When most actresses dream of Oscars at the peak of their careers, Dorothy Lamour had a different kind of reward in mind. According to her son, Richard Howard, 68, speaking exclusively to Closer Weekly, she cherished collecting S&H Green Stamps. “She loved cutting them out, pasting them into her books, and then heading to the five-and-dime redemption center,” Richard says. “She'd grab a coffee and chat with the locals. It was her way of staying grounded.”
While Dorothy Lamour’s fame soared thanks to her iconic performances in the Road to… series with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, she never forgot her humble beginnings. “My mom was the epitome of rags to riches,” Richard says of his late mother, who was born in a Louisiana charity ward and passed away in 1996 at the age of 81 from a heart attack. Their family's poverty was so severe that Dorothy's mother once used curtains from their windows to create a dress for her high school dance. “I think that struggle inspired her to get as far away from that environment as possible,” Richard explains. And boy, did she ever succeed!
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From Miss New Orleans to Hollywood Starlet
Dorothy Lamour’s journey to Hollywood was anything but conventional. “I was crowned Miss New Orleans in 1931, and then I set my sights on Chicago, determined to become a big band singer,” she recalled in interviews. Before making it big, she worked briefly as an elevator operator at Marshall Field’s department store. But her life changed when she won an audition with band leader Herbie Kay, who she later married in 1935. The following year, they moved to Hollywood, where her career really took off. Dorothy became an overnight sensation after wearing a sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess. Although she wore the iconic sarong in only six of her 60 films, it earned her the unforgettable nickname "the sarong girl." “It’s better than being known as the sweater girl,” she joked. “Every gal needs a gimmick to make a name for herself in this business.”
Love and Legacy: Finding True Love Amid Fame
After her divorce from Herbie in 1939, Dorothy had a brief fling with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, but her heart truly belonged to Air Force Capt. William “Bill” Howard, whom she married in 1943. By then, Life Magazine had already crowned her the No. 1 Army pinup girl. Dorothy's contribution to the war effort earned her yet another nickname, "the Bond Bombshell," after she sold an astonishing $300 million worth of bonds. “I raised $9 million in the first six days and $31 million by the end of my first tour,” she proudly remembered. “It was a privilege to serve my country in any way I could.”
