Born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14th 1919) Brooklyn, New York. Moved to Florida while less than a year old. By the age of five the family had returned to Brooklyn.
The daughter of a seaman who was killed, in an explosion on an oil ship (February 1932) when she was aged just 12. One year later her mother was married to Mr Anthony Keane.
She made her acting debut at age 8 in school play ’Poor Little Rich Girl’, which she described as:
She was educated at the Roman Catholic Villa Maria School (Miami High School in Miami, Florida) but dropped out before graduating. Her family moved around a lot at this time - living in Canada, New York State and Miami.
A Miss Florida Beauty Pageant winner but later stripped of title due to her being under age for the event.
She came to Hollywood in 1938 with her mother and attended the Bliss Hayden School of Drama. Using Constance Keane (her stepfather’s surname) she landed bit parts in five films all starting when she was invited to keep friend company to a casting call.
Her first movie was a bit part as one of the many co-eds in the RKO film, Sorority House (1939) which was quickly followed by other minor background roles in The Wrong Room (1939), All Women Have Secrets (1939) and Dancing Co-ed (1939).
On completion of shooting Sorority House the young Connie presents director John Farrow with a charm that her aunt had sent her and thanks him for working with her.
Continued her schooling and played two more bit parts in Young as You Feel (1940) and Forty Little Mothers (1940). It was during the filming of Forty Little Mothers that the Peek-a-boo bang had its first showing.
During a scene Connie’s hair kept falling over her eye, as it always did:
The director Busby Berkley, on seeing her frustration, insisted that they film the rest of the scene with her hair positioned that way.
Her stepfather becomes seriously ill and she fails a screen-test at the MGM Studios knocking her confidence somewhat. Auditioning with Paramount once again her hair interfered with her screen-test but the producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr decided to try her out in the role of Sally Vaughn making her breakthrough movie appearance in I Wanted Wings in (1941) also starring Ray Milland and William Holden. In her first major role she gets gets her first on-screen death.
Paramount Producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. renames her Veronica Lake:
She elopes and marries art director John S. Detlie (25th September 1940 - divorced December 1943). She says she develops her tough ’bitchy’ attitude, by being reclusive as a defence at being thrown into Hollywood and how it looks down on struggling newcomers.
A chance event, when a pilot started up the engines of a plane that Veronica was leaning against for a photo shoot, blows her skirt up and quickly becomes a promotional shot for the film.
After a bad shoot at the end of "I Wanted Wings", Mitchell Leisen (Director) upsets Veronica and she drives back to her husband in New Mexico and crashes off a mountain side in fog breaking her toes. She hitches a ride into Flagstaff and then home. Paramount finally tracks her down after three days and with so much of the filming complete they want her to finish the movie.
She made two more films that year, Hold Back the Dawn (1941) and Sullivan’s Travels (1941) which would cement her as an established Hollywood star and a name to watch in the mid forties.
In "Hold Back the Dawn" she is seen prominently but briefly in the opening scene that take place during a studio tour while "I Wanted Wings" is said to be being recorded and we see her reprise her phone call scene being recorded from behind the camera this time.
Lake hid her six months pregnancy while auditioning for Sullivan’s Travels and infuriated Preston Sturges who feared it would delay production when he found out.
Lake was doubled for anything dangerous and Edith Head was brought in to disguise her bump.
Lake’s bitchy reputation increases as she (unsurprisingly) has a difficult time during filming with a director and co-star who are less than thrilled with her performance. Lake does parody Chaplin’s "Little Tramp" character when Chaplin refuses use of his own footage.
Her first daughter: Elaine Detlie is born August 21, 1941.
Playing Ellen Graham in This Gun for Hire (1942) is a massive boost in her profile appearing alongside the established Alan Ladd. Attaining a star billing she gets her first on screen kiss from Robert Preston.
Veronica Lake’s "peek-a-boo bang" style of long blonde hair falling over one eye starts becoming popular among the women of America and is often discussed in fashion magazines.
"So widespread was the fad that government officials asked her to stop wearing her hair long for the duration of World War II because women in war plants were catching their long hair in machines."... the styling does impair the vision of the wearer by completely covering the right eye. Life Magazine named her the top female box office star of the year.
The success and marketability of Lake was quickly noticed and capitalised on by Paramount to promote her films and provided her with a hectic work schedule which included filming: The Glass Key (1942) and I Married a Witch (1942).
She lands the role in The Glass Key when Paulette Goddard dropped out and the shoot for I Married a Witch is delayed. Paramount wanted their own The Maltese Falcon and, having an option on Dashiell Hammett’s novel, they quickly re-pair Lake with Ladd after their previous success in noir drama.
The delay to I Married a Witch was attributed to a troubled production and later to Joel McCrea who said he quit so he wouldn’t have to work with Lake again h Veronica Lake again.
Fredrick March was likewise dismissive of his co-star saying she was "a brainless little blonde sexpot, void of any acting ability" even before production began. Lake fired back that he was a "pompous poseur". On set Lake was prone to playing practical jokes and reputed to have hid a weight under her dress to make her difficult to carry and even kicking her co-star under the table.
Lake narrates Nostalgia World War II (1942) and takes time to famously warn the women factory workers on the dangers of long hair on the assembly line.
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) Lake, Goddard and Lamour do a song and dance number spoofing their images called "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peek-a-boo Bang." Lake’s lack of singing ability once means she is again dubbed using the voice of Martha Mears.
She is voted the worst actress of 1942 by the Harvard Lampoon.
Veronica starred in So Proudly We Hail (1943) as Lieutenant Olivia D’Arcy alongside Claudette Colbert. The film was a box-office smash. Lake gets a highly emotional scene that wins her a lot of acting respect she’d previously lacked.
Has an appendectomy and becomes pregnant for a second time. She has a newly discovered volcanic South Pacific island named after her "Veronica Island" by Marines. Life voted her as the top female box office draw, won the Army Poll as the most popular female actress.
Her son: William Anthony Detlie (Born - premature July 8, 1943. Died - July 15, 1943). Lake tripped on a lighting cable during the making of ’The Hour Before the Dawn’, on her way to recording a Groucho Marx radio show. She was comforted in hospital by a passing Katharine Hepburn.
Her only film in this year The Hour Before Dawn (1944) was heavily criticized for the poor scripting with the direction and casting blamed for its shortcomings. Lake is blamed for her performance where she is cast against type but a lack of commitment to the subject (a conscientious objector during war time) by the studio undermined confidence during production.
In June she auctioned her self as a dishwasher for a war bond drive in Boston. It was reported that she was less than sparkling at the event it was the reason for Paramount dropping her as a leading star and relegating her to supporting roles.
Became romantically linked with Bill Dozier (associate producer of The Hour Before Dawn), then one of the Hakim brothers and the director Jean Negulesco. Hosted kitchen parties once a month which were, by her own accounts, very popular with the movie folk.
Reportedly Courted by such magnates as Aristotle Onassis and Howard Hughes. She married director Andre De Toth (13th(16th?) December 1944 - divorced June 1952).
Following the divorce and remarriage Veronica’s career went into a decline. Hollywood was going through some changes which included the management, stars and the types of film being made.
Attended a luncheon at the Whitehouse and during a conversation with Mrs Roosevelt asked if she might have a spoon from the Whitehouse to take home with her. Mrs Roosevelt was pleased that she had even asked and later confided in her the truth about the president’s health.
Hold That Blonde (1945), Miss Susie Slagle’s (1945), Out of this World (1945) were equally rushed and unpopular as The Hour Before Dawn (1944).
Despite the reception Hold That Blonde was a favourite for Lake’s being a change of pace.
Duffy’s Tavern (1945) received mixed reviews, being one of those all star (who have we got on our roster to pad out a poster) affairs.
Son: Anthony Michael De Toth (Born October 26, 1945)
Once again a rocky marriage leads to a decline in her work, which she attributes to Andre’s belief that the films she was being offered were beneath her.
Her stepfather dies September 10, 1946.
The brooding and dark The Blue Dahlia (1946) directed by Howard Da Silva and co-starting Alan Ladd, proved her critics wrong once again and put her back firmly in the public consciousness despite the production being slightly underwhelming.
Raymond Chandler disliked Lake’s performance:
Despite Chandler’s obvious dislike of her, Lake made a point of learning about Chandler as his writing was popular and she relished the noir roles that seemed to garner her most success.
Sadly Paramount failed to show confidence in her as a leading lady and gave her sporadic scripts for light movies in cameos and supporting roles until the end of 1948.
Lake’s lawyer contacts her after her mother sues her for ’Lack of filial love and responsibility’ as case that she settled out of court.
By the late 40s her career began to decline and she started to look around for different work. With little work she wanted coming from Paramount she accepted the role of Connie Dickason in Ramrod (1947) her first independent production film for "Enterprise Productions".
Variety Girl (1947) was another ensemble musical for Paramount she had a token part in and nothing to the extent of Star Spangled Rhythm.
Her final pairing with Ladd was in Saigon (1948) which was a movie with a long and troubled preproduction that Paramount seemed to want to save by throwing Ladd and Lake back together. Since the war was over Lake even brought back the retired Peek-a-boo Bang back. While not a raging success it was a profitable and popular movie.
Her last movie under contract with Paramount was The Sainted Sisters (1948) a very mixed bag comedy in which Lake’s timid character failed to shine through, feeling miscast or lacking in direction.
Paramount did not renew her contract.
Isn’t It Romantic? (1948) was a lacklustre musical which again struggled to place Lake in a suitable role.
In a very movie like moment; John Farrow director of Sorority House came to see Veronica on the set of Ramrod, after completing military duty in the South Pacific, and told her how the charm she gifted him after the shoot had stopped a bullet and saved his life.
Daughter: Diana De Toth (Born October 16, 1948).
Twentieth Century Fox films snapped up the recently free Lake and put her in Slattery’s Hurricane (1949), unsurprisingly since her husband Andre DeToth was directing the movie. The dramatic wind sequences in this film did catch the public imagination but again failed to make the grade.
Slattery’s Hurricane did make money and was such a good portrayal of Navy pilots that it was previewed in a 90 ton aircraft called ’Constitution’ making it a first in-flight movie as the plane circled Manhattan for 3 hours.
Flew to New York to appear in Sid Caesar’s -Show of Shows in November 1950 and took the opportunity to sell off jewellery for cash.
April 51 she files voluntary bankruptcy petitions, listing debts of $156,537.91 in assets and a face value in excess of $160,000 with $63,000 in unpaid income taxes with Andre De Toth, which makes the national news. This included her selling the matching 1949 Cadillac convertibles they both drove to work and the seizure of the $120,000 Chatsworth Ranch.
Appeared in Stronghold (1952). Veronica is quoted as saying of the film :
Andre was furious for her taking a part in a film without his consent. She later finds out that he has been stopping her receiving any scripts at all.
She leaves Hollywood for good and started work in Television in New York, working at least 9 shows in her first 3 months
Appeared in a play called ’Voice of the Turtle’. Billed as Veronica Lake’s first stage appearance and the first time running water was to be used in-the-round. The water didn’t work on the opening night.
Played Peter Pan in a stage play. In one show the rig for making her fly broke and she ended up hanging from the ship-set rigging.
Married Joseph A. McCarthy (28th August 1955 - divorced 1959(-1960?) a music publisher. She was appearing in ’Affairs of State’ in Michigan at the time.
She had steady TV and stage work until 1959 when a severe ankle break sidelined her.
After a friend treads on her foot while dancing and has a cast for 8 months she is told she will probably limp for the rest of her life but her orthopaedic doctor treats her after and she only suffered with twinges.
Around 1961 She moves back to New York City and works as a barmaid in the Martha Washington Hotel. The New York post breaks the story and it makes headlines. She receives hundreds of letters of support and sends back any money sent. Watches her films from time to time on the TV in the bar..
She had a 4 year romance with a Merchant seaman Andy Elickson which ended with his death in the September of 1965. She recalls the time as one of the most settled and happiest of her life.
Rediscovered in 1962 she did some more TV work and was the hostess on the Festival of Stars TV show, talking about Hollywood and introducing old movies. Broadcaster Joe Franklin helped by giving Veronica Lake a job on his TV show. She starts to earn some decent money again.
During her rediscovery she was sent money by fans and says Brando sent her a $1,000 cheque that she framed and never cashed.
Due to Andy’s long sea voyages she stows away on Andy’s ship for a short journey to be with him. Andy died slowly before her and he refused hospital care until the end. His family came and failed to tell Veronica when he passed. He was buried by his mother and sister. She found out a day later and his wish to be buried at sea was unfulfilled, her rose arrived a day too late for his funeral.
After Andy’s death she slowly she picked up the pieces and found work in off Broadway productions. She returned to the stage the following year and appeared in plays taking a part in ’Goodbye Charlie’ and ’Best Foot Forward’ playing an ageing ex-movie star trying for a comeback. Moves in with ’Goodbye Charlie’ co-star Yanka Mann and they keep rescue cats. Veronica pays $76 to bring a cat, she named ’shadow’, from Texas alleyway to New York.
She works as a cocktail waitress in Manhattan.
Moves to Miami.
Returns to movies in a very brief role in a low budget movie: Footsteps in the Snow (1966) a forgotten and hard to find film, especially in English. She did the work for $10,000 and left before seeing a completed edit of the film. She then settled in England while performing on stage.
Stars in a run of ’Goodbye Charlie’ again and takes on stage work.
She told her story in her autobiography, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake. She worked with ghost writer Donald Bain who remained a friend to her for the rest of her life.
Travels to the UK in 1969 to promote her book and lives in Ipswich where she meets and marries Royal Navy Captain Robert Carleton-Munro in June 1972, only to divorce a year later.
The book sold well and further stage roles like Blanche DuBois in ’A Streetcar Named Desire’ followed. She also did a reading of ’The world of Carl Sandburg’ in Boston’s Hancock Auditorium.
Her Swan song movie was the bizarre Flesh Feast (1970) advertised as ghastly, revolting and nauseating. She co-produced and starred in the film which was a first attempt at a film for a Miami production house.
Returned once again to New-York, she started to drink heavily, making occasional headlines for public drunkenness.
She died of acute hepatitis on July 7, 1973 in Burlington, Vermont. Her son Anthony Michael De Toth arranged her funeral but it was paid for by Donald Bain. None of her other close relatives attended.
