Veronica Lake Height, Weight, Age, Career and Net Worth 2019

Veronica Lake began her career in January 1939 with the play, ‘Thought for Food.’ Using the name ‘Constance Keane,’ she appeared in minor roles in some movies including, ‘Sorority House’ (1939), ‘All women Have Secrets,’ ‘Young As You Feel,’ ‘Forty Little Mothers,’ and ‘Dancing Coed.’

In 1941, Lake signed a contract with ‘Paramount,’ and producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. selected her for the role of a nightclub singer in the military movie, ‘I Wanted Wings’ (1941). Because of her cool blue, lake-like eyes, he named her ‘Veronica Lake.’ During the filming of a song, her hair fell over her one eye, purely by accident, and gave her the famous, trademark ‘peek-a-boo’ look. The film was very successful, making her a popular star.

In her first starring role, Lake played a struggling actress in Peter Sturges’s 1941 comedy ‘Sullivan’s Travels.’ In 1942, she featured as ‘Ellen Graham’ opposite Alan Ladd and Robert Preston in the Paramount thriller, ‘This Gun for Hire.’ Her pairing with Allan Ladd proved popular and was repeated in more (total 7) films. In Paramount’s all-star film ‘Star Spangled Rhythm’ (1942), they both played cameo roles.

For the comedy movie, ‘I Married A Witch,’ her first leading man, Joel McCrea, refused to pair with her. Finally she starred with Fredric March and the movie became successful. Another 1942 release, ‘The Glass Key,’ opposite Alan Ladd, too, was a hit.

In 1943, Lake played ‘Lt. Olivia D’Arcy,’ in ‘So Proudly We Hail’ and earned accolades for her performance. She appeared as a Nazi spy, ‘Dora Bruckman’ in 1944’s ‘The Hour Before the Dawn,’ which received mixed reports. Allegedly she was a complex and difficult person to work with, thus a number of people refused to work with her. During this time, her alcohol dependence increased while work offers dwindled. Also, she went through a divorce and lost her child due to an accident.

In 1945, Lake starred with Eddie Bracken and Sonny Tufts in the musical ‘Bring on the Girls.’ But the movie wasn’t a financial success. She got a third lead in 1945’s ‘Out of This World,’ and though she was given top billing in ‘Miss Susie Slagle’s’ (1945), her role was rather insignificant.

In the 1945 comedy ‘Hold That Blonde,’ she worked again with Eddie Bracken and paired with Alan Ladd in 1946 film noir ‘The Blue Dahlia,’ which became a hit. In 1947, she worked in a film outside ‘Paramount,’ a Western ‘Ramrod,’ directed by her then husband Andre DeToth. Joel McCrea agreed to star opposite her and the film was a success.

Lake appeared in a few more movies at ‘Paramount’ such as, ‘Variety Girl’ (1947), ‘Saigon’ (1948), ‘Isn’t it Romantic’ and ‘The Sainted Sisters’ both in 1948. But these movies weren’t successful and her contract with ‘Paramount’ was not renewed.

Later, there weren’t many work offers. She appeared in a supporting role in DeToth directed ‘Slattery’s Hurricane’ (1949), and an independent production, ‘Stronghold’ (1951). Lake and DeToth declared bankruptcy in 1951 and IRS seized their property. She left DeToth and alone flew their plane to New York.

She worked on New York stage. During later years, Lake was often arrested for public drunkenness and her paranoia also increased. In 1962, a reporter spotted her, working as a waitress in a Manhattan bar. This generated speculations that she was destitute, but Lake strongly refuted the claim and returned the money sent by fans. This brought her back in news and she appeared as a TV hostess in Baltimore and worked in an off-Broadway musical ‘Best Foot Forward’ (1963). Her role in ‘Footsteps in the Snow’ (1966) couldn’t help her career.

Her autobiography, ‘Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake,’ written with Donald Bain, was published in UK (1969) and US (1970). For a while, she moved to UK and worked on the stage and earned acclaim for her performance in revival of ‘A Street-car Named Desire.’ With the money received from her book, she co-produced a horror film ‘Flesh Feast’ (1970), which wasn’t successful. In 1971, she returned to the US.