Photo by Quick

The rise of Nazism led to the eventual total control of the film industry by the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. The Jewish and many other stars fled the country. The Nazis continued the film postcard publisher Ross Verlag and photo studio Binder, but with a new, non-Jewish management. The production of film star postcards continued, under the names Ross Verlag and Film-Foto-Verlag. From ca. 1938 on, a new photo studio, Quick Foto, specialised in glamour portraits. There is no further information about this studio that immediately vanished after the war. We chose 15 portraits by Quick of famous stars of the Nazi cinema.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 2245/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick / Ufa.

Chilean singer and actress Rosita Serrano (1914–1997) had her biggest success in Nazi Germany. Her nickname was the 'Chilenische Nachtigall' (Chilean Nightingale), although her most popular song was 'La Paloma' (The Dove).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2404/3, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick / Tobis.

Sexy German dancer and film actress La Jana (1905-1940) was the most popular showgirl of Berlin in the 1930s. She appeared in 25 European films, often dancing in exotic costumes. In 1940, she suddenly died of pneumonia and pleurisy.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2550/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick / Tobis.

Gorgeous Charlotte Thiele (1918-2004) played cool blondes in German films of the 1930s and 1940s. The Ufa star was sidelined by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels after she had rejected his advances.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2592/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick / Tobis.

Baroness Irene von Meyendorff (1916-2001) never planned to become a film star, but she appeared in more than 40 films. Unexpectedly, the breathtakingly beautiful, ice-cold blonde became a star of the Ufa in the 1940s. Her beauty attracted Josef Goebbels, who got a harsh rebuff from her. After the war, she played several parts in interesting German films and led a full, remarkable life.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2720/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick / Tobis. Sybille Schmitz in Trenck, der Pandur (Herbert Selpin, 1940).

Beautiful German actress Sybille Schmitz (1909-1955) started her career in the era of silent cinema. With her typical face and her relaxed, slightly mysterious way of playing, she became a prominent Ufa star during the Third Reich. After the war, she was beset by drug abuse and depression, and at 45, she committed suicide.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2729/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick.

Hilde von Stolz (1903-1973) was a blonde Austrian leading lady and supporting actress in Ufa films of the 1930s and 1940s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2967/2, 1939-1940. Photo: Quick.

Pretty Austrian actress Jenny Jugo (1904-2001) had a prolific career in German cinema, from the late silent era well into the war years. She did particularly well as a comedienne and starred between 1931 and 1942 in eleven smart and charming comedies directed by Erich Engel.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3478/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Ufa / Quick.

Egyptian-born singer, dancer and actress of Hungarian descent, Marika Rökk (1913-2004) was the last film diva of the Ufa. She was an immensely talented musical performer who could tap with the rhythm and vitality of her Hollywood counterpart, Eleanor Powell, and switch to balletic movements with the conviction of Cyd Charisse. Her trade mark was her Hungarian accent.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3536/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Tobis.

Austrian-Hungarian actress Margit Symo (1913-1992) danced and sang in many German entertainment films of the Nazi era. She often appeared as a gypsy in her films. In 1974, she returned to the screen under the direction of Rainer Werner Fassbinder.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3594/2/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Quick / Ufa.

No German star played self-sacrificing womanhood better than blond Austrian actress Luise Ullrich (1911-1985). She became a star of the Ufa in the 1930s and 1940s.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3732/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Ufa.

Dutch-born actress and singer Ilse Werner (1921-2005) was one of the most popular stars of the German screen during the Nazi years. After the war, she became a successful Schlager singer. Her nickname, 'Ein Frau mit Pfiff', translates as 'A Woman of Distinction', but also refers to her trademark, whistling.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3772/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Terra.

Attractive German-Russian actress Marina Ried (1921-1989) started her film career during the war years and became a busy supporting player in German comedies and musicals of the post-war period.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3901/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick.

German actress Ingeborg von Kusserow (1919-2014) enjoyed a flourishing career in the 1930s, first in the theatre, and then as a young Ufa star. In 1947, she went to Great Britain, where she filmed under the name Ingeborg Wells.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 124, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Quick / Ufa.

Zarah Leander (1907-1981) was a Swedish actress and singer, who is best remembered for her German songs and films from the late 1930s and 1940s.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 190. Photo: Quick.

Pretty Hungarian actress Lili Muráti appeared in nearly 40 films between 1935 and 1995. She was a leading star of the Hungarian cinema in the 1930s. Her role in David Lean’s Dr. Zhivago (1965) became the subject of an urban legend.

And please check out our Flickr album on Foto Quick.

Debra Paget

Exotic American actress Debra Paget (1933) is perhaps best known for Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments (1956) and Elvis Presley’s film debut Love Me Tender (1956). Later, she had a career in Europe, too. In Germany, she starred in Fritz Lang's two-film adventure saga Der Tiger von Eschnapur / The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and Das Indische Grabmal / The Indian Tomb (1960) and in Italy, she also made films.


German postcard by ISV, no. A 14. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Debra Paget in Princess of the Nile (Harmon Jones, 1954).


Yugoslav postcard by Studio Sombor. Sent by mail in 1963.


Vintage postcard, Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Yugoslav postcard by ZK, no. 3896.


West German collector card by Schumann Verlag, Berlin-Lichterfelde-Düd / Heinerle, Bamberg. Photo: Gloria. Debra Paget in Der Tiger von Eschnapur / The Tiger of Eschnapur (Fritz Lang, 1959).

An Arabian Nights princess

Debra Paget was born as Debralee Griffin in Denver, Colorado, in 1933. She was one of the five children born to former actress Margaret Allen (née Gibson) and painter Frank Henry Griffin.

Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “She may have hailed from Denver, but actress Debra Paget had the sensual, exotic demeanour of an Arabian Nights princess.” And yes, the family moved from Denver to Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s to be close to the developing film industry. Debra was enrolled in the Hollywood Professional School when she was 11.

Stage mother Margaret was determined that Debra and her siblings would also make their careers in show business. And indeed, three of her siblings, Marcia (Teala Loring), Leslie (Lisa Gaye), and Frank (Ruell Shayne), entered show business. Paget had her first professional job at age 8, and acquired some stage experience at 13 when she acted with Charles Coburn in a 1946 production of William Shakespeare's 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'.

Her first notable film role was as Teena Riconti, girlfriend of the character played by Richard Conte, in the Film Noir Cry of the City (Robert Siodmak, 1948). Fresh out of high school in 1949, she acted in three other films before being signed by 20th Century-Fox. Her first vehicle for Fox was the successful Western Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves, 1950) with James Stewart. Paget played a Native American maiden, Sonseeahray (Morningstar), who gives up her life to save Stewart's character.

Paget co-starred with Louis Jourdan in Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951), a remake of the 1932 film starring Joel McCrea and Dolores del Rio. It was followed by roles in successful films like the Film Noir Fourteen Hours (Henry Hathaway, 1951), the adventure film Anne of the Indies (Jacques Tourneur, 1951) with Jean Peters and Louis Jourdan, and Prince Valiant (Henry Hathaway, 1954) starring Robert Wagner. Hal Erickson: “Most of her subsequent roles were merely decorative, though she was a more than adequate Cosette in the 1952 version of Les Misérables.”


Spanish postcard no. 1212. Debra Paget as Native American character Sonseeahray in Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves, 1950). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

Vintage postcard, no. 1151. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Debra Paget in Broken Arrow (Delmer Daves, 1950).

Vintage postcard, no. 552. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951) with Louis Jourdan.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 240. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951).


West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Debra Paget in Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951).


Vintage postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

The most beautiful girl in the world

After the campy costume drama Princess of the Nile (Harmon Jones, 1954) was released, the fan mail Debra Paget received at 20th Century-Fox was topped only by that for Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.

The Hollywood studio system dominated American feature film production in the first half of the 20th century. Under it, an actor would sign an exclusive contract to make films for a major studio, such as Fox. The system worked well at first for Paget as her early Fox films did well, so the studio bolstered her film career. In 1955, she broke the exclusivity clause of her contract.

For Fox, she played another Native American girl, Princess Appearing Day, in the Western White Feather (Robert D. Webb, 1955), along with Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter and later at MGM replaced Anne Bancroft as an Indian girl in another Western, The Last Hunt (Richard Brooks, 1956), starring Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger.

Then Fox lent her to Paramount for the part of Lilia, the water girl, in Cecil B. DeMille's biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956). She had to wear brown contact lenses to hide her blue eyes. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film made. The Ten Commandments (1956) became her most successful film, grossing approximately $122.7 million at the box office during its initial release. It was the most successful film of 1956 and the second-highest-grossing film of the decade. In 1957, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Paget followed it up with Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956), the film debut of Elvis Presley. According to Elizabeth Ann at IMDb, Elvis called Debra ‘the most beautiful girl in the world,’ but her mother would not allow them to date. The River's Edge (Allan Dwan, 1957), with Anthony Quinn and Ray Milland, was the last film she made for Fox. After that, her career began to decline.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 964. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for Stars and Stripes Forever (Henry Koster, 1952).


Austrian postcard by Verlag Hubmann (HDH Verlag), Wien, no. 299. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Debra Paget in Stars and Stripes Forever (Henry Koster, 1952).


West German postcard, no. 353. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Dutch postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


British postcard in the Celebrity Autograph Series, no. 105. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for Prince Valiant (Henry Hathaway, 1954).


West-German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden/Westf. no. 2482. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Richard Egan, Debra Paget and Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender (Robert D. Webb, 1956).

Her blood pressure-raising belly dance

Debra Paget was typically cast in exotic roles such as South Sea Island maidens or Middle Eastern harem girls. In 1958, she travelled to Germany and India to star opposite Paul Hubschmid and Walter Reyer in Fritz Lang's sumptuous international production Der Tiger von Eschnapur / The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and its sequel Das Indische Grabmal / The Indian Tomb (1959). She gained extensive publicity coverage for her blood pressure-raising belly dance in the film.

In 1960, American International Pictures obtained the rights to both films for the USA and combined them into one film called Journey to the Lost City. Tom Wiener at AllMovie: “Contemporary audiences might find Hubschmid and Paget's acting stiff, but psychological nuance is not what Lang was looking for here, and the two do generate genuine sexual chemistry, especially in their flight across the desert, which ends this instalment.”

In Italy, Paget then appeared in the historical drama Il sepolcro dei re / Cleopatra's Daughter (Fernando Cerchio, 1960) set in Egypt during the reign of the pharaoh Khufu (r. 2589-2566 BC). Wikipedia: “For some reason, the English version was translated very differently from the original Italian script, setting the film in the 1st century BC, rather than the early Bronze Age.”

In the USA, Paget appeared on TV in episodes of the Western series, Riverboat (1959) starring Darren McGavin, Rawhide (1960 and 1962) with Clint Eastwood, and Johnny Ringo (1960). In Italy, she starred in another historical film, I Masnadieri / Rome, 1585 (Mario Bonnard, 1961) with Antonio Cifariello.

Her final feature film was the horror film The Haunted Palace (Roger Corman, 1963) with Vincent Price and Lon Chaney Jr. Her last television performance was in an episode of Burke's Law (1965), starring Gene Barry. She retired and later became a born-again Christian. She hosted her own show, An Interlude with Debra Paget, on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), a Christian network, in the early 1990s.

Paget was married three times. First, she wed actor and singer David Street in 1958. Their marriage was annulled after four months. In 1960, she married prominent director Budd Boetticher in a Mexican café in Tijuana. He was 44; she was 27. She had acted for him in Seven Men From Now (1955). They separated after just 22 days, and their divorce became official in 1961. In 1962, she married Ling Chiech (Louis) Kung, a Chinese-American oil industry executive and nephew of Madame Chiang Kai-shek. This third marriage produced a son, Gregory, but ended in divorce in 1980. Gregory would graduate from Texas A&M University and become a lawyer. Today, Debra G. Kung lives a quiet life in Houston, Texas.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 542. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 977. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano.


Yugoslav postcard by Studio Sombor, no. 264.


West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Charlottenburg, no. A1727. Photo: CCC / Gloria Film / Grimm.


Debra Paget's Snake Dance Scene in Das Indische Grabmal /The Indian Tomb (1959). Source: Snips Of Clips (YouTube).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Brian G. Walker (Brian's Drive-In Theater), Tom Wiener (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Elizabeth Ann (IMDb), Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Henri Étiévant

Henri Étiévant (1870–1953) was a French stage and screen actor and film director. Among his best-known films is the monumental silent version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (Albert Capellani, 1913), in which he played the merciless police inspector Javert.


French postcard by Edition Pathé Frères.


French photo card by Pathé Frères for the film Bonaparte et Pichegru (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Georges Mitchell. Henri Étiévant as Leblanc, collecting his blood money from Bonaparte (Georges Saillard).


French postcard by ELD (E. Le Deley). Photo: Films Pathé Frères. Part of a booklet of postcards on Les Misérables (Albert Capellani, 1913). Caption: M. Madeleine (Henry Krauss) refuses the resignation of Javert (Henri Étiévant).

Inspector Javert

Henri Gaston Étiévan-Estival, better known as Henri Étiévant, was born in Paris in 1870. He was the son of journalist and playwright Alfred Etiévant, a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Étiévant began as a stage actor in the 1890s. He acted at André Antoine's Théâtre-Libre (1893-1894) and the Théâtre de l'Œuvre (1895-1898).

From 1901, he acted for several years at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, in plays such as 'Le Roman de Françoise' (1903), 'La Grande Famille' (1905), 'Roule-ta-Bosse' (1906) and 'Nick Carter' (1909). At least until 1912, Étiévant remained at the Ambigu.

Henri Étiévant made his film debut at Pathé Frères in 1908 and had a prolific career there until 1914. He often played bad guys, such as the traitor Leblanc in Bonaparte et Pichegru (Georges Denola, 1911), and as Jacques Garaud opposite the title character played by Jeanne Grumbach in La porteuse de pain (Georges Denola, 1912).

In the four-part episode film Les Misérables (Albert Capellani, 1913), he played Javert, the police commissioner mercilessly pursuing Jean Valjean (Henry Krauss). International critics, unaccustomed to such large-scale productions, were full of praise for Capellani's four-part production. Occasionally, Etiévant worked for other companies such as Radios, where he, e.g. played King Henry VIII in Le page / Pour être reine (1910) opposite Madeleine Céliat, who played Catherine Howard.


French postcard in the Collection Photo-Programme, Paris. The stage play 'La grande famille', by Alexandre Arquillière, was first performed at the Paris-based Théâtre de l'Ambigu on 22 November 1905. Play in six acts, directed by Georges Grisier. Main actors: Louis Gauthier (Sergeant Bertrand), Henri Etiévant (Lieutenant Brune - on the photo), Suzanne Munte (Louise), Villa (the corporal). Caption: Act 4. At Louise's room - Abandonment of his post at the guard's.


French postcard. Scene from the stage play 'Roule ta Bosse' by Jules Mary & Émile Rochard. The play was first staged at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu in Paris in 1906. The leads were for Henri Étiévant as Bastien Clairejoie, named Roule-ta-Bossse, Maggie Gauthier as Bastienne, and Grey as Gaspard de Mauléon. Caption: Gargousse [to Grey] There is only you as a man of the world carrying a revolver. Grey is the man with the straw hat, who plays the evil count. Right in the light clothes stands Roule-ta-Bosse, played by Henri Étiévant.


French photo card by Pathé Frères for the film Bonaparte et Pichegru (Georges Denola, 1911), scripted by Georges Mitchell. Left, Louis Ravet as Pichegru, in the middle Henri Étiévant as Leblanc.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, Barcelona, no. 3 of 6. Photo: Milano Films. Mercedes Brignone, Franz Sala and Livio Pavanelli in Il rubino del destino / The Ruby of Destiny (Henri Étiévant, 1914), scripted by Augusto Genina. The film was released in Spain as El rubí del destino in January 1914.

Film director in Italy, Germany and France

In 1913, Henri Étiévant worked as a film director at Milano Films, on films with Pina Fabbri, Livio Pavanelli, and Thea Sandten.

In 1913-1914, he also worked as a director in Germany for the company Vitascope. He directed films such as Pauline (1914), often with Thea Sandten in the lead. The outbreak of the First World War abruptly ended Henri Étiévant 's film career. Between 1915 and 1919, he was absentfrom the sets and only returned behind the camera after his military service in 1920.

He retook his career as a director with the film Neuf / Nine (1920). In the 1920s, he focused on directing such films as La fille de Camargue (1921) with Stacia Napierkowska and Charles Vanel, La fin de Monte-Carlo / The End of Monte Carlo (1927) with Jean Angelo and Francesca Bertini, and La sirène des tropiques / Siren of the Tropics (Mario Nalpas, Henri Étiévant, 1927) with Josephine Baker.

With Nalpas, he co-directed his last film, the late silent film La symphonie pathétique / Pathetic Symphony (Mario Nalpas, Henri Étiévant, 1930). He would still act in five sound films in the 1930s, such as the comedy La bande à Bouboule / Bouboule's Gang (Léon Mathot, 1931). After his participation in Julien Duvivier's minor work L'Homme du jour / The Man of the Hour (1936), the 66-year-old Étiévant withdrew completely from the film business.

Henri Étiévant died in 1953 in Paris at the age of 83. He was the father of the stage and screen actress Yvette Étiévant (1922-2003), who peaked on stage in the 1950s and 1960s, and played in countless films and TV series between 1945 and the 1990s.


French postcard by Europe, no. 227. Photo: Sélections Cinégraphiques Maurice Rouhier. Francesca Bertini and Jean Angelo in La fin de Monte-Carlo (Henri Étiévant, Mario Nalpas, 1927).


French promotional postcard. Photo: Josephine Baker in La Sirène des tropiques / Siren of the Tropics (Mario Nalpas, Henri Étiévant, 1927). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French promotional postcard. Photo: Josephine Baker in La Sirène des tropiques / Siren of the Tropics (Mario Nalpas, Henri Étiévant, 1927). The script was written by Maurice Dekobra. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.


French postcard, no. 9. Photo: Galy.

Sources: Les Archives du Spectacle (French), Wikipedia (French and German), and IMDb.

Fernando Lamas

Handsome, dapper Argentine-born actor Lorenzo Lamas (1915-1982) came to Hollywood as a romantic lead in several colourful MGM extravaganzas and then succeeded in living up to his Latin Lover image in real life.


Vintage postcard, no. 1051. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).


Italian postcard by Vannina, Milano. Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas.


Dutch postcard by DRC, no. F 205. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.). Sent by mail in 1956.

Lana Turner's love interest

Lorenzo Lamas was born Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos in 1915 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied drama at school in his native country and later enrolled in a law course at college. His strong leaning towards athletic pursuits prevailed, and he abandoned his studies to take up horse riding, winning trophies, fencing and boxing (middleweight amateur title) and becoming the South American Freestyle Swimming Champion of 1937.

While still in his teens, he appeared on stage, then on radio, and by the age of 24, in his first motion picture. His 14 Argentine films included Navidad de los pobres / Christmas with the Poor (Manuel Romero, 1947), El tango vuelve a París / The Tango Returns to Paris (Manuel Romero, 1948), and La historia del tango / The Story of the Tango (Manuel Romero, 1949).

For Republic, he appeared in a supporting role in the Swashbuckler The Avengers (John H. Auer, 1950) with John Carroll, shot on location in Argentina. Some scenes were filmed in the US, leading to Lamas going to Hollywood. In 1949, he was signed by MGM and went on to play 'Latin Lover' roles.

He had a star part as Lana Turner's love interest in the Technicolour musical The Merry Widow (Curtis Bernhardt, 1952), a solid hit. He romanced Elizabeth Taylor in The Girl Who Had Everything (Richard Thorpe, 1952), which was also successful. He charmed Esther Williams in another A-grade production, Dangerous When Wet (Charles Walters, 1953).

He also spent time 'on loan' to Paramount, who featured him in several Pine-Thomas B-movies, such as the 3-D Technicolour Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953) and Jivaro / Lost Treasure of the Amazon (Edward Ludwig, 1954). His sole appearance on Broadway was in the 1957 play 'Happy Hunting'. There was considerable friction between him and co-star Ethel Merman, both on and off-stage. Lamas was nonetheless nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor, but had the misfortune of coming up against Rex Harrison's Professor Higgins in 'My Fair Lady'.


Vintage postcard, no. 83. Fernando Lamas in The Avengers (John H. Auer, 1950).


Spanish postcard. Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas in Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953). Sent by mail in 1954.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 810. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Publicity still for Jivaro (Edward Ludwig, 1954).


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag (FFV), no. FK 338. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

First of the Red Hot Lamas

In real life, Fernando Lamas proudly lived up to his reputation as a ladies' man. His effortless charm and way with the ladies earned him the moniker 'First of the Red Hot Lamas'. With two ex-wives back in Argentina, actress Perla Mux and Lydia Barachi, he conducted well-publicised affairs with most of his female co-stars, including one with Lana Turner, which began while filming The Merry Widow (Curtis Bernhardt, 1952).

Actress Arlene Dahl, who appeared with him in Sangaree (Edward Ludwig, 1953) and The Diamond Queen (John Brahm, 1953), became his third wife from 1954 till 1960, and fellow swimming champion Esther Williams his fourth from 1969 till his death.

In Europe, he appeared in such films as Duello nella sila / Duel of Fire (Umberto Lenzi, 1962) with Liana Orfei. Lamas himself directed the Spanish film La fuente mágica / Magic fountain (Fernando Lamas, 1963), with himself and Esther Williams playing the lead roles. He also helped to write the Eurowestern Die Hölle von Manitoba / A Place Called Glory (Sheldon Reynolds, 1965), starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice.

Lamas returned to Hollywood. From then on, he began to concentrate on television, alternating between acting in a recurring role as Playboy Ramon de Vega in Run for Your Life (1965) and directing episodes of shows like Mannix (1967), Alias Smith and Jones (1971), The Rookies (1972) and House Calls (1979). He directed another feature film, The Violent Ones (Fernando Lamas, 1967), with Aldo Ray and David Carradine.

Lamas was in Kill a Dragon (Michael D. Moore, 1967) with Jack Palance, and 100 Rifles (Tom Gries, 1969) with Jim Brown and Raquel Welch. His final film was The Cheap Detective (Robert Moore, 1978) with Peter Falk. Fernando Lamas died in 1982 in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer. He was 67. He was the father of two daughters and of actor Lorenzo Lamas, best known for his roles in TV soaps like Falcon Crest (1981-1990) and The Bold and the Beautiful (2004-2006).


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit., no. 2975. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 504. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1954.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 71. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 339. Photo: MGM.

Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.