VERONICA LAKE PART 2
“I WASN’T A SEX SYMBOL; I WAS A SEX ZOMBIE. “
“You could put all the talent I had into your left eye and still not suffer from impaired vision.”
In time, her movie billing had been under her natural name of Constance Keane, but with her next movie, as William Holden’s love interest in ‘I Wanted Wings’ in 1941, she became far better known and recommended to change her name. She had just signed a contract with Paramount, and one of their top producers, Arthur Hornblow, suggested “Lake” for the blueness of her eyes and “Veronica” because of her classic beauty.
With her new name and a comedic lead in Preston Sturges’s classic ‘Sullivan’s Travels’ later in 1941, Veronica immediately rocketed to Hollywood and national stardom, becoming World War II’s defining platinum blonde.
For the next few years, she was one of the biggest box-offices draws in Hollywood, with starring roles in popular movies such as ‘This Gun for Hire,’ ‘I Married a Witch’, and ‘The Glass Key’ in 1942 and ‘So Proudly We Hail!’, a box-office smash hit in 1943 with Claudette Colbert.
SO PROUDLY, WE HAIL! (1943)
A group of nurses returning from the war in the Philippines recall their experiences in combat and love. Veronica Lake (Lt…
