Elaine Shepard

Elaine Shepard
1945 pin-up photo from Yank
Born
Elaine Elizabeth Shepard

(1913-04-02)April 2, 1913
Olney, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 6, 1998(1998-09-06) (aged 85)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationsActor, journalist
Years active1936-1951
Spouse(s)Terry Hunt (1937-1940)
George F. Hartman (1943-1958)

Elaine Elizabeth Shepard (April 2, 1913 – September 6, 1998) was a Broadway and film actress and writer, best known for her performances in the 1930s and 1940s. She was also the author of The Doom Pussy, a semi-fictional account of aviation in the Vietnam War.

Film and stage

Shepard worked as a model on the West Coast before she became active in films.[1] Her first film appearance was in the 1936 Republic serial Darkest Africa, in which she played Valerie Tremaine, the heroine of the film. This was followed with a series of leading roles in other minor films, such as You Can't Fool Your Wife, a 1940 comedy starring Lucille Ball. She then had several minor roles in major films, including playing a secretary in Topper and uncredited roles in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and the 1946 Ziegfeld Follies. A more prominent role came in Seven Days Ashore, a musical in which she plays the principal love interest for the band of sailors on shore leave.[2]

Shepard's Broadway credits included performing in the ensemble in Nina Rosa (1931) and portraying Mildred Hunter in Panama Hattie (1940) and a maid in The Land Is Bright (1942).[3]

Freelance journalism

Shepard abandoned acting and turned to freelance journalism, reporting from international trouble spots including the Congo and Northern Ireland.[4] She interviewed international leaders, and in 1959 she was the only female reporter accredited to travel with President Dwight Eisenhower when he toured the Middle East.[5] She is best known in this role for her Vietnam War coverage, which became the basis for her 1967 book The Doom Pussy,[6] recounting her experiences with aviators in the early part of the war.[7] This book includes use of the phrase "the whole nine yards", an old American colloquialism.[8]

Personal life

Shepard was married to George Hartmann.[9]

Films

Books

  • Forgive Us Our Press Passes (Prentice-Hall, 1962)[10]
  • The Doom Pussy (Trident Press, 1967)[6][11]
  • The Doom Pussy II (Rockoon Press, 1992)[12]

References

  1. ↑ "To Be A Model Be An Actress -- Elaine Shepard". The Charlotte News. North Carolina, Charlotte. October 15, 1939. p. 31. Retrieved September 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Seven Days Ashore". Classic Film Guide. Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  3. ↑ "Elaine Shepard". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  4. ↑ Carpenter, Dan (February 12, 1987). "Reporter won war; still fights 1 battle". The Indianapolis Star. p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Page, Eleanor (December 9, 1962). "Behind the Scenes with a Woman Reporter". Chicago Tribune. p. 284. Retrieved September 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Shepard, Elaine (1967). The Doom Pussy. Trident Press. ISBN 978-0-9628388-1-1. For Dickey Chapelle: Killed In Action At Chu Lai In The Sweat And Gunpowder Of Battle On Patrol With Her Beloved Marines....When Elaine Shepard went to Vietnam for the Mutual Broadcasting System and the North American Newspaper Alliance she quickly decided that no one reporter could ever hope to cover all that widely scattered action. So instead, she decided to concentrate on the men who were fighting there, in particular the fliers
  7. ↑ See for example in Pratt, John Clark (2008). Vietnam Voices: Perspectives on the War Years, 1941-1975. University of Georgia Press. p. 223.
  8. ↑ Martin, Gary. "The whole nine yards - meaning and origin". The Phrase Finder. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Dinner for Four Costs Fliers $6,700 in Chinese Money". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. International News Service. August 8, 1944. p. 22. Retrieved September 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Shepard, Elaine (1962). Forgive Us Our Press Passes. Prentice-Hall. Newspaperwoman, international correspondent, writes of her meetings with the great and near great.
  11. ↑ Shepard, Elaine (1967). The Doom Pussy. Retrieved July 21, 2026 – via archive.org.
  12. ↑ Shepard, Elaine (August 1992). The Doom Pussy II. Rockoon Press. ISBN 978-0-9628388-0-4. The title is a combination acronym for DaNang Officers' Open Mess & the cat of the Doom Pussy patch. Encircling the emblem: Trong Mieng Cua Con Meo Cua Tham Phan translates into "I have flown at night into the mouth of the tiger." The crew's danger-filled sorties officially were called Doom Pussy Missions.
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