Coleen Gray

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Coleen Gray (October 23, 1922) is an American movie and television actress born in Staplehurst, Nebraska. Her films include Nightmare Alley (1947), the frontispiece of Red River (1948), in which she played John Wayne's character's fiancee, and Kiss of Death (1947).

Born 'Doris Jensen,' Colleen Gray was a genuine farmer's daughter from the cornfields of Nebraska, first scoring critical notice in Kiss of Death (1947), and the first occasion on which she would use her doe eyes to implore a crooked mug to sample the straight and narrow.

Later that year, she starred in Nightmare Alley, a landmark film of noir cynicism as Molly, a carny lifer who hits the big time with scam mentalist, Tyrone Power. In 1948 she appeared as John Wayne's love interest in the memorable opening sequences of Red River.

The 1950s continued to be good to Gray. She played a memorably crooked nurse in The Sleeping City. She also provided solid performances in Kansas City Confidential (1952), an under-rated film (and an early prelude to Reservoir Dogs), and The Killing (1956), in which she plays a lonely woman desperate for love in noir city.