Mamie Van Doren

Untamed Youth' was my favorite. I got to sing and dance and do my own gyrations.

I was always one step behind Marilyn. She made all the right moves, hung out with the right people who could advance her career. I was just the opposite. I was always breaking dates with moguls and running off with guys younger than myself.

I'm going to tell you something: it's a job to be glamorous. I mean, if you think it comes easy, it doesn't. Marilyn went through it; all the sex symbols go through it.

I was always protective of Jayne. I never allowed people to talk about her behind her back because those same people would talk about me.

Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and I were so different from each other. I was doing very young movies, and Marilyn, who was ahead of me, was doing a lot of homogenized movies that weren't quite as wild as the ones I was doing. Jayne was more of a character of herself.

Being a sex symbol had its advantages. You got to meet a lot of interesting people, and men especially. It was a man's world in those days, and I had a lot of luck with men.

The studios always had their idea of what I was, and they'd give me the dumb-blonde roles.

I was groomed as a so-called sex symbol, a rival to Marilyn Monroe, and from then on, whenever my picture appeared in paper, it was 'sex kitten,' 'sex symbol,' 'sex goddess,' 'sex pot.' I've accepted it, and I'm flattered, but in some ways, it's been a hindrance to me because I haven't been able to be taken seriously as an actress.

I studied really hard. But Hollywood never appreciated my talent.

I didn't feel like I was meant to be a nurse or a secretary.

I have never been a Marilyn Monroe wannabe. I have always been happy in my own skin!

I realize there's a line between looking good and being an embarrassment. I don't want to be one of those dames who is trying too hard to appear young. I'm Mamie Van Doren, and I fully intend to act my age.