Sally Forrest
German postcard by Kunst un Bild, Berlin, no. A 959. Photo: RKO.
Sally Forrest (1928-2015) was an American film, stage and TV actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She studied dance from a young age and shortly out of high school was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She is best known for the Film Noirs she made with director Ida Lupino.
Sally Forrest was born Katherine Sally Feeney in San Diego in 1928. Her parents were Michael and Marguerite (née Ellicott) Feeney. Her father was a U.S. Navy career officer, who moved his family to various naval bases, finally settling in San Diego. He and his wife later became ballroom dancers and taught dance classes. Sally entered dance classes by the first grade and was signed by MGM upon her graduation from high school. In 1945, she moved with her parents to Hollywood, where Sally worked on the dances used in the films Till the Clouds Roll By (Richard Whorf, 1946) with Robert Walker, and The Kissing Bandit (Laslo Benedek, 1948), starring Frank Sinatra. Soon unemployed, she worked in bit roles until she teamed with Ida Lupino, who was producing and directing small films at the time. Forrest made her acting debut in Not Wanted (1949), written and produced by Ida Lupino. The film's controversial subject of unwed motherhood was a raw and unsentimental view of a condition that was rarely explored by Hollywood at that time. The picture was a critical and commercial success, and Sally also received critical acclaim for her role. Forrest starred in two more Lupino projects, Never Fear (Ida Lupino, 1949) and Hard, Fast and Beautiful (Ida Lupino, 1951) with Claire Trevor. She also appeared in other Film Noirs, including Mystery Street (John Sturges, 1950), with Ricardo Montalban, and the star-studded While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956).
Sally Forrest's musical background and training as a jazz and ballet dancer brought roles in the transitional musicals that rounded off the golden age of MGM; most notable was Excuse My Dust (Roy Rowland, 1951) with Red Skelton. Most of her films were made under contract to MGM, which prided itself as family entertainment, but RKO, headed by the eccentric and controlling Howard Hughes, presented a very different creative challenge. The cult classic Son of Sinbad (Ted Tetzlaff, 1955) with Dale Robertson and Vincent Price, was one of his many pet projects where he had a personal interest in re-designing the star's skimpy wardrobe. With each rehearsal, Forrest noticed her harem dance costume slowly disappearing, until it was barely compliant with the Motion Picture Production Code. In 1953, she had moved to New York with her husband, writer and producer Milo Frank who was hired to be head of casting for CBS. So, her film work transitioned to theatre and TV. She starred on Broadway in The Seven Year Itch, and appeared in major stage productions of Damn Yankees, Bus Stop, As You Like It and No No Nanette. Later she returned to Hollywood and continued working at RKO and Columbia Pictures. Her final film was RKO's While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956), a murder mystery co-starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price and her frequent collaborator Ida Lupino. Forrest had married Frank in 1951. They had no children and remained wed until his death in 2004. Forrest and Frank were owners of the former Benedict Canyon home of Jean Harlow and Paul Bern on Easton Drive in Beverly Hills. They rented it to Jay Sebring prior to his murder at the nearby home of Sharon Tate. Sally Forrest died of cancer in 2015, aged 86, at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She was survived by a niece and two nephews.
Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Sally Forrest
German postcard by Kunst un Bild, Berlin, no. A 959. Photo: RKO.
Sally Forrest (1928-2015) was an American film, stage and TV actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She studied dance from a young age and shortly out of high school was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She is best known for the Film Noirs she made with director Ida Lupino.
Sally Forrest was born Katherine Sally Feeney in San Diego in 1928. Her parents were Michael and Marguerite (née Ellicott) Feeney. Her father was a U.S. Navy career officer, who moved his family to various naval bases, finally settling in San Diego. He and his wife later became ballroom dancers and taught dance classes. Sally entered dance classes by the first grade and was signed by MGM upon her graduation from high school. In 1945, she moved with her parents to Hollywood, where Sally worked on the dances used in the films Till the Clouds Roll By (Richard Whorf, 1946) with Robert Walker, and The Kissing Bandit (Laslo Benedek, 1948), starring Frank Sinatra. Soon unemployed, she worked in bit roles until she teamed with Ida Lupino, who was producing and directing small films at the time. Forrest made her acting debut in Not Wanted (1949), written and produced by Ida Lupino. The film's controversial subject of unwed motherhood was a raw and unsentimental view of a condition that was rarely explored by Hollywood at that time. The picture was a critical and commercial success, and Sally also received critical acclaim for her role. Forrest starred in two more Lupino projects, Never Fear (Ida Lupino, 1949) and Hard, Fast and Beautiful (Ida Lupino, 1951) with Claire Trevor. She also appeared in other Film Noirs, including Mystery Street (John Sturges, 1950), with Ricardo Montalban, and the star-studded While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956).
Sally Forrest's musical background and training as a jazz and ballet dancer brought roles in the transitional musicals that rounded off the golden age of MGM; most notable was Excuse My Dust (Roy Rowland, 1951) with Red Skelton. Most of her films were made under contract to MGM, which prided itself as family entertainment, but RKO, headed by the eccentric and controlling Howard Hughes, presented a very different creative challenge. The cult classic Son of Sinbad (Ted Tetzlaff, 1955) with Dale Robertson and Vincent Price, was one of his many pet projects where he had a personal interest in re-designing the star's skimpy wardrobe. With each rehearsal, Forrest noticed her harem dance costume slowly disappearing, until it was barely compliant with the Motion Picture Production Code. In 1953, she had moved to New York with her husband, writer and producer Milo Frank who was hired to be head of casting for CBS. So, her film work transitioned to theatre and TV. She starred on Broadway in The Seven Year Itch, and appeared in major stage productions of Damn Yankees, Bus Stop, As You Like It and No No Nanette. Later she returned to Hollywood and continued working at RKO and Columbia Pictures. Her final film was RKO's While the City Sleeps (Fritz Lang, 1956), a murder mystery co-starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price and her frequent collaborator Ida Lupino. Forrest had married Frank in 1951. They had no children and remained wed until his death in 2004. Forrest and Frank were owners of the former Benedict Canyon home of Jean Harlow and Paul Bern on Easton Drive in Beverly Hills. They rented it to Jay Sebring prior to his murder at the nearby home of Sharon Tate. Sally Forrest died of cancer in 2015, aged 86, at her home in Beverly Hills, California. She was survived by a niece and two nephews.
Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.