Angela Greene & Turkey

Angela Greene (1921-1978)

Angela Greene (Dublin, 1921 – Los Angeles, 1978) was an Irish actress. At the age of six she was adopted by her uncle Eddie Greene and moved to Flushing, Queens. Starting out as a model, she became a popular WWII pin-up girl and her image graced the nose of the US bomber Skipper 2, which flew 25 missions over North Africa and Europe.

Despite her looks and talent, Greene was too independent-minded for a starring career in Hollywood. She once turned down a Paramount contract because she objected to being called a "starlet", claiming "Girls given that label get stuck with bit parts, pin ups, and wolves".

Nevertheless she played in many movies like Hollywood Canteen (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Day of the Locust (1975) and Futureworld (1976). She co-starred with Johnny Weissmuller in Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1951) and she was one of Elvis Presley's amours in Tickle Me (1965). She also appeared in dozens of TV shows like The Cisco Kid, The Donna Reed Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Batman, The Waltons, and Baretta.

Angela Greene (Hollywood Canteen press photo)

During the early 1940s she was one of John F. Kennedy’s girlfriends when he was a naval lieutenant. She married businessman Stuart Martin and had three children. Greene later took up painting seriously and had several exhibitions of her work. She died of a stroke, just two weeks before turning 57.