Faith Domergue

Short Biography

Faith Domergue Actress - 16 Jun 1924 to 4 Apr 1999 - Brunette beauty Faith Domergue was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 16, 1924. In the early 1930s, her family relocated to California, where Domergue completed her education and took piano and singing lessons. When she was still in high school, Domergue was put under contract by Warner Bros., but after Howard Hughes saw the beautiful budding actress, he bought Domergue's contract. After she completed her studies and graduated from high school, she began training as an actress. In 1947, she married Hugo Fregonese, a director of Italian descent who was born in Argentina.Faith Domergue's first major film role came in Vendetta. Production of the film actually began in 1947, although the film wasn't released until 1950 due to a series of production mishaps, hirings, and firings. The experience filming Vendetta proved so horrendous that Domergue was no longer eager to pursue an acting career. She left the U.S. with Fregonese after shooting wrapped on the picture. Following the birth of her daughter, Domergue returned to the US in 1950 and resumed her career. She once again signed with Howard Hughes and went to work on the RKO film Where Danger Lives. Neither Vendetta nor Where Danger Lives were box-office successes, and eventually Faith Domergue asked Hughes to end her contract. In 1952, Domergue signed a two-picture-per-year deal with Universal-International where, after years of promise, she was finally showcased in a number of memorable films. Her first picture at Universal was The Duel at Silver Creek (1952; with Audie Murphy). During filming of Cult of the Cobra, Faith Domergue's marriage to Hugo Fregonese unraveled, and the couple divorced. Whereas Domergue had once been free to put her career on hold for periods of time, as a single mother with two children to support she threw herself into acting, making seven films and starring in a TV series between 1955 and 1957. Into the 1960s, Faith Domergue's films became more sporadic, although she did appear often on popular television programs of the day; see the filmography section for more information. After her 1966 marriage to agent Paola Cossa, Domergue began to cool her acting career. Her last film was the entertaining 1974 horror flick The House of Seven Corpses. Sadly, after a bout with cancer Faith Domergue passed away on April 4, 1999, at age 74. She was survived by a son and daughter.