Monique van Vooren | |
Birth Date: | 25 March 1927 |
Birth Place: | Brussels, Belgium |
Death Place: | Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
Nationality: | Belgian-American |
Other Names: | Monique Vooren |
Citizenship: | United States |
Occupation: | Actress, dancer |
Years Active: | 1950–2012 |
Spouse: | |
Children: | 1 |
Monique van Vooren (March 25, 1927 – January 25, 2020) was a Belgian-American actress, singer, and dancer whose credits included onscreen roles in Tarzan and the She-Devil, Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, the television series Batman, and Wall Street.[3]
Born Monique Bronz in Brussels to George Bronz (or Bronze) and Louise van Vooren, Monique was a champion skater and a beauty queen in Belgium. She reportedly studied philosophy at New York University on a Fulbright scholarship, and languages, learning to speak English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. "I can also read Greek and Latin," she stated.[4] Her first visit to the United States apparently took place in 1946 at age 19, with the married name "Jakobson" and listed as a "housewife."[5] [6] Her second husband was Kurt (or Curt) Henry Pfenniger. Her third husband was New York businessman Gerard Walter Purcell. The couple were married from 1958 until Purcell's death in 2002.[1]
On Broadway, Van Vooren played in John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953–54) and Man on the Moon (1975).[7] In the 1960s, Van Vooren also starred in summer stock theatre productions in the United States.
She had roles in numerous films from 1950 to 1979.
On television, she appeared in a 1959 NBC adaptation What Makes Sammy Run? and as Miss Clean on Batman (1968).
In 1956, she signed a contract with Request Records, and in 1958, Van Vooren recorded an album, Mink in HiFi for RCA Victor. She appeared frequently in cabaret performances[8] and on game shows including To Tell the Truth and Password.
In 1981, Signet published Night Sanctuary, written by Van Vooren.[9] She described the book as being about "the dark side of people."[10]
In 1983, Van Vooren was found guilty of lying before a federal grand jury and "ordered to get psychiatric help and perform 500 hours of community service as part of a suspended sentence."[11] The sentence resulted from an investigation of "whether she had pocketed her dead mother's Social Security payments."[11] Van Vooren died of cancer in Manhattan on January 25, 2020, leaving behind a son, Eric Purcell, and granddaughter.[12]