Faith Domergue (June 16, 1924 – April 4, 1999) was an American television and film actress.

Early life and career

Born in New Orleans, Domergue was adopted by Adabelle Wemet when she was six weeks old (she found out later in life that she was adopted and that she was actually of Irish and English ancestry). Adabelle married Leo Domergue in 1926, when Faith was 18 months old. The family moved to California in 1928 where Domergue attended Beverly Hills Catholic School and St. Monica's Convent School. While still in high school, she was signed to Warner Bros. where she made her first onscreen appearance in Blues in the Night (1941).

After graduating in 1942, Domergue continued to pursue a career in acting but after sustaining injuries in a near-fatal car accident, her plans were put on hold. While recuperating from the accident, she attended a party aboard Howard Hughes's yacht. Hughes was taken by her; he bought out her contract with Warner Bros. and signed her to a three-picture contract with RKO. After an unsuccessful, long-delayed premiere in the film Vendetta (1950), Domergue left Hughes. She later freelanced in a number of films, including film noir Where Danger Lives (as a femme fatale opposite Robert Mitchum), westerns (Santa Fe Passage) and in 1955, three sci-fi/monster films (It Came from Beneath the Sea, This Island Earth and Cult of the Cobra).

She later made films in England and Italy, and a last sci-fi foray in the Russian film Voyage to a Prehistoric Planet, in 1965. In the late 1950s and 1960s she made many appearances on popular television series, including Have Gun Will Travel, Bonanza, Perry Mason, and The Rifleman. By the late 1960s, Domergue had lost interest in acting as a career, and her last acting appearances were mainly in low-budget 'B' horror movies. She began traveling to Rome, Italy in 1952, and lived there for extended periods of time. She moved there permanently in 1968, and remained an expatriate in Rome, Geneva, Switzerland, and Marbella, Spain until the death of her Roman husband, Paolo in 1991. She then moved to Santa Barbara until her death in 1999.

Personal life and death

In 1941, Domergue began an on-off relationship with Howard Hughes. After she discovered that Hughes was also seeing Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, the couple broke up in 1943. She later wrote a book about her relationship with Hughes entitled My Life with Howard Hughes (1972).

In 1946, Domergue married bandleader Teddy Stauffer. The marriage lasted six months, ending in 1947. That same year, she married director Hugo Fregonese with whom she had two children, Diana Maria and John Anthony. The couple divorced in 1958. In 1966, she married Paolo Cossa, with whom she remained until his death in 1992.

On April 4, 1999, Domergue died from cancer, aged 74.

In the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic film The Aviator, Domergue was played by Kelli Garner.

Filmography

Film credits

1941 Blues in the Night Jitterbug Uncredited

1946 Young Widow Gerry Taylor Alternative title: The Naughty Widow

1949 Hardly a Criminal

Uncredited

Alternative title: Apenas un delincuente

1950 Where Danger Lives Margo Lannington

1950 Vendetta Colomba della Rabia

1952 The Duel at Silver Creek Opal Lacy Alternative title: Claim Jumpers

1953 The Great Sioux Uprising Joan Britton

1954 This Is My Love Evelyn Myer

1955 Santa Fe Passage Aurelie St. Clair

1955 Cult of the Cobra Lisa Moya

1955 This Island Earth Dr. Ruth Adams

1955 It Came from Beneath the Sea Professor Lesley Joyce Alternative title: Monster from Beneath the Sea

1956 Timeslip Jill Rabowski Alternative title: The Atomic Man

1956 Soho Incident Bella Francesi Alternative title: Spin a Dark Web

1957 The Sky Burns Anna Alternative title: Il Cielo brucia

1957 Man in the Shadow Barbara Peters Alternative title: Violent Stranger

1958 Escort West Martha Drury

1963 California Carlotta Torres

1965 Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet

1967 Track of Thunder Mrs. Goodwin

1969 Besieged Lorenzo's mother Alternative title: L'Amore breve

1969 One on Top of the Other Martha Alternative titles: Una sull'altra, Perversion Story

1970 The Gamblers Signora Del Isolla

1971 Blood Legacy Veronica Dean Alternative title: Legacy of Blood

1971 The Man with Icy Eyes Mrs. Valdes Alternative title: L'Uomo dagli occhi di ghiaccio

1974 So Evil, My Sister Millie Alternative titles: Psycho Sisters

The Siblings

1974 The House of Seven Corpses Gayle Dorian

Television credits

1953 The Revlon Mirror Theater Laurie Rogers 1 episode

1953–1954 Lux Video Theatre 2 episodes

1954 Fireside Theater

Mariana

Jenny

2 episodes

1954 Ford Theatre 1 episode

1954–1958 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Marcella

Mrs. Vialez

2 episodes

1955 Celebrity Playhouse 1 episode

1956 The Count of Monte Cristo Renee Morrell 1 episode

1957 Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! Helen Zotos 1 episode

1959 Sugarfoot Isabel Starkey 1 episode

1959 State Trooper

Elaine Kendall

Janice Kendall

2 episodes

1959 Bourbon Street Beat Susan Wood 1 episode

1959 Cheyenne Maria 1 episode

1959–1961 Hawaiian Eye

Onori

Rosa Martell

2 episodes

1960 Colt .45 Suzanne Tremaine 1 episode

1960 Bronco Catalina 1 episode

1960 Michael Shayne Kara 1 episode

1961 77 Sunset Strip Gretchen Jervis 1 episode

1961 The Tall Man Kate Elder 1 episode

1961 Lock-Up Marianne 1 episode

1961–1963 Perry Mason

Conception O'Higgins

Cleo Grammas

2 episodes

1961–1964 Bonanza

Lee Bolden

Carla Ibara

2 episodes

1962–1963 Have Gun - Will Travel

Ria

Elena Ybarra

2 episodes

1966 Combat! Madame Fouchet 1 episode

1968 Garrison's Gorillas Carla 1 episode