Dolores Moran

In 1942, aged 16, Dolores, originally named Jacqueline, the daughter of James G. Moran and his wife, Esther Moran (jewess) [1] was signed by Warner Bros. to a seven-year contract, with her parents' permission.[2]

Moran's brief career as a film actress began with uncredited roles in such films as Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) as "the Pippirino", with whom George blows off a date to go with Mary). By 1943, she had become a pin-up girl appearing on the cover of such magazines as Yank. She was given supporting roles in films, such as Old Acquaintance (1943) with Bette Davis.[3]

Warner Bros. attempted to increase interest in her, promoting her along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality when Bacall was cast alongside Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944). The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran languished, and subsequent films did little to further her career.[4]

The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) gave her a leading role with Jack Benny and Alexis Smith, but her film appearances after this were sporadic, and she suffered ill health that reduced her ability to work. Her film career ended in 1954 with a featured role in the John Payne and Lizabeth Scott western film Silver Lode.

She was married to the film producer Benedict Bogeaus in Salome, Arizona in 1946. Their son Brett Benedict, born August 30, 1948 in Hollywood, later became a successful businessman. They divorced in 1962; he died of a heart attack in 1968.[5]

Moran had an affair with director Howard Hawks while filming To Have and Have Not, which Hawks undertook mainly as revenge for his rejection by Bacall in favor of Bogart, and she had an affair with actor Mickey Rooney in 1943 after he divorced Ava Gardner.

In 1982, Dolores Moran died of cancer, aged 56.

• Dolores Moran on IMDb

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