Mona Freeman

Mona Freeman
Monica Elizabeth "Mona" Freeman (June 9, 1926 – May 23, 2014) was an American actress and painter.
Early years
Freeman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Pelham, New York. A lumberman's daughter, she was a model while in high school, and was selected the first "Miss Subways" of the New York City transit system in 1940.
Career
Paramount Pictures signed Freeman to a contract after she moved to Hollywood. She eventually signed a movie contract with Howard Hughes.
Her contract was later sold to Paramount Pictures. Her first film appearance was in the 1944 film Till We Meet Again. She became a popular teenage movie star. After a series of roles as a pretty, naive teenager, she complained of being typecast.
As an adult, Freeman's career slowed and she appeared in mostly B-movies, though an exception was her role in the film noir Angel Face (1952). She also co-starred in the hit film Jumping Jacks with the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Freeman's appearances in films ended in the 1950s, but she continued to work in television. Among her appearances were seven guest roles on The United States Steel Hour from 1960 to 1962 and three on Perry Mason, all of them roles as Mason's client: Jane Wardman in "The Case of the Lurid Letter" (1962), Rosanne Ambrose in "The Case of the Illicit Illusion" (1964), and Ellen Payne in "The Case of the 12th Wildcat" (1965). She appeared in two episodes of Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen titled "The Fourth Headstone" (Season One, Episode 9, air date 11/1/1958) and "Breakout" (Season 2 Episode 4, aired 9/26/1959), and two episodes of Maverick titled "The Cats of Paradise" (1959) and "Cruise of the Cynthia B." (1960), both starring James Garner, in which she played a recurring role as crazy-eyed swindler Modesty Blaine. She also appeared in an episode of Riverboat titled "The Boy from Pittsburgh" (1959) starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds, an episode of Checkmate titled "Don't Believe a Word She Says" (1961) starring Doug McClure and Sebastian Cabot, and an episode of The Tall Man titled "Petticoat Crusade" (1961) starring Barry Sullivan as Pat Garrett and Clu Gulager as Billy the Kid, along with numerous other leading lady roles in various television series, including anthologies.
Freeman was a portrait painter and concentrated on painting after 1961. Her best-known portrait is that of businesswoman Mary See, founder of See's Candies.
Personal life and death
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945. The couple had one daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, she married H. Jack Ellis, a businessman from Los Angeles.
Freeman died on May 23, 2014, at the age of 87 after a long illness, at her Beverly Hills home.
Partial filmography
Till We Meet Again (1944) - Elise
National Velvet (1944) - Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Here Come the Waves (1944) - Fainting Girl (uncredited)
Together Again (1944) - Diana Crandall
Roughly Speaking (1945) - Barbara, ages 15–20
Junior Miss (1945) - Lois Graves
Danger Signal (1945) - Anne Fenchurch
Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) - Girl (uncredited)
Black Beauty (1946) - Anne Wendon
That Brennan Girl (1946) - Ziggy Brennan
Dear Ruth (1947) - Miriam Wilkins
Mother Wore Tights (1947) - Iris
Variety Girl (1947) - Mona Freeman
Isn't It Romantic? (1948) - Susie Cameron
Streets of Laredo (1949) - Rannie Carter
The Heiress (1949) - Marian Almond
Dear Wife (1949) - Miriam Wilkins
I Was a Shoplifter (1950) - Faye Burton
Copper Canyon (1950) - Caroline Desmond
Branded (1950) - Ruth Lavery
Dear Brat (1951) - Miriam Wilkins
Darling, How Could You! (1951) - Amy
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) - Spectator (uncredited)
Flesh and Fury (1952) - Ann Hollis
Jumping Jacks (1952) - Betsy Carter
Thunderbirds (1952) - Lt. Ellen Henderson
Angel Face (1953) - Mary Wilton
Battle Cry (1955) - Kathy - later Mrs. Danny Forrester
Before I Wake (1955) - April Haddon
The Road to Denver (1955) - Elizabeth Sutton
Dial 999 (1955) - Terry Moffat Carradine
Huk! (1956) - Cindy Rogers
Hold Back the Night (1956) - Anne Franklin McKenzie
Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957) - Ann Bradley
The World Was His Jury (1958) - Robin Carson
Partial television credits
Wanted: Dead or Alive (2 episodes)
"The Fourth Headstone" (1958) - Jackie Harris
"Breakout" (1959) - Margaret Dunn
Wagon Train
"The Monty Britton Story" (1958) - Betty Britton
The Red Skelton Hour (2 episodes)
"San Fernando's Singing Sensation" (1958) - Guest
"Freddie Gets a Job" (1959) - Kathy
Pursuit
"Calculated Risk" (1958) - Nina Hodges
Playhouse 90 (3 episodes)
"Sizeman and Son" (1956) - Marie Sizeman
"Three Men on a Horse" (1957) - Audrey Trowbridge
"The Long March" (1958) - Betsy
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
"The Pledge" (1959) - Sandra McAllen
Maverick (2 episodes)
"The Cats Of Paradise" (1959) - Modesty Blaine
"The Cruise of the Cynthia B" (1960) - Modesty Blaine
Johnny Ringo
"Mrs. Ringo" (1960) - Marilyn Barber
United States Steel Hour
"The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" (1961)
Perry Mason (3 episodes)
"The Case of the Lurid Letter" (1962) - Jane Wardman
"The Case of the Illicit Illusion" (1964) - Rosanne Ambrose
"The Case of the 12th Wildcat" (1965) - Ellen Payne
References
External links
Mona Freeman; Aveleyman.com
1926 births
2014 deaths
American film actresses
American television actresses
American portrait painters
American women painters
Actresses from New York (state)
Artists from New York (state)
Painters from New York (state)
Paramount Pictures contract players
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American painters
20th-century American women artists
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
21st-century American women