- Shirley MacLaine, Artists and Models, 1955. The title was first used by Paramount in 1936. But this was the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis (and Frank Tashlin) version. The Broadway star (who taught Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell how to dance, and, indeed, walk in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1952), was seen for Bessie Sparrowbush, no less. But MacLaine, a younger song ’n’ dancer, had just made Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry, also at Paramount. Gwen had to wait but what Verdon wants, Verdon gets after non-stop Speciality Dancer gigs – 1957’s Damn Yankees.
Birth year: 1925Death year: 2000Other name: Casting Calls: 1