Ona Munson

She was typecast in similar roles, and in 1955, plagued by ill health, she committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates in her apartment in New York. She died of Leukemia in 2000. Ona Munson’s career was stalemated by the acclaim of GWTW. Peters remarried after divorcing Hughes, and returned to acting with a few roles on television. Tallulah Bankhead refused the role as too small. She would state only that she had not seen Hughes for several years before their divorce. Early on, Selznick had announced Mae West was to play Belle, but this was of course a publicity stunt. The usually-paranoid Hughes surprised his aides when he did not insist on a confidentiality agreement from Peters; aides reported Peters was one of the few people Hughes never disparaged. Peters refused to discuss her life with Hughes, and declined several lucrative offers to do so.

The needed look for Belle could be created in the wardrobe and makeup departments. She agreed to a lifetime alimony payment of US$70,000 annually, adjusted for inflation, and she waived all claims to Hughes' estate. She spoke deep and throaty in her test, and her voice conveyed sexiness and worldliness. In 1971, Peters and Hughes divorced. But her skills as an actress electrified her screen test: it was all in the voice. She retired from acting during the marriage. She was the antithesis of the voluptuous Belle: tall, freckled, and of slight build. In 1957, Peters married Howard Hughes, shortly before he faded from public view and became an eccentric recluse.

She introduced the song "You're the Cream In My Coffee," to New York audiences. He thought Peters had the right blend of sex appeal and the tough-talking, streetwise characteristics he was seeking, and that Monroe was too innocent looking for the role. 1955) Ona Munson was an improbable choice to play the whiskey-voiced prostitute with a heart of gold, Belle Watling, in "Gone With the Wind." Born Ona Wolcott in Portland, Oregon in 1903, she first came to fame on Broadway as the singing and dancing ingenue in the original production of "No, No, Nanette." She had a very successful stage and radio career in the 1930’s in New York. Director Samuel Fuller chose Peters over Marilyn Monroe for the part of Candy in 1953's Pickup On South Street. 1903, d. Her first film, 1947's Captain from Castile with Tyrone Power was a hit, and Leonard Maltin writes that afterwards Peters spent the new decade playing "sexy spitfires, often in period dramas and Westerns." [1] (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676492/bio). ONA MUNSON (American actress, b. After competing in a beauty contest in 1946, Peters went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.

Elizabeth Jean Peters (born October 15, 1926 in Canton, Ohio, died October 13, 2000) was an American actress.