Claim: Alan Ladd was an actor.

Veronica Lake -LRB- born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman ; November 14 , 1922 -- July 7 , 1973 -RRB- was an American film , stage , and television actress . Lake won both popular and critical acclaim , most notably for her role in Sullivan 's Travels and for her femme fatale roles in film noirs with Alan Ladd , during the 1940s . She was also well known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle . Lake 's career had begun to decline by the late 1940s , in part due to her alcoholism . She made only one film in the 1950s but appeared in several guest-starring roles on television . She returned to the screen in 1966 with a role in the film Footsteps In the Snow , but the role failed to revitalize her career .   Lake released her memoirs , Veronica : The Autobiography of Veronica Lake , in 1970 . She used the money she made from the book to finance a low-budget horror film Flesh Feast . It was her final onscreen role . Lake died in July 1973 from hepatitis and acute kidney injury at the age of 50 .