Colleen Miller

The story goes that 19-year-old Colleen Miller was fishing in the California mountains when a resort photographer recruited her to pose with a prize trout; a movie scout saw the picture in print, and Colleen wound up with a small role in The Las Vegas Story (1952). A more noticeable role in Man Crazy (1953) brought the brunette beauty a contract at Universal, where she quickly became a second-rank star in westerns and film-noir. Her best notices were for Playgirl (1954), Four Guns to the Border (1954) and Man in the Shadow (1957), gaining critical praise for her fine natural talent and carefree sensuality. She retired in 1958 (except for one B-western in 1963) for a domestic life with her husband and 2 children. After her 1975 divorce she reportedly considered resuming her career, but has made no more films to date. In 1976 she married Walter Ralphs of the Ralphs Grocery chain and remained married to him till his death in 2010.