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Phyllis Kirk

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Actress

The Resume

    (September 18, 1927-October 19, 2006)
    Born in Syracuse, New York
    Birth name was Phyllis Kirkgaard
    Portrayed Nora Charles in the TV adaptation of 'The Thin Man' (1957-59)
    Appeared in the films 'Our Very Own' (1950), 'House of Wax' (1953), 'Johnny Concho' (1956), and 'The Sad Sack' (1957)

Why she might be annoying:

    Different sources give her birth year anywhere from 1926 to 1930.
    She admitted that if she had not been a studio contract player, she would have turned down her best-remembered movie, 'House of Wax': 'I was not interested in becoming the Fay Wray of my times.'
    Her costumes for 'House of Wax' were so heavily padded ('I had practically no bosom at all, so they had to do something.') that director Andre de Toth jabbed a pin into her bustline and left it there when she didn't notice.
    Her 'Guardian' obituary dismissed most of her screen roles as 'bland.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    A bout of childhood polio may have been responsible for mobility problems she suffered late in life.
    A Hollywood columnist described her as 'a real cutie -- a combination of Colleen Moore and Lana Turner.'
    Despite her misgivings, she enjoyed the actual filming of 'House of Wax': 'It was just fun. Vincent Price was a divine man.'
    After the 1965 Watts riots, she funded two preschool programs for underprivileged families in south Los Angeles.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 5.26% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 11 Votes: 27.27% Annoying