Rosemary DeCamp Biography

Fast Facts

• Conducted a playwriting contest at Torrance High School for 19 years and suportd various other arts and historical groups in her community
• The Institute of Family Relations honored her with its Mother of Distinction award for glorifying American motherhood in her films
• Studied education at Mill's College in Oakland, Calif
• Before her movie career, she discovered radio, on which she played such characters as Nurse Judy on the entire 16-year run of "Dr․ Christian․"
• After moving to New York, she first worked as a theater critic before securing a walk-on role in a Broadway show
• Taught speech and dramatic arts for a year, but decided that despite her mother's wishes, she didn't like teaching
• Frequently played matronly roles as a warm, capable mother, often relying on makeup to make her appear older than she really was
• A copper enamellist, she staged one-woman art shows at the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry and several galleries
• Her Beverly Hills home was damaged when Howard Hughes crashed the experimental XF-11 nearby
• Wrote "Here Duke," a children's novel, and "Tales From Hollywood," her memoirs released as an audio book