Darlene Tompkins

Darlene Tompkins (November 16, 1940 – July 18, 2019) was an American actress.

Darlene Tompkins
Tompkins in Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)
Born(1940-11-16)November 16, 1940
Chicago, Illinois
DiedJuly 18, 2019(2019-07-18) (aged 78)
OccupationActress

Biography

She was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 6,1940.[1][2] Her birth name was Darlene Perfect,[3] but her parents were divorced when she reached the age of five and she took the surname of her stepfather. Her family performed in plays and vaudeville, and she had an early goal to be a Hollywood actress. At the age of twelve she was mauled by a dog which left her very self-conscious. To help overcome her shyness, she was entered into a beauty contest by her mother. Her subsequent beauty pageant victories attracted some attention and she appeared in commercials.[4]

Her first acting role was in Beyond the Time Barrier (1960). She then co-starred opposite Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii (1961). She had a role in My Six Loves (1963) and played parts in several television shows.[5]

Her career was interrupted by a marriage and the birth of two sons. She tried to resume acting again when the marriage ended in the mid-1970s, but by then she was in her thirties and had difficulty landing roles.[5] Since then she worked as a stand-in and stuntwoman and remarried.[2]

Tompkins died on July 18, 2019[6] following complications of a stroke and was taken off life support.[7]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1960Wake Me When It's OverGirl in BikiniUncredited
1960Beyond the Time BarrierPrincess Trirene
1961Sea HuntGinny - Chan's GirlfriendEpisode: 4x09: "Hot Tracer"
1961The Ladies ManWorking GirlUncredited
1961Blue HawaiiPatsy Simon
1963My Six LovesAva Johnson
1963Fun in AcapulcoMiss SteversUncredited
1964Wendy and MeJuneEpisode 1x05: "George Burns While Rome Fiddles"
1967A Guide for the Married ManBosomy BlondeUncredited, (final film role)

References
  1. Darlene Tompkins at the British Film Institute
  2. "Darlene Tompkins". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  3. Obituaries, Telegraph (August 5, 2019). "Darlene Tompkins, Hollywood starlet who was one of Elvis's girls in 'Blue Hawaii' – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  4. Weaver, Tom (2002). Science fiction confidential: interviews with 23 monster stars and film makers. McFarland. p. 296. ISBN 0-7864-1175-9.
  5. Lisanti, Tom (2003). Drive-in dream girls: a galaxy of B-movie starlets of the sixties. McFarland. pp. 172–180. ISBN 0-7864-1575-4.
  6. Darlene Tompkins at the British Film Institute
  7. "Elvis co-Star Darlene Tompkins (Blue Hawaii) dies at 78. She was on life support". The Life and Times of Hollywood. July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.


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