Yvonne de Carlo

YVONNE DE CARLO d2007. Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 50s, made several recordings and later acted on television and stage. She obtained her breakthrough role in "Salome Where She Danced" (1945) a Universal Pictures release produced by Walter Wanger who described her as "the most beautiful girl in the world". The film's publicity and success turned her into a star and she signed a five-year contract with Universal. Universal starred her in its lavish Technicolor productions ; Frontier Gal (1945) / Song of Scheherazade (1947) and Slave Girl (1947). Tired of being typecast as exotic women, she made her first serious dramatic performances in two film noirs ; Brute Force (1947) and Criss Cross (1949). The first American film star to visit Israel, she received further recognition as an actress for her leading performances in the British comedies ; Hotel Sahara (1951) / The Captain's Paradise (1953) and Happy Ever After (1954). Her career reached its peak when eminent producer-director Cecil B. DeMille cast her as Moses' Midianite wife (Sephora) in his biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956) for which she won a Laurel Award for Topliner Supporting Actress. Her success continued with other notable starring roles in ; Flame of the Islands (1956) / Death of a Scoundrel (1956) / Band of Angels (1957)and The Sword and the Cross (1958). She starred in the CBS sitcom The Munsters (1964–1966), playing Herman Munster's glamorous vampire wife "Lily", a role she reprised in the feature film Munster, Go Home (1966) and the television film The Munsters' Revenge (1981). A stroke survivor, she died of heart failure aged 84 on January 8th 2007. She was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures and television