Monique van Vooren | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Van Vooren in 1957 | |
| Born | March 25, 1927 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | January 25, 2020 (aged 92) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Nationality | Belgian-American |
| Other names | Monique Vooren |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, dancer |
| Years active | 1950–2012 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Monique van Vooren (March 25, 1927 – January 25, 2020) was a Belgian-American actress and dancer.
Born in Brussels to George Bronz (or Bronze) and Louise van Vooren, Monique was a champion skater and a beauty queen in Belgium. She reportedly studied philosophy and languages and learned to speak English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. "I can also read Greek and Latin," she stated.[3] Her first visit to the United States apparently took place in 1946 at age 19, with the married name "Jakobson" and listed as a "housewife".[4][5] Her second husband was Kurt (or Curt) Henry Pfenniger. Her third husband was New York businessman Gerard Walter Purcell. The couple were married from 1958 until Purcell's death in 2002.[1]
On Broadway, Van Vooren played in John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953–54) and Man on the Moon (1975).[6] In the 1960s, Van Vooren starred in summer stock theatre productions in the United States.[5] Van Vooren recorded an album, Mink in HiFi for RCA Victor.[5] In 1956, she signed a contract with Request Records.[7]
In 1983, Signet published Night Sanctuary, written by Van Vooren.[8] She described the book as being about "the dark side of people."[9]
In 1983, Van Vooren was found guilty of lying before a federal grand jury and "ordered to get psychiatric help and perform 500 hours of community service as part of a suspended sentence."[10] The sentence resulted from an investigation of "whether she had pocketed her dead mother's Social Security payments."[10] Van Vooren died of cancer on January 25, 2020.[11]
