Born December 10, 1914

New Orleans, Louisiana

Died September 22, 1996

Los Angeles, California

Film actress

"Newspaper clippings document my whole last [war] bond tour in which I traveled 1,500 miles in nine days, visited 25 cities, and sold $31,439,515 worth of bonds."
Dorothy Lamour. The Kobal Collection. Reproduced by permission.

Dorothy Lamour was a famous Hollywood actress known as "the bond bombshell" because of her volunteer work selling U.S. war bonds during World War II (1939–45). The sale of war bonds became a patriotic way for those on the home front to contribute to the national defense and war effort. It was a unique combination of patriotism and consumerism that sold $185.7 billion in securities (bonds). Over the course of the war, Lamour sold some $300 million of the bonds around the country. Other members of Hollywood's entertainment community used their celebrity status to help sell war bonds, but Lamour was credited...