Dane was born Thelma Patricia Pippins to William Pippins and Emma F. Montford. Sources differ as to her birth year (1917 - 1919) and birthplace (Jacksonville, Florida or Blountstown, Florida).[2][3] She was later known as Thelma Patricia Burns and Thelma Patricia Byrnes after her mother's second husband, whose surname was Burns. She attended the University of Alabama for almost three years. In 1938 she moved to New York, where she worked as a model for a dress design firm.[4] During this period she met industrialist and film industry executive Howard Hughes, who encouraged her to move to Los Angeles and helped her find an apartment there.[5][6]
Career
Dane was signed to a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract in 1941. As she gained attention in Hollywood, gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Jimmy Fidler both noted her strong resemblance to Hedy Lamarr, who was also under contract to MGM.[7] Dane's earliest appearances were two uncredited roles in Ziegfeld Girl and I'll Wait for You (both 1941). She played the part of "Jennitt Hicks" in Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941) and her well-received performance earned her a long-term contract. Dane played "Garnet" in Johnny Eager (1942) directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The film starred Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Dane received favorable press for her acting in Grand Central Murder (1942), in which she was billed second to Van Heflin.[8]
Dane married bandleader Tommy Dorsey in Las Vegas on April 8, 1943.[9] Dorsey did not want his wife to work, and she took a break from her film career.[10] Her MGM contract lapsed in 1945.
Dorsey's biographer described both parties to the marriage as temperamental.[11] Their union was said to be "tempestuous from the start."[12] They separated three times before Dane filed for divorce on July 3, 1947, citing "extreme mental cruelty" and Dorsey's constant travel with his touring orchestra. However, the divorce was essentially amicable, and they had various rendezvous in the years ahead.[13]
Tommy Dorsey died in 1956. He left Dane a $26,000 insurance policy after she informed him that she was unable to work due to injuries sustained in a 1956 boating accident.[16][17]
In 1973 she returned to Blountstown, where she lived with her mother and worked as a librarian. Dane never remarried.[18][19] She is interred in Pine Memorial Cemetery in Blountstown, Florida.[20]
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
External links
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