Where Is ’50s Screen Star Mamie Van Doren Now?
What To Know
- Mamie Van Doren, a 1950s Hollywood icon known for films like Untamed Youth and High School Confidential, remains one of the last surviving stars of her era and will turn 95 in February 2025.
- After her film career slowed, she continued to make TV appearances, received honors such as a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and is frequently featured in documentaries about classic Hollywood.
- Now living in California with her husband, Van Doren stays active online through Instagram and her blog, sharing memories and updates while continuing to build on her legacy.
Mamie Van Doren was once a Hollywood bombshell, working with other stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. But unlike many of her peers, the star who helped define the energy of the 1950s is still alive and turns 95 on February 6, 2025. The star hasn’t made a film in over a decade, but she’s still in the public eye, sharing her incredible classic Hollywood memories and building on her legacy.
How did Mamie Van Doren begin her career?
Born Joan Olander in South Dakota in 1931, Van Doren’s family moved to Los Angeles during her childhood. In her late teens, she won multiple beauty pageants, attracting the attention of Howard Hughes, who helped her land early, minor film roles. She changed her name to Mamie Van Doren after signing with Universal in 1953, taking her name from First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.
Everett Collection
Her breakout period came in the mid to late 1950s, when she starred in a string of movies that made her a drive-in icon. In Untamed Youth, she played a defiant teen caught up in a juvenile detention scheme. In High School Confidential, she turned heads as a sultry figure. She showed off her comedic side opposite Clark Gable and Doris Day in Teacher’s Pet, a role she later said was one of her personal favorites.
Other memorable titles from that era included Girls Town, The Beat Generation, Born Reckless and Running Wild. After Universal chose not to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren continued working steadily as an independent actress. She appeared in cult favorites such as 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. In 1966, she even shared the screen with Mansfield in The Las Vegas Hillbillys, a rare moment that brought two of the era’s most famous blondes together.
Her career slowed in the 1970s and 1980s, but she never fully vanished. Van Doren made television appearances on shows including Fantasy Island, Vega$ and L.A. Law. Much later, she popped up in minor roles in projects like Slackers (2002) and the 2012 video release The American Tetralogy. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 and a Golden Palm Star in Palm Springs in 2005, honors that celebrate her unique place in film history. Documentaries and retrospectives frequently feature her as one of the last living links to a glamorous, long-gone era of show business. Family has also remained central to her life. Van Doren has one son, Perry Ray Anthony, from her marriage to bandleader Ray Anthony.
Where is Mamie Van Doren today?
These days, Van Doren lives quietly in California with her husband of more than four decades, actor Thomas Dixon, whom she married in 1979. One of the biggest surprises of Van Doren’s later years has been how active she remains online. She runs what appears to be her own Instagram account, regularly posting throwback photos and candid updates about her life. It is not a heavily managed celebrity page, so it feels like Van Doren herself is talking directly to the people who have loved her movies for decades.
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Van Doren also keeps up a personal blog where she writes about everything from politics to pop culture to memories of Old Hollywood. Books have become another essential part of her modern life. In 1987, she released her headline-grabbing autobiography, Playing the Field: My Story, which detailed her rise to fame and her eventful personal life. More recently, in 2022, she published a very different kind of book called China & Me, a heartfelt memoir about her beloved pet parrot.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Physically, Van Doren has been doing remarkably well. She has credited a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude for helping her stay vibrant well into her 90s. Over the years, she has spoken openly about practicing Buddhism and focusing on gratitude, two things she says have helped her navigate the ups and downs of life.
Remind 
1950s Musicals
November 2020
Bright and brassy, toe-tapping musicals from the 1950s
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