Trivia

Was one of four actresses to be nicknamed "Queen of Technicolor". The other three were Maria Montez, Maureen O'Hara, and Yvonne De Carlo.

She turned down Yul Brynner's offer of the role of Anna for a year in the road company of "The King and I".

Has appeared with Ronald Reagan in four films: The Last Outpost (1951), Hong Kong (1952) Tropic Zone (1953) and Tennessee's Partner (1955).

Was discovered by talent agent Henry Willson while a student at Beverly Hills High School.

Established Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women Comprehensive Care at the UCLA Medical Center (1993).

Fleming's mother was a famous Swedish blonde model in New York who made the cover of Harper's and other major magazines, and later appeared in the Al Jolson show "Dancing Around" at the Wintergarden Theater for two years and progressed from understudy to leading role. Her father worked in insurance. Her parents divorced when Rhonda was ten years old, and her elder sister, Beverly Louis (1918-1990), was fifteen years old. Young Rhonda took lessons in light opera for ten years as a child.

A lyric soprano, She took lessons in light opera for ten years as a child and was trained in voice by an aunt and entered singing contests.

Signed her first contract for 20th Century-Fox under the professional name of Marilyn Lane but it was later changed to Rhonda at the suggestion of David O. Selznick.

She, Jane Russell, Connie Haines and Beryl Davis were once part of a traveling gospel quartet at their church called "The Four Girls" and made an album called "Make a Joyful Noise" that sold over a million copies.

A one-time Las Vegas showroom singing act at the Tropicana, she also performed at the Hollywood Bowl in a one-woman concert of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin songs. Also did a ten-week tour with Skitch Henderson that focused on the music of George Gershwin. She recorded an album in 1958 for Columbia Records.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6660 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

According to an interview with Ms. Fleming which was featured in an issue of "Films of the Golden Age", writer Paul Phaneuf states that Rhonda's very first taste of Hollywood came when she was 15 years old. Her mother took some pictures of her in their backyard and sent them to big-time Hollywood producer Jesse Lasky for an upcoming show of his. She lost out in the final audition.

She was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, California on December 9, 2007.

Has appeared with John Payne in four films: The Eagle and the Hawk (1950), Crosswinds (1951), Tennessee's Partner (1955) and Slightly Scarlet (1956).

A member of the Westwood Presbyterian Church, Fleming received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1995.

Has two granddaughters, five great-grand children, two great-great grand children.

Attended and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California (class of 1941). This is the same school attended by, among others, Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily, Albert Brooks and Crispin Glover.

One of her last screen appearances was doing a parody of her own glamorous screen persona in the "all-star" box office bomb "Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood" (1976). The film was a fictionalized take on the career of canine silent screen sensation Rin Tin Tin, and Fleming played a character named "Rhoda Flaming.".

Upon her death, she was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.

She was a strong supporter of the Republican Party and was an honored speaker at the National Federal of Republican Women (2007).

Mother of Kent Lane.

Her idol as a youngster was Deanna Durbin: when Durbin opted out of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) in favor of retirement (at age 27), Fleming replaced her in the film.

Alumna of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

For many years before the Internet made checking such things simple, Fleming erroneously claimed in multiple interviews to have been a 1946 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee for her minor role in the mystery classic "The Spiral Staircase". Although the film was nominated for the Supporting Actress award, it was Ethel Barrymore who was cited, not Fleming.

She supported Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential election.

Had one older sister: Beverly Louis (1918-1990).

Her trademark red hair was directly referenced in the titles of two of her cinematic vehicles: The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951) and Those Redheads from Seattle (1953), and implicitly referenced in a third: Slightly Scarlet (1956).

Despite her death in October 2020, she was still able to vote for Donald Trump in that years presidential election by means of absentee ballot.

In Italy, almost all her films were dubbed by Dhia Cristiani. She was dubbed on occasion by Lydia Simoneschi, Rosetta Calavetta and Tina Lattanzi.

Fleming herself would tout a "Cinderella story" of being discovered by talent agent Henry Willson: "He stopped me crossing the street, [and] signed me to a seven-year contract without a screen test." However press reports from the mid-1940s state that Willson tracked Fleming down after seeing her on a high school-oriented magazine cover shot. Although Willson would then deem Fleming too young to be launched as an actress, his interest encouraged her to take drama classes and Willson eventually signed as Fleming's agent after seeing her in a student production.

Her first professional name of Marilyn Lane was discarded as a counter-productive mis-association with famed screen sibs Lola Lane, Priscilla Lane, and Rosemary Lane was deemed likely. Agent Henry Willson then (seemingly arbitrarily) suggested Ronda Fleming: studio head David O. Selznick made the decision that Ronda be spelled Rhonda when he signed Fleming to 20th Century-Fox.