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Victoria Shaw (actress)

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Victoria Shaw
Shaw with her then-husband, Roger Smith, in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip, 1962
Born
Jeanette Ann Lavina Mary Elizabeth Elphick

(1935-05-25)25 May 1935
Sydney, Australia
Died17 August 1988(1988-08-17) (aged 53)
Sydney, Australia
OccupationActress
Years active1953–1978
Spouses
(m. 1956; div. 1965)
Elliott Alexander
(m. 1966; div. 1969)
Children3

Victoria Shaw (25 May 1935 – 17 August 1988) was an Australian film and television actress.

Early years

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Shaw was born Jeanette Ann Lavina Mary Elizabeth Elphick[1][2] in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents were Captain and Mrs. Francis W. Elphick.[3] She lived in Croydon, New South Wales, and attended a convent school.[4]

Career

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Shaw worked in an insurance office for six months before she went to the Dally-Watkins Agency,[3] where she studied modelling with June Dally-Watkins[5] before making her Australian screen debut opposite Chips Rafferty in The Phantom Stockman (1953).[3] Bob Hope spotted her while touring Australia and urged her to try her luck in Hollywood,[6] where in 1955 she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures.[7]

With Stuart Whitman in Cimarron Strip, 1968, in an episode written by Harlan Ellison

She played opposite Tyrone Power in The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), her United States film debut.[2] Her subsequent films included The Crimson Kimono and Edge of Eternity (both 1959), Because They're Young and I Aim at the Stars (both 1960), Alvarez Kelly (1966),[4] and Westworld (1973). She also made appearances in TV shows, including 77 Sunset Strip (1962), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), 12 O-Clock High (two episodes: 1964 and 1966), Cimarron Strip (1968), The F.B.I. (two episodes: both 1968), Ironside (1969),[citation needed] Barnaby Jones (1973), General Hospital (1974),[4] McCloud (1976), and Charlie's Angels (1978).

Personal life

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Shaw married actor Roger Smith in North Hollywood, California, on July 28, 1956.[8] After their divorce in 1965, Smith had joint custody of their three children, Tracey Leone (born 1957), Jordan F. (born 1958), and Dallas E. (born 1961).[1] She married producer Elliott Alexander in 1966. They also divorced.[9]

Death

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On August 17, 1988, Shaw died in Hornsby Hospital[4] in Sydney at the age of 53 from emphysema.[9]

Recognition

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Shaw was named Australia's Model of the Year in 1951. The next year, she was named Photographer's Model of the Year.[3]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1953 The Phantom Stockman Kim Marsden
1956 The Eddy Duchin Story Chiquita Wynn
1959 The Crimson Kimono Christine Downs
1959 Edge of Eternity Janice Kendon
1960 Because They're Young Joan Dietrich
1960 I Aim at the Stars Maria von Braun
1966 Alvarez Kelly Charity Warwick
1973 Westworld Medieval Queen

References

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  1. ^ a b Victoria Shaw, Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
  2. ^ a b Kleiner, Dick (29 June 1956). "America Gets Aussie Model Vickie Shaw For TV; Two Broadway Shows Disappoint". The Sandusky Register. Ohio, Sandusky. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 7. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ a b c d "Australian Cinderella Wins A Hollywood Leading Role". Ford Lauderdale News. Florida, Fort Lauderdale. 16 October 1955. p. 45. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c d "Victoria Shaw, model who went to Hollywood". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia, Sydney, New South Wales. 19 August 1988. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Portrait of Jeanette Elphick (picture), Shmith, Athol, 1914–90. Collection of fashion photographs, National Library of Australia
  6. ^ Bacon, James (31 August 1955). "Model Goes in Search of Acting Fortune". The Indianapolis News. Indiana, Indianapolis. Associated Press. p. 17. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Gwynn, Edith (20 August 1955). "Hollywood". The Mercury. Pennsylvania, Pottstown. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "Victoria Shaw, Actress From Australia, Wed". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. 19 July 1956. p. 52. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ^ a b "VICTORIA SHAW, MODEL WHO WENT TO HOLLYWOOD; OBITUARY". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 August 1988. pp. NEWS AND FEATURES, Pg. 4. Miss Shaw's second marriage in 1966 to a producer, Elliott Alexander, also ended in divorce.... Miss Shaw, who was 53... suffered from emphysema for several years and became seriously ill on Monday. She died on Wednesday in Hornsby Hospital.
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