Sheree North - Career

Career

North made her film debut as one of the many club members in Excuse My Dust (1951). She was then spotted by a choreographer performing at the Macayo Club in Santa Monica, and was cast as a chorus girl in the 1953 film Here Come the Girls, starring Bob Hope. Around that time, she adopted the stage name Sheree North. She would then make her Broadway debut in the musical Hazel Flagg, for which she won a Theatre World Award. She reprised her role in the film version, Living It Up (1954), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In early 1954, she appeared in a live TV version of Cole Porter's Anything Goes on The Colgate Comedy Hour with Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra and Bert Lahr.

In 1954, North signed a four-year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox. The studio had big plans for her, hoping to mold her as a replacement for the studio's out-of-control leading female star, Marilyn Monroe. As a threat to Monroe, Fox tested North for two of their upcoming productions, The Girl in Pink Tights and There's No Business Like Show Business–two films that had been offered to Monroe–while North was wearing Monroe's own studio wardrobe. After her screen tests, however, North wasn't cast in either film.

In March 1954, North had a brush with scandal when it was revealed that she had earlier danced in a bikini in an 8 mm erotic film. Fox capitalized on the publicity as the studio previously had with Monroe's nude calendar posing in 1952.

The following year, North won the lead role opposite Betty Grable in How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955), a role that was rejected by Marilyn Monroe. Media attention resulted in North's appearing on the cover of Life magazine with the cover line "Sheree North Takes Over From Marilyn Monroe". Film historians, then and now, cite North's electrically-charged dancing to "Shake, Rattle and Roll," as the film's most memorable scene.

North received mixed reviews for her performance in How to Be Very, Very Popular; nevertheless, Fox tried to improve North's screen image. The studio secured her guest appearances on some well-known television series, including What's My Line? and Shower of Stars among others.

In 1956, North was cast opposite Tom Ewell in the Technicolor comedy film The Lieutenant Wore Skirts. Telling the story of a man's adventures after his wife is drafted, the film is often compared with 1955's The Seven Year Itch. Receiving mixed critical acclaim, the film was a box office success. North's career shot to greater heights and she became a more important contract player on the Fox lot.

North would next have a supporting role in The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956), a big-budgeted musical, opposite Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine. The film earned good reviews and moderate success, but North soon found herself forgotten by Fox after the studio signed blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield to a contract and starting focusing on promoting her instead of North.

In 1957, North was cast in low-budget, forgettable, black-and-white dramas: The Way to the Gold and No Down Payment. Both features drew negative reviews and neither was a box office success.

In 1958, North had supporting roles in the war-time drama In Love and War with Robert Wagner and Dana Wynter, and in the musical comedy Mardi Gras, with Pat Boone and Tommy Sands. Both films drew only mild critical acclaim, and were only moderately successful at the box office.

After North's contract with Fox ended in 1958, she continued to act in movies, while frequently having guest spots on television shows such as Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Breaking Point, and Ben Casey. In the 1960s she returned to Broadway in the Harold Rome musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, which featured Elliott Gould and introduced Barbra Streisand.