American actress, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer star who achieved notability during the 1950s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. Best known for co-starring in science fiction adventure film Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), her other noted films include the comedy A Southern Yankee (1948) and film noir Reign of Terror (1949).
The only daughter of a Minnesota Ford dealer with Norwegian ancestry, Dahl left for Chicago at age 15 to pursue a modeling career. She then went on to New York to become the first Clairol redhead. Warner Bros. brought her to Hollywood in 1947. She signed with MGM in 1948 where she made The Bride Goes Wild (1948) and Three Little Words (1950). She had four years on a TV soap, One Life to Live from 1981–1984. She later became a cosmetics businesswoman. After writing 16 health and beauty books, she published her first novel in 1987, The Corporate Body.
A great beauty, Dahl was married six times, the last to 18-year-younger Mark Rosen. Her first marriage to actor Lex Barker of Tarzan fame lasted only seven months. Dahl’s second marriage, to actor Fernando Lamas, lasted seven years until Lamas left her for actress-swimmer Esther Williams. They had a son, Lorenzo Lamas, who became an actor as well. She was also married to oilman Christian Holmes III, father of a daughter, Carole; wine expert Alexis Lichine and investor Rounsevelle Schaum, father of son Sonny. While still a starlet, Dahl saw John F. Kennedy off and on for two years and father Joseph Kennedy is reputed to have called her saying that John was very serious about her and would she consider converting to Catholicism.
She accepted the theory of reincarnation, was a very good numerologist and avidly followed astrology, becoming a practicing pro herself. She wrote a syndicated astrology column and later operating a premium phoneline company. Dahl wrote more than two dozen books on the topics of beauty and astrology.
In her later years she divided her time between New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. She died in her Manhattan apartment on 29 November 2021 at the age of 96.
Link to Wikipedia biography