Rosemary La Planche

According to Laura Wagner in her article on Rosemary in the Winter 2013/2014 issue of "Films of the Golden Age", the actress capitalized on her "Miss America" title by doing a vaudeville act that ran seven weeks at Radio City Music Hall and entertained the troops during WWII, earning such titles as "Sweetheart of the 160th Infantry" and "Miss American Legion".

Rosemary returned to the Los Angeles area but little was heard from her until her death from cancer at Glendale Adventist Hospital on May 6, 1979, at age 55. Both she and her husband were interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

The family moved to Gallup, New Mexico where husband Harry continued to produce local TV programs until his death in 1973.

(1949) before retiring. Rosemary did have a Hollywood talk radio show in which she talked about fashion. In addition, she and her husband were given a three-day-a-week radio show as well. Scattered TV and commercial appearances came and went with assignments on such TV comedies as "Hennessey" and "The Donna Reed Show". Once she retired, Rosemary focused on oil painting and exhibited her work from time to time.

Following this, Columbia signed her up and she was put in as the female lead in the serial Jack Armstrong (1947) starring John Hart.

In 1947 the actress married radio host and producer Harry Koplan and had two children by him, slowly letting her movie career fade away as she focused more and more on family life. Her last role was in the Republic cliffhanger Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc.

The oval-faced Rosemary finally hit leading lady status, albeit minor and brief, with two cult "Poverty Row" horrors -- Strangler of the Swamp (1946) and Devil Bat's Daughter (1946), a sequel to the Bela Lugosi camp classic The Devil Bat (1940) in which she plays Lugosi's daughter who is tormented by her father's memory.

This led to a featured role in the Hal Roach "B' film Prairie Chickens (1943) and a minor RKO contract that included unbilled bits as various "tootsie" types as hat check girls and chorines.

Rosemary followed suit by being crowned both "Miss California" and "Miss America" in 1941.

This notoriety led to a minor MGM career with bits in such films as Strike Up the Band (1940) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941).

Louise earned the title of "Miss Catalina" in 1939 and then "Miss North America" the following year.

Profiled in "Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960" by Laurence Raw (2012).

Back in the days, winning the title of "Miss America" sometimes provided a springboard to Hollywood and a film career as a leading lady. This was certainly true in the case of California-born Rosemary La Planche. Born on October 11, 1923, in the Southern California city of Glendale, Rosemary and her older sister Louise La Planche (by four years) both expressed a desire to perform as children. Each found work as a toddler in a silent movie before focusing on a normal public school upbringing. The interest in acting didn't wane in either of them, however, and during her years at John Marshall High School, Rosemary was cast in minor roles in two of Deanna Durbin Universal film vehicles. In the meantime, both girls entered the beauty pageant circuit.