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Sanita Pelkey Profile
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| (Sanita Elizabeth Pelkey) |
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| 26 November 35 | is born in New York City to Walter and Elizabeth Pelkey, an Italian father and a Hungarian mother, one of two kids, the other an older brother |
| ? | has a swimming part in an Esther Williams movie |
| July 54 | columnist Walter Winchell knows: "Don Lamoth (hot dog vendor at the Jones Beach show) and Sanita Pelkey (the disappearing water ballet gal) eloped..." |
| 23 June 56 | takes part in the "New York Sweater Girl of 1956" contest to be held in New York City. Fellow entrants are Susi Peters, Joyce Sands, Margot Donnelly, and June Brier. |
| October 56 | is runner-up to Merle Moriarty at the "Miss Exquisite Form, New York, 1957" contest |
| Early 57 | dines at Ed Wynne's gay Harwyn with former magistrate Louis Fusco, Jr. |
| 23 April 57 | is among the first contestants for the "Miss New York State" contest arriving in New York. The winner of the contest to be held at Palisades Amusement Park, N.J., will represent New York in the "Miss Universe" beauty pageant in California. The other beauties are Peggy Ray, Judy Barrett, Beverly Kirkland, Bobby Dowd, Barbara Miller, and Sara Dolley. |
| 57 | is crowned “Miss New York” |
| 11 July 57 | is one of 44 American girls arriving in Long Beach, California, to compete in the "Miss U.S.A." and "Miss Universe" pageant. Among the judges are columnist Earl Wilson and pinup painter Alberto Varga. |
| 16 July 57 | is among 15 American girls competing for the "Miss U.S.A." in the "Miss Universe" contest in Long Beach, California. The others are Helen Garrott, Arkansas; Peggy Jacobson, California; Marianne Gaba, Illinois; Judith Ann Hall, Iowa; Sandra Ramsey, Massachusetts; Leona Gage, Maryland; Carolyn Girr, Nebraska; Joan Adams, Nevada; Kathryn Gabriel, Ohio; Jean Spotts, South Carolina; Gloria Hunt, Texas; Charlotte Sheffield, Utah; Dianne Schafer, Washington; and Ruth Parr, West Virginia. Sanita is one of the semi-finalists. |
| Mid-July 57 | is pictured attempting to hide her tears as she receives news that her father, Ralph Pelkey, died suddenly of a heart attack. Fellow contestants Judith Hall, "Miss Iowa," and Marianne Gaba, "Miss Illinois," try to comfort her. |
| columnist Lee Mortimer knows that "first to console her on the death of her father was Bill Anthony, road manager of the Four Lads..." |
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| Early September 57 | quickly tired of being a showgirl at the Latin Quarter, she gives up her job there to do acting bits on the Steve Allen program, "Tonight!" |
| September 57 | works as a showgirl at Hollywood's Moulin Rouge while making her movie studio rounds |
| February 58 | films a segment of NBC TV's "You Bet Your Life" with host Groucho Marx and bridge player Charles Goren. She gives her age as 21, and her nickname as "Sunny." |
| September 58 | columnist Lee Mortimer expects her "to build her own universe with 20th Century-Fox actor Gary Spencer..." |
| Late January 59 | she and Spencer announce their engagement in Hollywood. He's 31; she gives her age as 21. She says they plan to marry October 29. Spencer, a former barber in Long Beach, got his chance at acting after becoming a studio barber. |
| ? | changes her name to Sanita Lang because it has a "ring" to it and sounds like Young and she was told many times that she looked like Loretta Young. Her friends call her Sunny. |
| October 59 | under the name of Sanita Lang, she promotes Christmas decorations in local newspapers |
| January 61 | tagged as an NBC television actress, she promotes a mosaic coffee table in local newspapers |
| 28 July 62 | she and actor Rex Reason announce they will marry on August 25 and obtain their marriage license in Los Angeles |
| 25 August 62 | secretly marries Reason in Santa Barbara, California. He's 33; she's 26. It's the second marriage for each. Reason has two children by his marriage to Joan Johannes. |
| ? | doesn't want children to interfere with her career |
| Late August 63 | sues Reason for divorce in Los Angeles charging cruelty. She doesn't cite details in her complaint. |
| 60s | resides in Hollywood |
| c. 65 | at the Jackson Bowl bowling alley in Glendale, she meets former model Peggy Hampton, who works there. Both are bowlers and on bowling leagues. Sanita has a big argument with her boyfriend which catches Peggy's attention and brings them together. Peggy and her 3-year-old daughter, Victoria, will become Sanita's lifelong friends. |
| 67 | is in the intro of A Guide for the Married Man |
| 69 | is a "girl on a float" in Hello Dolly |
| c. 71 | moves to Las Vegas |
| 73 | becomes involved with a married man. She calls him Little John due to him being shorter than her. Although he keeps promising to leave his wife, he never does, mostly because all the money and assets are in the wife's name. The affair will last the entire time she stays in Las Vegas. |
| 74 | when her white poodle, Pom Pom, dies, she can't bear to have him buried so she has a crate specially made for his body and keeps him in the trunk of her car for many years. Later she finally buries him in the garden of a townhouse she is living in. In the early 1980's she gets another little dog, also white, and names him Punkin. After that one dies of old age, she never gets another. |
| 78 | becomes a casino dealer |
| Early 90s | works at the San Remo Hotel in Las Vegas for her last four years |
| 93 | enters the Nathan Adelson Hospice |
| 15 January 94 | dies at age 58 the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas from cancer |
| is buried in Las Vegas |
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| Sources: Victoria Nikolova, Kelsey Pearson, Appleton Post-Crescent, The Zanesville Signal, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Nevada State Journal, Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, The Daily Courier, The Coshocton Tribune, The Morgantown Post, Van Nuys News, Oakland Tribune, The Sheboygan Press, Brainerd Daily Dispatch, pro.Corbis.com, www.Ancestry.com | |
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| Links: Filmography | |