Ilona Massey

Born on June 16, 1910, sultry, opulent, mole-lipped, Budapest-bred blonde singer/actress Ilona Massey survived an impoverished childhood in Hungary to become a glamorous talent both here and abroad. As a dressmaker's apprentice she managed to scrape up money together for singing lessons and first danced in chorus lines, later earning roles at the Staats Opera. A statuesque Broadway, radio and night-club performer, Ilona made her debut in the Austrian film Heaven on Earth (1935) before coming to America to duet with Nelson Eddy in a couple of his glossy operettas. In the first, Rosalie (1937), she was secondary to Mr. Eddy and Eleanor Powell, but in the second vehicle, Balalaika (1939), she was the popular baritone's prime co-star. Billed as "the new Dietrich," Ms. Massey did not live up to the hype as her soprano voice was deemed too light for the screen and her acting talent too slight and mannered. An American citizen in 1946, continued pleasantly moody in non-singing roles in a brief movie career that included such films as the Franz Schubert biopic New Wine (1941); the action adventure International Lady (1941); the double agent Nazi thriller Invisible Agent (1942), the musical comedy Holiday in Mexico (1946), the action drama Northwest Outpost (1947) and the romantic drama Trouble in the Air (1948). For the most part Ilona was called upon to play ladies of mystery and sophisticated temptresses in thrillers and spy intrigues. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) and Love Happy (1949), the latter starring The Marx Brothers, are her best recalled. She appeared on radio as a spy in the Top Secret program and, on TV, co-starred in the espionage series Rendezvous (1952). The ABC mystery-drama had glamorous Ilona as a nightclub owner. In the mid-50s, in addition to singing appearances on "Cavalcade of Stars," "The Milton Berle Show," "The Robert Q. Lewis Show," The Colgate Comedy Hour" and "The Ken Murray Show" and acting guest spots on such anthologies as "Lux Video Theatre," "Cameo Theatre" and "Studio One in Hollywood," Ilona hosted her own musical program, The Ilona Massey Show (1954), in which she sang classy ballads. By the 1960's she was rarely seen and ended her career with an obscure bit in the film The Cool Ones (1967). Three marriages ended in divorce, her second being to actor Alan Curtis. 64-year-old Ms. Massey died of cancer on August 20, 1974, and was survived by her fourth husband, (retired) Major Donald Shelton Dawson. She had no children.