Colleen Alpaugh

William Bendix's horrible thuggish villain in The Dark Corner (1946) can't get a break. Not only does his complex criminal scheme require him to wear a white suit, which is impossible to keep clean, but every time he goes to the payphone in his incredibly depressing boarding house he's plagued by this half-starved waif who sits on the steps and stares -- sits and stares! Sits and stares! What does she want? Is she an imbecile? Why doesn't she speak? Why does she blow on that slide whistle whenever he walks away? One of these days, he's going to make some big-time dough off of one of his schemes and he's going to rent himself a big pad on the upper east side, one of them big swanky joints with the marble lions and the potted palms all over the place; the kind of establishment where you don't gotta have Little Orphan Annie gazing at you with those big eyes all the time, where a guy don't haveta get grime all over his suit just from lying on his goddam bed.

Actually, one of these days he's going to get pitched out of the 43rd floor of a skyscraper by his evil boss, but he doesn't know that at this point.

The girl is played by Colleen Alpaugh, who was nine years old at the time.

For a lot of the bit-part actors whose lives I've been able to find out anything about, acting was a career that came along after other things had dried up. In many cases, the thing that dried up was Vaudeville or one of the other traditional pre-movie entertainments. Colleen Alpaugh's story is entirely the opposite, however. This film is the first of only two she appeared in -- by the time she was 11, she was out of movies for good.

In 1948, the year of her second bit part, her name appeared as a prize-winner in a list of acts at a local horse show: "Colleen Alpaugh, Junior Roper". In the years following this breakthrough, she features in advertisements like this one:

As a tiny movie cowgirl roping artist, she appeared on the bill whenever Nep Hovey was booked to MC at hoedowns and hootenannies that were held at the openings of superstores, mini-marts and so on across California. Who was Nep Hovey? No idea. He supped no sarsparillas in the background of any 1940s B-movies, so he's of no concern to us. Maybe he was a radio guy; the internet hasn't bothered itself too much with them.

The next time Colleen shows up, in 1954, she's working with the Clyde Beatty circus, one of the biggest travelling circuses in America:

At 18, she's one of the best elephant trainers in the country. So the circus tells us, and why would we argue with the circus? Another paper reports excitedly that patrons of the circus can see her "in a display of mighty mammals in the most unusual exhibition of pachydermic skill the world has ever known."

A year later, a journalist in Long Beach interviewed the characters he encountered as he roamed around the Clyde Beatty circus trailers. He came across Colleen, an "elephant girl", sitting on the steps of the wardrobe wagon that was operated by her mother, Beth. (Did Colleen's mother work in the circus in order to chaperone Colleen or did Colleen end up in the circus because her mother was a circus person? A mystery.) The journalist had seen the elephants in their cages and thought they might be a little frightening for such a young girl to work with. Colleen told him: "I got squashed between two elephants. It didn't hurt much. It was only for a few seconds. I'm still here." As she rose to go into the trailer, she said, "I'm not afraid of elephants or any other animals. Just spiders."

Even if she wasn't afraid of them, she must have been aware of the ever-present danger of being squashed. Perhaps those few asphyxiating seconds when the brutish creatures unwittingly pressed together, enveloping her in their cracked, grey hides and squeezing the breath from her lungs convinced her that she should diversify. Or perhaps there's only so long you can be an elephant girl before you get tired of looking at elephants all the time. In any case, by 1961, she's become an aerialist as well, as we find out the next time she appears in the press:

She's 24 by this time, and it's the last time she shows up in the papers, as far as I can see. What became of her? Most likely, she got married, had kids and stopped performing. Would you be happier if you'd found out she'd perished tragically when, terrified by the sight of a loathsome spider that had accidentally smuggled itself onto her trapeze, she let go and plummeted to the sawdust, where she was squashed by an elephant? I admit it would make a neat end to this story, which we don't have otherwise.

She was born in 1937, so, as I write this, she's either just turned 70 or is just about to. In lieu of a proper ending, I'll finish with a photograph of her from 1959, which I found on a brilliant website run by an old circus performer who posts snapshots of old-time circuses and circus people. She's second from the right, with her eyes closed.

Happy 70th birthday, Colleen!

Sources -- www.newspaperarchive.com (The Van Nuys News, 17 November 1949; Humboldt Standard, 13 May 1954; Long Beach Press-Telegram, 11 April 1955; The Chronicle Telegram, 31 July 1961), http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com , Stills from The Dark Corner (1946) (c)20th Century Fox

Comments

[desiredusername]

She was born in 1947, so, as I write this, she's either just turned 70 or is just about to...

Check your math.

(Brill blog, btw)

[Diarmid]

Thanks for pointing out that idiotic mistake. I should have said that she was born in 1937, not 1947. I've changed the entry now, so no one but you and I and anyone who reads these comments will know I was so stupid...

[Dave Wright]

Found a Colleen Alpaugh, born 1937, who married a gentleman by the name of Augustine Deleon (there's a circus name!) in Riverside CA in 1968. There's a Colleen Deleon currently living in Sacramento, hopefully in happy retirement, entertaining grandchildren with tales of the big top... (if I have the right person, of course!)

Great stuff, as always!

[Diarmid]

Excellent investigation results! The marriage lead looks good to me, as those dates would be a pretty good match. Good work!

[Dave Wright]

Hey, you're the professional investigator...I'm just the down on his luck shamus handling the little cases. Keep up the great work!!

[Elaine Little]

I am the niece of Colleen Alpaugh, Elaine Alpaugh Little. You're correct. She gave up her career of professional modeling and acting, when she married Augustine Poncedeleon and she had 4 children. In her day, it was expected that when a woman married, she forsake having a career to raise her children and creating a loving home for her family. I know she made the right decision for her. She still loves all animals and especially horses. My Uncle Augustine's name corrected is "Poncedeleon" not "Deleon" and he was not employed in the circus. Actually, he was a fine home builder and built a home for Liberace and other celebrities in Hollywood, long before he retired. Colleen Alpaugh Poncedeleon lives in Riverside and was born in 1947. She was a very beautiful woman and had natural platinum blonde hair and is a very loving and kind aunt, mother and grandmother. No, she is not afraid of elephants to this day, but like me she is afraid of spiders and mice.

I've been told that I look very much like her and it's true, and I remember her being in the circus and riding me on her elephant and on her horses. She has a love for animals and protecting their habitats and I believe her fondness for all of God's creatures influenced my love for animals, too. She has been happily married for decades.

[diarmid mogg]

Hi Elaine - thanks for taking the time to write! It's great to hear from a relative of one of the people I've researched, and it's good to know that Colleen's doing well.

[sochie]

her grandaughter is belle codner look her up on facebook

[Gina]

Colleen is my mother, I talk to her every day. She is doing great, still married, always optimistic and full of laughter all of the time:) Lives in Ventura, CA. She really misses her elephants!

[diarmid mogg]

Thanks for writing, Gina! Very glad to hear that Colleen's doing well!

[steve]

Thought you might find this of interest: The Turner Classic Movies website lists Colleen as appearing in not 2 films but 3 - the 2 you mention plus "Ring of Fear" (1954). IMDB does not mention this under Colleen's bio but "Ring of Fear" does take place in the Beatty circus.

[diarmid mogg]

That's very interesting news, Steve. I'll see if I can track down a copy. Thanks for the tip.