When Angie Dickinson appeared alongside the Rat Pack in “Ocean’s 11,” the ‘50s star wasn’t ready to fall head over heels for “Ol’ Blue Eyes.”
The actress, 91, is kicking off the TCM Traditional Movie Pageant April 13 when she’ll be introducing a world premiere screening of her 1959 movie “Rio Bravo.” So it’s no marvel she’s reminiscing concerning the one who bought away.
“Properly, he’s the love of my life,” Dickinson informed Fox Information Digital about her “Ocean’s 11” co-star Frank Sinatra. “I simply smile as a result of it feels good to consider him. He was a rare expertise, to say the least. … While you have a look at his capacity to behave and sing, he didn’t all the time take challenges, however I feel he might have sung something.”
Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) and Angie Dickinson almost married in 1964. (Silver Display screen Assortment/Getty Pictures)
“However he was additionally a rare man,” the star stated. “He was troublesome, fantastic, courageous and silly.”
Sparks have been flying on the set of the 1960 movie. And based on Dickinson, they have been “very shut” to saying “I do” in 1964. However marriage wasn’t meant to be for the pair.
“We truly talked about it,” Dickinson defined. “We have been so snug with one another that it wasn’t actually vital, however it did come up a few occasions. I wasn’t eager on it. I might not have needed to take that problem on.”
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Angie Dickinson with Frank Sinatra, who was the visitor host on “The Tonight Present Starring Johnny Carson” in 1977. Dickinson known as Sinatra the love of her life. (Gary Null/NBCU Picture Financial institution/NBCUniversal by way of Getty Pictures)
The crooner’s late-night way of life wasn’t for Dickinson. However there was another excuse she didn’t need to develop into Mrs. Sinatra.
“I adored his [ex] spouse Nancy,” she chuckled. “She was so fantastic and so gracious. She simply checked out me like one other good friend of their daughters.”
Dickinson married songwriter and composer Burt Bacharach in 1965. They formally known as it quits in 1981. Earlier than his demise in February, Bacharach detailed his infidelity in his memoir.
Angie Dickinson turned shut associates with Dean Martin on the set of their 1960 movie “Rio Bravo.” (Warner Bros. Footage/Sundown Boulevard/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures)
However the Rat Pack held a particular place in Dickinson’s coronary heart. She described befriending Dean Marin on the set of “Rio Bravo,” the movie that catapulted her to stardom.
“Dean was all the time hysterical,” she recalled. “I didn’t have many scenes with him, however he was so fantastic and welcoming of me. He was a really humorous man who all the time made me chuckle on set. We turned very shut associates. I additionally turned very shut associates together with his spouse. I even rode within the automotive together with her for his funeral [in 1995].”
“He was such a dreamy man,” she shared. “He faked all that drunkenness, that persona he was identified for. He by no means had a drink in his maturity. However he liked making individuals chuckle. I bear in mind at any time when we had dinner, he would increase a toast and the glass would hit his nostril. He would joke, ‘Oh, I believed I used to be taller.’ We all the time laughed each time he did it. I’ve such fantastic reminiscences of Dean and his kindness.”
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Angie Dickinson admitted she was a nervous wreck working with John Wayne in “Rio Bravo.” (Warner Bros. Footage/Sundown Boulevard/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures)
Considered one of Dickinson’s most vivid reminiscences of bringing the Western basic to life was working alongside John Wayne. When requested if she was nervous on set, she rapidly replied, “Hell sure.”
“He was John Wayne for Christ’s sake,” she remarked. “I used to be by no means completely relaxed in his firm. And so lots of my scenes I needed to take over and be the bossy one. However let me inform you, that was not simple. It might have been rather a lot simpler for him to be the bossy one. However my character in ‘Rio Bravo’ didn’t give a rattling. She stated what she needed to say and did what she needed to do. Fortunately, John Wayne was so affected person, all the time ready for the opposite shoe to drop. Duke was very affected person and so tolerant of me. In the meantime, [director] Howard Hawks waited for me to determine learn how to do the scenes the way in which he needed it.”
“I couldn’t have executed [the film] with out John Wayne’s persistence. Right now, I have a look at it as essentially the most fantastic film. … It by no means will get tiresome watching it.”
Angie Dickinson labored alongside Ricky Nelson in “Rio Bravo.” For years, rumors persevered that Elvis Presley was initially thought of for the movie. (Silver Display screen Assortment/Getty Pictures)
For years, rumors persevered that Hawks needed Elvis Presley to seem in “Rio Bravo.” Nonetheless, the singer’s supervisor, Colonel Tom Parker, requested for an excessive amount of cash. As an alternative, Hawks went with one other heartthrob, Ricky Nelson.
Dickinson admitted she wasn’t conversant in that story.
“Howard preferred the distinction Ricky Nelson had by way of his perspective, age and magnificence,” she stated. “And it labored out nice as a result of he and the Duke weren’t in competitors.”
Angie Dickinson stated she had no points with being labeled a intercourse image. (Warner Bros. Footage/Sundown Boulevard/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures)
The previous magnificence queen from North Dakota quickly turned a Hollywood intercourse image, a title she had no qualms with.
“I used to be high quality with that,” she defined. “I didn’t have Marilyn Monroe’s attributes, so I by no means had that fear [about being compared to her]. I used to be simply so completely happy to be in present enterprise. That was my intention as a teen. So, I had no complaints. It got here to me very simply and steadily. I by no means had any issues with jealousy or envy. I used to be proud of the whole lot I bought, with the whole lot that got here my means.”
It did not take lengthy for Dickinson to seem alongside a few of Tinseltown’s most sought-after main males.
Angie Dickinson described Richard Burton as “a harmful fella.” (LMPC by way of Getty Pictures)
In 1960, she appeared in “The Bramble Bush” with Richard Burton. She described the Welsh actor as “harmful.”
“He was identified for womanizing, so he was a really harmful fella,” she chuckled. “However I used to be simply in awe that he can be my co-star. I believed, ‘Holy cow!’ And he was unimaginable. We turned very shut.”
Then got here future President Ronald Reagan in 1964’s “The Killers.” He famously slapped her throughout the face within the movie. However, off digicam, he was “a beautiful man” and “a extremely tremendous easy individual.”
“The Killers” was Ronald Reagan’s final movie function earlier than he moved into politics. (Common Footage/Courtesy of Getty Pictures)
As for Marlon Brando, her preliminary impression of the actor was “worry.” They starred in 1966’s “The Chase.”
“He’s in all probability the best star we’ve ever had,” she defined. “Perhaps Clark Gable beats him somewhat bit. However he’s positively up there within the prime two. It was superior, and it was scary. He was a naughty boy. He liked to do pranks, and that was all the time form of scary, too. However he was additionally fantastic.”
“We as soon as had a scene the place he and I sat down with the mayor of town or one thing. He had a white shirt with little ruffles on it for a black-tie celebration. He implied that when he took a drink, he spilled it on the ruffles, and he made a fuss about it. I laughed proper out loud, in fact. We couldn’t use the tape as a result of I laughed too arduous. He was improvising and I spoiled the tape. However that’s how he was.”
Marlon Brando and Angie Dickinson starred within the 1966 movie “The Chase.” (Columbia Footage/Getty Pictures)
In 1974, Dickinson discovered fame on TV when she turned Sgt. Pepper Anderson on “Police Lady.” It’s been stated there was a surge in purposes from ladies throughout the nation wanting to hitch the drive after seeing the actress on the small display.
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Angie Dickinson starred in “Police Lady” from 1974 to 1978. (NBCU Picture Financial institution)
“I like the concept I may need been an affect,” stated Dickinson. “However the fact is, I used to be not desirous to signal on to a sequence. … Your life adjustments while you’re the star of a sequence. It’s fixed. It’s actually arduous. However I signed the contract, so it didn’t matter if I discovered it inspiring or not. I simply needed to do it. However the way in which it was offered to me was, ‘Don’t you need to be a job mannequin?’ So I’m glad that it could have affected the nation.”
In 2019, Angie Dickinson attended a screening for “The Killers” at TCM’s tenth Annual Traditional Movie Pageant in Hollywood. (Stefanie Keenan/Getty Pictures for TCM)
Wanting again at her decades-long profession, Dickinson stated she had two items of recommendation she would give to her youthful self.
“Keep outta hassle and don’t get outdated,” she laughed.
