Celebrity Nooz: Angie Dickinson

Angie Dickinson (Actress) as Pepper - Police Woman

Updated: 9/10/2006

Name: Angie Dickinson

Birth Name: Angeline Brown

Born: September 30, 1931 in Kulm, North Dakota

Claim To Fame: While Angie has been in many different roles in film and TV, the role that she is most identified with has to be that of Pepper Anderson from the television series, 'Police Woman.'

Family Life: Burt Bacharach (1965 - 1980) (divorced) 1 child daughter named, Lea Nikki, Born in 1966

Gene Dickinson (1952 - 1960) (divorced)

Info: Her father was the publisher of the local newspaper in North Dakota. Because of this Angie wanted to become a writer, but gave this up after winning her first beauty contest. She ended up entering various beauty contests one of which was sponsored by NBC. This lead to appearances in several TV variety shows. She got her first bit part in a Warner Brothers movie in 1954 and gained television fame in the TV series "The Millionaire" (1955) and got her first good film role opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin in Rio Bravo (1959).

Trivia: Turned down the role of Krystle Carrington on "Dynasty"

When she was a senior at Bellamarine Jefferson High School in Burbank, she won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights Contest.

Had a 10 year, on-off again relationship with Frank Sinatra.

She is also rumored to have been one of JFK's mistresses. When asked about the affair, she said, "It was the best 20 seconds of my life."

Had a bunch of famous boyfriends, most notably:
Johnny Carson (The Tonight Show)
Larry King (talk show host)
Julio Iglesias (singer)
Harry Reasoner (TV journalist)

Ranked #42 on "Playboy" Magazines "100 Sexiest Stars of the Century," January 1999.

Said she initially declined to play the ill-fated, sexually frustrated "Kate Miller" in Dressed to Kill (1980) because she felt her role on the "Police Woman" (1974) TV series had made her into something of a role model, but director Brian De Palma eventually persuaded her to accept the role.

When asked to choose a new actress name, first suggested "Angie Rome" which was eventually changed into "Dickinson".

Became a blonde in 1960, for 'The Bramble Bush' with Barbara Rush, because Rush and Dickinson were both brunettes, but at the time Rush was a bigger star. Annoyed at first, Angie soon decided she liked being blonde.

Her legs were once insured for $1-million dollars through Lloyds of London.

In 1993, she became the first and only 'This Is Your Life' honoree to refuse to do the retrospective show. Friends, acquaintances, and co-workers from her career were waiting to regale viewers with their memories of Dickinson, but as part of the program's format, honorees were never told in advance. She had been lured to a studio on the pretext that she was appearing in a tribute to Brian De Palma, who had directed her in Dressed to Kill. When Ralph Edwards, the show's host, walked on stage and said, "Angie Dickinson, this is your life!" she responded, "F**k no, I won't do it."

After this incident she was never invited back on NBC’s 'Tonight Show', where she says she’d been a Johnny Carson guest "40 times."

Where Are They Now: Angie is still acting. In fact over the last few years she's been in a few movies and TV shows.

Just this past year you may have even caught her on BRAVO in a Celebrity Poker tournament. She didn't do to well, but it was interesting to see the younger actors fawn over her.

Upcoming for Angie are two projects:
3055 Jean Leon (2006) (documentary)
'Chronicles of Narnia 2' (2007) (action)

Also in 2006 Angie launched a one-woman crusade to find a cure for memory-robbing Alzheimer's disease as a tribute to her late sister. Angie's sister battled the insidious illness for 20 years before she passed away in December 2005. And now Angie has embarked on a major Alzheimer's awareness campaign to make sure her sibling didn't suffer in vain. She says, "I know she (sister) didn't die in vain and that's a blessing. It's because of her that I became involved. "Mary Lou's legacy is that she increased our awareness and so many more people now know what a tragic disease this is." More than 100,000 Americans succumb to Alzheimer's every year.

Write To Angie Dickinson:
Angie Dickinson
c/o Merritt Blake
The Blake Agency
1327 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401-1033

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