Arlene Dahl

Arlene Carol Dahl is an American movie actress and former MGM contract star, who achieved notability during the 1950s. She is the mother of actor Lorenzo Lamas.

Dahl was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Idelle and Rudolph S. Dahl, a Ford motor dealer and executive. She is of Norwegian descent. After graduating from Washburn High School, she held various jobs, including performing in a local drama group and briefly working as a model for department stores. Dahl’s mother was involved in the theatre. As a child she took elocution and dancing lessons and acted in local amateur theatre. She was active in theatrical events at Margaret Fuller Elementary School, Ramsey Junior High School and Washburn Senior High School. Dahl briefly attended the University of Minnesota.

Dahl was voted the Rheingold Beer Girl of 1946. She began her acting career in 1947. She reached the peak of her popularity and success in the 1950s. Some of her best films include: Reign of Terror, Three Little Words, Woman’s World, Slightly Scarlet, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Dahl met actor Lex Barker in the early 1950s, and on April 16, 1951, Dahl and Barker wed. A year later she and Barker divorced, and Dahl would go on to marry another matinee idol, Fernando Lamas. Barker went on to marry Lana Turner. In 1958 Dahl and Lamas had their only son, Lorenzo Lamas. Shortly after giving birth to Lorenzo, Dahl slowed and eventually ended her career as an actress, although she still appeared in movies and on television occasionally. Dahl would go on to work as a beauty columnist and as a writer.