Joanne Dru
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DVD cover for one of Dru's many western films She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) showing Dru and co-star John Wayne. |
Joanne Dru (
January 31,
1922 â€"
September 10,
1996) was an
American film actress. She also was the sister of actor
Peter Marshall, best known for being the host of
Hollywood Squares.
Born
Joanne Letitia LaCock in
Logan, West Virginia, Dru came to
New York City in 1940, aged 18, and after finding employment as a
model, was chosen by
Al Jolson to appear in the cast of his
Broadway show
Hold Onto Your Hats. During this time Dru met and married the popular
singer,
Dick Haymes, and when they moved to
Hollywood she found work in
theater. Dru was spotted by a talent scout and made her first film appearance in
Abie's Irish Rose (1946).
Over the next decade Dru appeared frequently in films, most often cast in
westerns such as the
John Wayne films
Red River (1948) and
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). She also gave a well received performance in the dramatic film
All the King's Men (1949). She later lamented that she had been typecast in western films, commenting that once an actress became typecast, that was the end, and adding that she had never liked horses. Her film career began to fade by the end of the 1950s but she continued working frequently in
television, and played the female lead in the 1960
ABC sitcom Guestward, Ho!.
Although regarded as a capable and popular film actress, it was for her contributions to television that Dru was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dru died in
Los Angeles, California at the age of 74 from
lymphedema, a disease "which is especially common after surgery or radiation therapy were used in combination to treat
cancer", which indicates that she probably had undergone these treatments for cancer (likely
breast cancer) prior to her death.
