Elaine Shepard
Encyclopedia
Elaine Shepard was a Broadway and film actress in the 1930s and '40s. She was also the author of The Doom Pussy, a semi-fictional account of aviation in the Vietnam War
.
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. 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.
Shepard also had some minor appearances on Broadway, including a part in the 1940 Cole Porter
musical
Panama Hattie
.
coverage, which became the basis for her 1967 book The Doom Pussy, recounting her experiences with aviators in the early part of the war. This book includes an early use of the phrase "the whole nine yards
".
Her presence in the press party for a 1959 European tour with President Eisenhower
provided the occasion for a libel suit against Dorothy Kilgallen
. Kilgallen wrote that a female member of the press on the trip had had an affair with a member of the White House staff; Shepard, however, was widely known to be the only woman on the trip. The suit dragged on for years.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Film and stage
Shepard's first film appearance was in the 1936 RepublicRepublic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
serial
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
Darkest Africa
Darkest Africa
Darkest Africa is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called The Lost Jungle, also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies, had been taken over in 1935 by Consolidated Film Laboratories and...
, in which she played Valerie Tremaine, the heroine of the film. This was followed with a series of leading roles in other minor films. She then had several minor roles in major films, including playing a secretary in Topper
Topper (film)
Topper is a 1937 American comedy film which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the novel by Thorne Smith. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod, produced by...
and uncredited roles in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM war film. It is based on the true story of America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. The screenplay by...
and the 1946 Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies (film)
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters...
. 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.
Shepard also had some minor appearances on Broadway, including a part in the 1940 Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
.
Freelance journalism
Shepard abandoned acting and turned to freelance journalism. She is best known in this role for her Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
coverage, which became the basis for her 1967 book The Doom Pussy, recounting her experiences with aviators in the early part of the war. This book includes an early use of the phrase "the whole nine yards
The Whole Nine Yards
The phrase the whole nine yards means completely, the whole thing, everything, e.g. I was mugged. They took my wallet, my keys, my shoes, – the whole nine yards! The origin of the phrase has been described as, "the most prominent etymological riddle of our time." The earliest known examples of...
".
Her presence in the press party for a 1959 European tour with President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
provided the occasion for a libel suit against Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York...
. Kilgallen wrote that a female member of the press on the trip had had an affair with a member of the White House staff; Shepard, however, was widely known to be the only woman on the trip. The suit dragged on for years.
Films
- Darkest AfricaDarkest AfricaDarkest Africa is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called The Lost Jungle, also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies, had been taken over in 1935 by Consolidated Film Laboratories and...
(1936) - I Cover Chinatown (1936)
- Law of the Ranger (1937)
- The Fighting Texan (1937)
- TopperTopper (film)Topper is a 1937 American comedy film which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the novel by Thorne Smith. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod, produced by...
(1937) - Night 'n' GalesNight 'n' GalesNight 'n' Gales is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 156th Our Gang short Night 'n' Gales is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 156th Our Gang short Night 'n' Gales is a 1937 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gordon...
(1937) (an Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
short) - Professor Beware (1938) (uncredited)
- There Goes My HeartThere Goes My HeartThere Goes My Heart is a 1938 romantic comedy film starring Virginia Bruce as a wealthy heiress who goes to work under an alias at a department store owned by her grandfather. Fredric March plays the reporter who tracks her down. The film is based on a story by Ed Sullivan, better known for his...
(1938) (uncredited) - You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940)
- The Falcon in Danger (1943)
- Seven Days Ashore (1944)
- Thirty Seconds Over TokyoThirty Seconds over TokyoThirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM war film. It is based on the true story of America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. The screenplay by...
(1944) (uncredited) - Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld Follies (film)Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters...
(1945)
Books
- Forgive Us Our Press Passes (Prentice-Hall, 1962)
- The Doom Pussy (Trident Press, 1967)
- The Doom Pussy II (Rockoon Press, 1992)