Dona Drake played a gangster's wife on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN in 1953. But she was also in a lot of other things. And being called "Chicken" on the Superman show even seems to be related to another comic book.

Dona Drake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia    

   

Dona Drake
Born	Eunice Westmoreland (1914-11-15)November 15, 1914 Miami, Florida, U.S.
Died	June 20, 1989(1989-06-20) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Rita Rio, Una Velon, Rita Shaw[1]
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	1933–1977
Spouse(s)	William Travilla (1944-1989) (her death)

Dona Drake (November 15, 1914 – June 20, 1989) was an American singer, dancer and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born Eunice Westmoreland in Miami, Florida, in 1914. Entering show business in the 1930s, she used the names Una Velon, Rita Rio and Rita Shaw.^[1] She settled on the stage name Dona Drake in the early 1940s. Studio publicity during her heyday incorrectly stated that Drake was of Mexican origin and was born Rita Novella.^[2] (Novella was actually her mother's first name.)
Because of her dark hair and Latin-looking features, Drake generally played Latin or other "ethnic" types. She is perhaps best known for playing the American Indian maid of Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest. She also appeared as an Arab girl opposite Bob Hope in Road to Morocco in 1942. Her biggest "non-ethnic" role was the second female lead in the 1949 comedy The Girl from Jones Beach, playing opposite Eddie Bracken. She died in 1989.

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Moonlight and Melody	Rita	credited as Rita Rio
1936	Strike Me Pink	Mademoiselle Fifi	credited as Rita Rio
1938	Sweet Shoe	Rita Rio	credited as Rita Rio
1938	Beautiful, But Dummies	Model	credited as Rita Ray
1939	Gals and Gallons	Orchestra Leader	credited as Rita Rio
1939	Rita Rio and Her Orchestra	Rita Rio	played self in this 10 minute short[3]
1941	I Look at You	Rita Rio
1941	Fresh as a Freshman	Rita Rio
1941	Aloma of the South Seas	Nea	first film credit as Dona Drake[2]
1941	Louisiana Purchase	Beatrice
1942	Road to Morocco	Mihirmah	credited as Dona Drake
1943	Star Spangled Rhythm	herself	performs song "On the Swing Shift" with Marjorie Reynolds and Betty Jane Rhodes
1943	Salute for Three	Dona Drake and Her Girl Band	credited as Dona Drake
1943	Let's Face It!	Muriel
1944	Hot Rhythm	Mary Adams
1946	Without Reservations	Dolores Ortega
1946	Dangerous Millions	Elena Valdez
1948	Another Part of the Forest	Laurette Sincee
1948	So This Is New York	Kate Goff
1949	The Doolins of Oklahoma	Cattle Annie
1949	The Girl from Jones Beach	Connie Martin
1949	Beyond the Forest	Jenny
1950	Fortunes of Captain Blood	Pepita Maria Rosados
1951	Valentino	Maria Torres
1952	Kansas City Confidential	Teresa
1953	The Bandits of Corsica	Zelda
1953	Son of Belle Starr	Dolores
1953	Down Laredo Way	Narita
1953	Adventures of Superman	Joyce	episode 35 "The Dog Who Knew Superman" 9th episode of 1953; aired 14 November
1954	Superman Flies Again	Joyce	theatrical re-release of 3 episodes of the television series included episode 35[4][5]
1954	Princess of the Nile	Mirva
1954	City Detective	Francesca	1 episode
1955	Soldiers of Fortune	Cheu	1 episode
1955	The Lone Wolf	Lee	1 episode

References

1. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Dona Drake at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "Dona Drake - The Private Life and Times of Dona Drake. Dona Drake Pictures.". Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
3. Jump up ^ Rita Rio and Her Orchestra at the Internet Movie Database
4. Jump up ^ "Superman Flies Again > Cast - AllMovie". Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
5. Jump up ^ Superman Flies Again (1954) at the Internet Movie Database

External links

Biography portal

• Dona Drake at Find a Grave
• Dona Drake at the Internet Movie Database
• Dona Drake at AllRovi
• Dona Drake at the TCM Movie Database

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Dona Drake played a Jean Harlow - type blonde on an episode of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, "The Dog Who Knew Superman".  And she had even been a contemporary of Jean Harlow's in the thirties, although she didn't used to play the same type.

They did put a lot of emphasis on Jean Harlow's breasts in the thirties, despite Gary Grossman's claims about this not being something that was done prior to the 1950's.

What about Dona Drake?

Here is a 1943 picture of Dona Drake.


Reblogged from http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/roundup/roundup121043.html

                                                       NICE TO GET LOST WITH

 

Delectable Dona Drake doesn't know a thing about sailing a yacht. But let's not quibble, men. Anything that enables the young lady to show here - ah - charms to such an advantage is sufficient excuse for us. At the moment, she's the Roundup's Girl With Whom We'd Like to Get Lost on a Yacht.

 So much for Gary Grossman.

Some of the people you see on early television shows were really outstanding ( are ya listenin', Grossman? ) and could do so much more then they did on those shows. Dona Drake used to be a bandleader with an all-girl orchestra as "Rita Rio".

 Sometimes the girls in this group were called "The Girl Friends".


 A tobacco card from the thirties.

 

 

 

 

 

SALUTE FOR THREE ( 1943 )

 

 

 

 

 

New Year's day.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Valentine's day

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have a date on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 THE GIRL FROM JONES BEACH - Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo, Eddie Bracken, and Dona Drake.

 I can remember seeing this movie on television back before Reagan was president.




The "Rio Rita" of the comics bears some resemblance to "Rita Rio", as Dona Drake used to call herself,

but this character was originally called "Senorita Rio",

and the name "Rio Rita" came from a musical to begin with.

 

 

 

 

The Abbott and Costello version.

 

So I'm not sure if there's any connection there.

 

But I think being called "Chicken" may well have been because of MY FRIEND IRMA,

 

which was a television show at the time as well as a comic book and a radio program ( which was what it was to begin with ).

 

 

Dona Drake was also associated with Marie Wilson, according to a trivia item from the Internet movie database:

"In early 1940 she toured - as Rita Rio - with her "All Girl Orchestra" with actresses Marie Wilson and Toby Wing (who was essentially retired) and Faith Bacon (from the Earl Carroll Vanities) across the United States. The actresses made numerous appearances for the Infantile Paralysis Fund and Tuberculosis campaign during the tour."

Infantile Paralysis ( Polio ) was a big problem at the time. But thanks to the efforts made to fight against this disease, it isn't as big of a problem today. And Dona Drake and her friends had a part in the triumph.













"The Dog That Hated Superman":
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/aos-ep035

Dona Drake:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236888/

MY FRIEND IRMA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Friend_Irma_(radio-TV)



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