Dickinson, the second of three daughters, was born Angeline Brown in Kulm, North Dakota, the daughter of Frederica and Leo H. Brown, who was a small-town newspaper publisher and editor. Dickinson's first job was selling Hershey's Kisses for five cents, so her sisters could buy ice cream cones. In 1942, her family moved to Burbank, California. She graduated from Bellamarine Jefferson High School Read more...

In 1953, she placed second in a beauty pageant. Soon after her first marriage to Gene Dickinson, she decided to pursue an acting career under the name Angie Dickinson. She was approached by NBC to guest-star on a number of variety shows, including The Colgate Comedy Hour. She soon met Frank Sinatra who became a lifelong friend. (She would later play Sinatra's wife in the film Ocean's Eleven.)

On Read more...

Though Dickinson enjoyed a moderately successful movie career for nearly two decades, and worked with many major directors and top leading men of the 1950s and '60s, she did not rise above the status of attractive, reliable working actress - real stardom came later.

Her film career began with small roles in Lucky Me (a 1954 cameo) with Doris Day, The Return of Jack Slade (1955), Man with the Read more...