Lex Barker Movies
Born to a wealthy New York family, Lex Barker took time off from being a high-profile playboy to attend Princeton University and pick up theatrical experience in a stock company. In films from 1945, Barker made little impression as a leading man until he was selected to replace Johnny Weissmuller as moviedom's Tarzan. The tenth actor to essay this role, Barker starred as the Lord of the Jungle in five Tarzan programmers produced by Sol Lesser between 1949 and 1953. After leaving the series, Barker floundered in formula westerns until he moved to Europe in 1958, where he starred in an internationally successful German/Italian western series based on Karl May's "Winnetou" stories. He also showed up in a handful of James Bond rip-offs, and was prominently featured in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. In 1966, he won Germany's Bambi Award for "Best Foreign Actor." Barker was married five times; his most famous wives were actresses Arlene Dahl and Lana Turner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Doll Face is one of two attempts by 20th Century Fox to make a movie star out of crooner Perry Como (the other was If I'm Lucky). Actually, Como is but a cog in the wheel of the main plot, which involves Doll Face (Vivian Blaine), a stripteaser with artistic pretensions. On the advice of her manager/boyfriend, Mike Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe), Doll Face undergoes a "refinement" process. The next step for the girl is to write an intellectual autobiography, for which ghostwriter Gerard (Michael Dunne) is engaged. Forget the plot, and concentrate on the production numbers performed with gusto by Blaine, Como, and Carmen Miranda. Doll Face is based on The Naked Genius, a play by Louise Hovick -- better known as striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivian Blaine, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
