^[1]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	All in a Night's Work	Girl Holding Hands	Uncredited
1961	The Phantom Planet	Zetha
1961	Love in a Goldfish Bowl	Pie Throwing Girl	Uncredited
1961	V.D.	Kathy Durham
1962	Wild Harvest	Rose
1963	Ripcord	Tanya Rovag	Episode: "The Last Chapter"
1963	Have Gun - Will Travel	The Rani	Episode: "The Caravan"
1964	Shell Shock	American Girl
1965	Honeymoon Hotel	Mrs. Fendelmeyer	Uncredited
1965	Mutiny in Outer Space	Faith Montaine
1965	The Human Duplicators	Lisa Dornheimer
1965	House of the Black Death	Valerie Desard
1966	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Lorelei Lancer	Episode: "The Bridge of Lions Affair, Part 1"
1966	One of Our Spies Is Missing	Lorelei Lancer
1966	That Tennessee Beat	Belle Scofield
1972	Summer of '63	Kathy	Uncredited Short film, uses footage from 1961 V.D. film

References

1. Lisanti, Tom (2007). Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles. McFarland & Company. pp. 77–79. ISBN 978-0786431724.
2. "Dolores Faith". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
3. Ornitz, Don (April 26, 1963). "Ah, What Sights—Water Sprites!". Life. ISSN 0024-3019.
4. Manners, Dorothy (November 25, 1972). "In Hollywood". Mansfield News Journal. p. 21.

External links

• Dolores Faith at IMDb
• Dolores Faith at Find a Grave