Faith Domergue

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Faith Domergue

Born	Faith Marie Domergue June 16, 1924 New Orleans, Louisiana
Died	April 4, 1999 (aged 74) Santa Barbara, California
Spouse(s)	Teddy Stauffer (1946-1947) Hugo Fregonese (1947-1958) John Anthony (1961-1961) Paolo Cossa (1966-1996)

Faith Domergue (June 16, 1924 - April 4, 1999) was a film actress. She was of Irish descent and took the name Domergue after her adoptive parents, who eventually moved to California. There she was discovered by a Hollywood agent.

Domergue (pronounced "Dah-mure") was signed by Warner Bros. while still in high school. Aviation pioneer Howard Hughes met her at a party on board his yacht when she was 15 and bought her contract for RKO. He provided her adoptive parents with a house and began a relationship with the young Domergue. Their romance ended when Domergue learned of Hughes's infidelities. In her book on their relationship, she recalled how the tycoon's behavior was becoming bizarre and unstable as early as January 1943.

After an unsuccessful, long-delayed premiere in the film Vendetta (1950), Domergue left Hughes. Initially signed with RKO, she later freelanced in a number of films, including film noir Where Danger Lives (as a femme fatale opposite Robert Mitchum), westerns (Santa Fe Passage) and in 1955, two sci-fi/monster films (It Came from Beneath the Sea and This Island Earth). Domergue later made films in England and Italy, and a last sci-fi foray in the Russian film Voyage to a Prehistoric Planet, in 1965. She also made sporadic guest appearances in several television series. By the late 1960s, Domergue found herself isolated from major film roles, and her last acting appearances were mainly in low-budget 'B' horror movies. Ironically, today she is best known for her sci-fi acting roles, a genre that never appealed to her. Married four times, she had two children by her second husband, Hugo Fregonese. Domergue died of cancer in 1999, at the age of 74.

In the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic film The Aviator, Domergue was played by Kelli Garner.

[edit] Bibliography

Parla, Paul; Charles P. Mitchell (2000). "Faith Domergue: This Island Faith", Screen Sirens Scream! Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s. Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland, pp. 57-78. ISBN 0-7864-0701-8.