Curvaceous brunette leading lady Ruth Roman came to Hollywood after graduating from the Bishop Lee Dramatic School in Boston. Her first major film assignment was the title role in the 1945 serial The Jungle Queen, a fact that embarrassed her fans far more than it bothered her. She climbed to stardom on the basis of several tough, uncompromising characterizations, often villainous in nature: Her better films of the 1950s include Dallas (1950), Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1950), Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951), and The Far Country (1955). In 1956, Roman survived the sinking of the Andrea Doria, finding herself the reluctant focal point of intrusive reporters as she waited in agony to learn the fate of her young son (who fortunately also survived). In films as a character actress until the 1980s, Ruth Roman also had recurring roles in the TV series The Long Hot Summer (1965) and Knots Landing (1986). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Also Credited As:
Norma Roman
- Born:
December 22, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts
- Died:
September 9, 1999.
-
Job Titles:
Actor, Model, Short story writer, Movie theater usher
Significant Others
-
Companion: Ronald Reagan. dated briefly
-
Companion: William Walsh. had five-year relationship
Education
-
Bishop Lee Dramatic School, Boston, Massachusetts
Milestones
-
1942 Moved to Hollywood (date approximate)
-
1943 Film debut in bit part as a WAVE in "Stage Door Canteen"
-
1945 Appeared in the serial "Queen of the Jungle"
-
1949 Breakthrough screen role as Kirk Douglas' wife in "Champion"
-
1951 Acted in "Strangers on a Train", directed by Alfred Hitchcock
-
1956 With her three-year old son, survived the wreck of the luxury liner Andrea Doria
-
1965 Was series regular on the ABC drama "The Long Hot Summer"
-
1973 Played a psychiatrist in the well-received ABC movie about drug use "Go Ask Alice"
-
1980 Final feature, "Echoes" (released in 1983)
-
1986 Had recurring role on the CBS primetime serial "Knots Landing"
-
Began acting career as a child with the New England Repertory Company in Boston
-
Made last TV appearances as guest star on the CBS series "Murder, She Wrote" in three episodes playing character of Loretta Spiegel
-
Moved to New York to pursue career
-
Posed for photographs used in crime magazines; earned $5 per hour
-
Raised in Massachusetts