Born 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah, American actress Arleen Whelan worked in Southern California as a manicurist, contributing her earnings to help with her family’s expenses before she became an actress.
Whelan appeared in 25 films between 1937 and 1957, reportedly after 20th Century Fox director H. Bruce Humberstone saw Whelan working as a manicurist in a barbershop. After her screen test, the studio cast Whelan as the female lead in a film version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped (1938).
Whelan’s Broadway credits include Oh, Brother! (1945) and The Doughgirls (1942). She died in 1993 in in Orange, California, following a stroke, aged 76.
Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Arleen Whelan in the 1930s and 1940s.
Leave a Reply