1927-11-17 Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Joyce Elaine Romeo, the raven-haired daughter of Orlando and Emma Romeo of 5606 34th Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, studied at the nearby McKinley Junior High School and the downtown Mary D. Bradford High School while simultaneously nurturing her dreams of performing before appreciative audiences. She made her first such appearances in Chicago clubs before coming to Los Angeles for George White's Scandals and Billy Gray's Band Box (Dorothy Kilgallen noted her in July, 1946 as a dancer at LaConga) and local television. One such telecast caught the eye of producer Ron Ormond who signed her for "Outlaw Women" (1952) without a screen test. Previously she had appeared with Mickey Rooney as "the other woman" in The Strip. Also in 1952 Jacki (as she was labeled on Crystalette Records songs) worked with Jack Carson at the Sahati's Country Club Casino in Stateline, Nevada. Bing Crosby noticed her at a Pebble Beach golf tournament and cast her in The Country Girl. Later she did live appearances with comic Lenny Kent at the Casino Lounge in the Mapes Hotel and in 1962 with Buddy Lester at New Facks and at the Losers Club in Hollywood. and by 1965 at the Jamaica Room of the West Valley Bowl and at Sunset Boulevard's Key Club. Three years later she worked as a regular in a troupe with singer-comic Duke Mitchell, and by the 1970s she was seen at Aladdin's Funny Farm, the new Nine Thousand and the Fire and Flame in North Hollywood, with billing calling her "The Performer's Performer".
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Dames galantes | Parente Labadens | 1990-11-14 |
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Lorsque l'enfant parait | Charlotte Jacquet | 1982-10-10 |
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Bilitis | Supervisor | 1977-03-16 |
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C'est dur pour tout le monde | 1975-06-18 | |
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Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard | La femme de Marcel | 1974-06-19 |
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L'oeuf | (uncredited) | 1972-03-08 |
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Les Cent livres : A la recherche du temps perdu | 1971-12-22 | |
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Sous le signe du taureau | Louise, la domestique des Raynal | 1969-03-28 |
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | Singer (uncredited) | 1967-12-11 |
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Alvarez Kelly | Bordello Girl | 1966-10-06 |
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Murderers' Row | Singer at Wake (uncredited) | 1966-12-20 |
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Le naïf amoureux | A client | 1965-06-26 |
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La croix et la bannière | 1962-03-07 | |
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The Ladies Man | Working Girl | 1961-06-21 |
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Born to Be Loved | Dame | 1959-06-01 |
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The Lieutenant Wore Skirts | Buxom Blonde at Party | 1956-01-11 |
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The Country Girl | Lounge Singer | 1954-12-15 |
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Outlaw Women | Ellen Larabee | 1952-04-28 |
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Skipalong Rosenbloom | Caroline Witherspoon | 1951-04-30 |
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The Strip | Frieda | 1951-08-31 |
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Untamed Mistress | Velda | 1951-06-17 |
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The Daltons' Women | Jacqueline Fontaine | 1950-02-25 |
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Impasse des deux anges | 1948-10-03 | |
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Macadam | 1946-11-27 |
