Before Marilyn Monroe, before pin-ups, there was one image that defined glamour for an entire generation of American soldiers: a beautiful woman in a sarong, standing under a palm tree.
Her name was Dorothy Lamour.
From Miss New Orleans to Paramount Star
Born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton on December 10, 1914, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dorothy started not as an actress, but as a singer. She was crowned Miss New Orleans in 1931 at just 16 and worked as a big band singer.
Hollywood noticed her voice first. Paramount signed her in 1936, and they had the perfect plan.
For her debut film, The Jungle Princess (1936), the studio dressed her in a sarong. It was an instant sensation. The public had never seen anything like it. She followed it with The Hurricane (1937) and suddenly, Dorothy Lamour was the sarong. Few Golden Age actresses looked better in it, but she had much more to offer than beauty.
The Road to… Movies: The Biggest Comedy Franchise of the 1940s
In 1940, Dorothy’s career changed forever when she was cast as the romantic lead in Road to Singapore with two rising comedians, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
No one expected it to be a hit. It became the biggest comedy franchise of the decade.
Dorothy starred in 7 legendary Road movies:
- Road to Singapore (1940)
- Road to Zanzibar (1941)
- Road to Morocco (1942) – her most famous
- Road to Utopia (1945)
- Road to Rio (1947)
- Road to Bali (1952)
- Road to Hong Kong (1962) – cameo
She was the perfect foil – glamorous, smart, with perfect comic timing, who could sing while the two men fought over her. The chemistry between the three was magic.
During World War II, she was one of the most popular pin-ups for American troops and sold millions in War Bonds – even more popular than Betty Grable in some Pacific theaters because of her sarong image.
More Than The Sarong
Lamour was a real singer and a solid actress. She starred in Johnny Apollo (1940), Aloma of the South Seas (1941), and Dixie (1943). She later had a successful career on radio, nightclubs, and television.
She passed away on September 22, 1996, at 81, but left behind an image that is still iconic today. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – one for movies, one for radio.
Final Thought:Â Hollywood tried to typecast Dorothy Lamour as just “the sarong girl.” But she turned that sarong into a 30-year career, a fortune, and a place in film history. That’s not just beauty – that’s brains.
