365:. As Dagmar, Lewis was instructed to wear a low-cut gown, sit on a stool, and play the role of a stereotypical dumb blonde. With tight sweaters displaying the 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) Lewis' curvy figure, her dim-bulb character was an immediate success, soon attracting much more attention than Lester. Lewis quickly showed that regardless of appearances, she was quite bright and quick-witted. Her appearances created a sensation, leading to much press coverage and a salary increase from $ 75 to $ 1,250. With Dagmar getting all the attention and Lester burned out from having to create new material five nights per week, Lester walked off his own show in May 1951, and Dagmar became the host until the show was cancelled in August 1951.
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through much of the 1950s, and then to bandleader Dick Hinds in 1967. After years on the nightclub circuit, she moved to Ceredo, West
Virginia, in June 1996 to be near her family. In her last years, she lived with her brother Bob Egnor and his wife. Dagmar died in Ceredo on October 9, 2001, of
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471:(which aired on NBC at 12:15 am Eastern Time), in which she sang, danced, interviewed servicemen, and performed comedy routines. The basic premise of the show was that servicemen from the audience were given roles to act with Dagmar in sketches.
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Egnor adopted Jennie Lewis as her stage name (taken from her real-life married name, Virginia Lewis). To keep herself busy, she became a fashion photographer's model, and in 1944, other models encouraged her to audition for comedians
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spoke glowingly of her in an interview, stating that she had given him his big break as her accompanist early in his career. In the 1950s, Dagmar was a regular panelist on the game show
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Egnor was born in Yawkey, West
Virginia, and went to high school in Huntington, West Virginia, where she was known as Ruthie. She attended Huntington Business School and worked at
478:. Jean previously worked as a chorus girl on Broadway, and served as Dagmar's secretary, handling her sister's fan mail, which sometimes soared to 8,000 letters per month.
267:, was an American actress, model, and television personality. In the 1950s she became one of the first major female stars of television, receiving much press coverage.
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undisclosed causes, aged 79. In 2006, she was among the early people to be inducted into the newly formed West
Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the
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projections on the front ends of
Cadillacs, Buicks, Packards, and other U.S. automobiles, an allusion to the actress's physique and trademark attire.
287:. After her marriage to Angelo Lewis in 1941, she moved to New York, where he was a naval officer, stationed at Navy Ferry Command on Long Island.
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355:(1950â51), he renamed her Dagmar. Lester devised the name as a satirical reference following the huge success on television of the TV series
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photographers followed her to rehearsals and accompanied her on a vacation to her home town in West
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Dagmar became one of the leading personalities of early 1950s live television, doing sketch comedy on
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When her television show ended, Dagmar performed in Las Vegas shows and summer stock theater.
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Dagmar was one of a number of performers who posed for pictures in the
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After her marriage to Angelo Lewis ended, she was married to actor
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One of Dagmar's sisters, Jean, was a member of the cast of
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In 1952, she hosted the short-lived, late
Saturday evening
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785:"Dagmar, Foxy Blonde With First-Name Status in 50's"
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photographed Dagmar for the July 16, 1951, issue of
666:. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Archived from
184:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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American actress, model, TV personality (1921â2001)
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838:35 (1999): "The Delightful Dagmar" (full text)
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913:People from Lincoln County, West Virginia
748:United Kingdom: Little, Brown Book Group.
538:), and during the 1960s, she appeared on
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660:"WV Film Office â Famous WV Connections"
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693:""The Delightful Dagmar,"
561:published in 1965, as the
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66:Yawkey, West Virginia
42:Publicity photo, 1958
836:Huntington Quarterly
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19:For other uses, see
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402:Colgate Comedy Hour
390:Texaco Star Theater
352:Broadway Open House
52:Virginia Ruth Egnor
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590:Danny Dayton
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176:Please help
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126:Danny Dayton
114:Angelo Lewis
98:Jennie Lewis
79:(2001-10-09)
888:2001 deaths
883:1921 births
559:First Lady,
429:to record "
415:Phil Foster
409:and guests
319:chorus girl
877:Categories
794:2009-02-03
731:2022-10-02
707:2008-11-20
646:References
639:Dagmar car
405:with host
341:Television
317:Playing a
271:Early life
204:newspapers
138:Dick Hinds
58:1921-11-29
697:35, 1999"
567:courtesan
563:soubrette
436:Billboard
425:producer
327:Burlesque
323:Bert Lahr
298:Ole Olsen
285:soda jerk
279:, in the
277:Walgreens
111:Spouse(s)
841:Archived
674:April 4,
601:See also
488:Liberace
291:Broadway
823:at the
496:, with
218:scholar
859:Dagmar
850:Dagmar
821:Dagmar
812:Dagmar
578:chrome
557:novel
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438:charts
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144:1967;
132:1951;
120:1941;
87:, U.S.
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30:Dagmar
261:Egnor
259:(nÊe
225:JSTOR
211:books
148:19??)
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816:IMDb
759:Life
676:2017
453:Life
445:Life
377:Life
358:Mama
300:and
197:news
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74:Died
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