Saturday, September 3, 2011

Saturday Scream Queen: Faith Domergue

Born in 1923, Faith Domergue's acting career was one that almost ever happened. In 1939, just after graduating from high school, she was involved in a car accident and was severely disfigured by being thrown into the windshield. She underwent a painful year-and-a-half worth of plastic surgeries, and emerged with looks and grace that captured the interest of billionaire industrialist and movie mogul Howard Hughes, and he had her signed to a contract.

Hughes' RKO studio spent a great deal of money and resources trying to make Domergue a star, but all three big budget pictures they featured her in were busts at the box office. Dropped by RKO, Domergue became a freelancer, accepting roles from a variety of studios, appearing in westerns and crime dramas... and eventually in the string of horror and sci-fi movies for which she is during the late 1950s.

Most notable of her horror flicks from this period are "Cult of the Cobra" and "It Came From Beneath the Sea".

During the 1960s, Domergue turned to television, appearing on several top-rated series while squeezing in a couple of sci-fi movies along the way.

During the early 1970s, Domergue returned to horror film with starring turns in "Legacy of Blood" in 1971 and "So Evil, My Sister" and "The House of Seven Corpses" in 1974. Those would prove to be her final screen appearances, as she retired from acting soon thereafter.

Domergue died in 1999 from cancer.