Yolande Donlan

Yolande Donlan (June 2, 1920 – December 30, 2014) was an American-born British-based actress who worked extensively in the United Kingdom.

Yolande Donlan
Donlan in 1951
Born(1920-06-02)June 2, 1920
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.[1]
DiedDecember 30, 2014(2014-12-30) (aged 94)
London, England, UK
OccupationActress
Years active1940–1981
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1954; died 2006)​
Parent

Early life and career

Donlan was the Jersey City, New Jersey-born daughter of James Donlan, a character actor and singer Teresa Donlan.

Donlan in The Devil Bat (1940)

Her early credited roles include Frenchy, the maid in the horror film The Devil Bat (1940), with Bela Lugosi, and other small roles often as similar French-accented maid characters. She played Carole Landis' maid in Turnabout (also 1940) and one of Red Skelton's concubines in DuBarry Was a Lady (1942).

Donlan was a success as Billie Dawn in a touring production of Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin. It was the start of bigger things for Donlan. Laurence Olivier flew to Boston to confirm the opinion of American reviewers and chose Donlan to star in his production of the play to be staged in London's West End. The production opened at the Garrick Theatre in January 1947 and was very well received.[2] Donlan was initially denied a work permit to star in the lead in Peter Pan due to complaints from Equity, the actor's union, who felt that a British star should have the lead.[3]

Later life and career

After her run in Peter Pan ended, Donlan remained in the United Kingdom and began accepting film work. After Traveller's Joy (1949), Donlan worked for the director Val Guest as the female lead in several films including Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1949) with Michael Rennie, The Body Said No! (1950), with Michael Rennie; Mister Drake's Duck (1951), with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Penny Princess (1952) in the title role co-starring with Dirk Bogarde. In 1950, British exhibitors voted her the most promising female newcomer.[4]

Donlan married Guest in 1954, after their previous marriages had been dissolved.[2] In total, Donlan appeared in eight films directed by her husband. The remaining films are They Can't Hang Me (1955), Expresso Bongo (1959) with Laurence Harvey and Cliff Richard, Jigsaw (1962) with Jack Warner, and 80,000 Suspects (1963) with Richard Johnson.

Further stage success came in 1959 in Jack Popplewell's And Suddenly It's Spring opposite Margaret Lockwood. Other films she made, with other directors, include Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) and Seven Nights in Japan (1976); the latter was her last film role.

Writing and last years

Her autobiographical travelogue, Sand in My Mink (1955) is a humorous tale of holiday adventures taken across Europe with her husband. Her autobiography, Shake the Stars Down, was published in 1976 (known as Third Time Lucky in the USA), which concentrates on her childhood years growing up in the household of her actor father James Donlan in the Hollywood of the 1930s. It also charts her early career as a dancer and actress.

In 2004, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her and Guest.[5]

She died in London on December 30, 2014, aged 94.[2]

Selected filmography

Theatre credits
  • 1942 'Dodie' in "Goodnight Ladies", Blackstone Theatre, Chicago.
  • 1944 'Julie' in "School for Brides", Royale Theatre, New York.
  • 1947 'Billie Dawn' in "Born Yesterday" by Garson Kanin, Garrick Theatre, London.
  • 1948 "Rocket to the Moon" by Clifford Odets, St Martin's Theatre, London.
  • 1948 'Lucrece' in "Cage me a Peacock" (with Lionel Blair) by Noel Langley, Strand Theatre, London.
  • 1950 To Dorothy, a Son (with Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim), Savoy Theatre, London.
  • 1953 "Redheaded Blonde", Vaudeville Theatre, London.
  • 1954 "It's Different for Men", Golders Green Hippodrome, London.
  • 1957 "Olive Ogilvy", Aldwych Theatre, London.
  • 1958 'Lizzie' in "The Rainmaker", Olympia Theatre, Dublin.
  • 1959 "Suddenly it's Spring" (with Margaret Lockwood), Duke of Yorks, London.
  • 1965 "Dear Wormwood" (with Donald Wolfit and Hywel Bennett), Golders Green Hippodrome, London.
  • 1971 "Chorus of Murder", (with Irene Handl and Robert Cawdron) Edinburgh.
  • 1972 "Cut-Throat" Theatre Royal, Windsor.

References
  1. Obituary, independent.co.uk. Accessed July 5, 2023.
  2. Ronald Bergan "Yolande Donlan obituary", The Guardian, January 5, 2015.
  3. "American (Acting Permit)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). December 10, 1953.
  4. "Hope tops list for popularity". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. December 30, 1950. p. 5 Supplement: Sunday Magazine. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  5. Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
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