Veronica Lake

Veronica Lake — Actress & Hollywood Icon

Date of Birth: 14 November 1919 — Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name: Constance Frances Marie Ockleman

Height: 5' 2½"

Marriages

• John S. Detlie (25 September 1940 – 2 December 1943), 2 children
• André De Toth (13 December 1944 – 2 June 1952), 2 children
• Joseph A. McCarthy (28 August 1955 – 1959)
• Robert Carleton-Munro (June 1972 – 7 July 1973, her death)

Date of Death

7 July 1973 — Burlington, Vermont, USA (hepatitis)

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“I wasn’t a sex symbol, I was a sex zombie.” — Veronica Lake

A petite, sultry blonde with a husky voice and the instantly iconic peek-a-boo hairstyle, Veronica Lake rose to fame at lightning speed in the early 1940s. With long waves falling over one eye and a smoldering screen presence, she became a World War II pin-up legend and one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. Yet her meteoric rise was matched by an equally dramatic fall from stardom.

Early Film Career

Lake entered films in 1939 under the name Constance Keane, appearing in All Women Have Secrets, Sorority House, and Dancing Co-Ed. She followed these with small roles in Forty Little Mothers and As Young As You Feel (1940). Everything changed in 1941. Now signed to Paramount and renamed Veronica Lake, she played the second female lead in I Wanted Wings—and nearly stole the film from stars Ray Milland and William Holden.

Breakthrough With Preston Sturges

Writer-director Preston Sturges cast her opposite Joel McCrea in Sullivan’s Travels (1941), a brilliant blend of comedy and social commentary. Lake’s performance—funny, warm, and unexpectedly deep—made her a star.

The Alan Ladd Partnership

Paramount quickly paired Lake with Alan Ladd, whose height complemented her diminutive frame. Their first film, This Gun for Hire (1942), was a smash, creating one of the decade’s most beloved screen duos. She also shone in René Clair’s I Married a Witch and reunited with Ladd in The Glass Key (1942), turning a modest noir into a major hit.

A Cultural Sensation

Lake’s hairstyle was so influential that Billy Wilder jokingly referenced it in The Major and the Minor (1942). She even joined Paulette Goddard and Dorothy Lamour for the comedic musical number A Sweater, A Sarong and a Peekaboo Bang in Star Spangled Rhythm.

Peak Years at Paramount

Though she continued to work steadily—appearing in So Proudly We Hail! (1943), The Hour Before the Dawn (1944), Miss Susie Slagle’s (1945), The Blue Dahlia (1946), Saigon (1948) and more—critical acclaim faded.

Her trademark hairstyle was even discouraged during the war, when factories complained that women copying her peek-a-boo look risked getting their hair caught in machinery.

A Career in Decline

Lake delivered some of her strongest acting in the 1947 Western Ramrod, directed by then-husband André De Toth. But after Slattery’s Hurricane (1949) and Stronghold (1951), she drifted away from Hollywood. Her marriage collapsed, she filed for bankruptcy, and headlines about alcoholism overshadowed her talent.

Later Years & Final Roles

By the early 1960s she was working as a cocktail waitress in a New York hotel. Slowly she returned to acting, appearing in small stage productions and two low-budget films—the Canadian thriller Footsteps in the Snow (1966) and the horror film Flesh Feast (1970). She published her autobiography, Veronica, in 1971.

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Links

• Other Galleries
• Veronica Lake signed memorabilia @ eBay UK (direct link)