Yolande Donlan

Yolande Donlan was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her father, character actor James Donlan, was an alcoholic who died when she was a teenager.. She worked as a chorus girl at MGM and costarred with Bob Hope in the play Roberta. Using the stage name Yolande Mallott she landed small roles in the films Turnabout and The Devil Bat. She also appeared in several Broadway plays and starred in a very successful London production of Born Yesterday. Yolande married actor Philip Truex in 1943. They had a son, Christopher, in 1946. In 1947 when Yolande was starring in the role of Billie Dawn in Laurence Olivier's stage production of Born Yesterday in London's West End she met British film director Val Guest. He had asked actor Michael Balfour who was a friend of hers to take him back stage to meet her. Val Guest was at that time directing Balfour in a film called Just William's Luck. She divorced her husband and married Val in 1954. Val directed her in seven more films including The Body Said No and Penny Princess. At the age of 35 Yolande was diagnosed with manic depression and began therapy. Her last role was in the 1976 movie Seven Nights In Japan. She published her autobiography titled "Shake the Stars Down" and wrote several traveler articles for the Daily Express. Yolande and Val moved to Palm Springs, California and remained happily married until his death in 2006. She later moved to London, England. Yolande died on December 30 2014 at the age of ninety-four.