LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12 -- Actress Joanne Dru, who exemplified the Hollywood image of a frontier woman in several 1940s and 1950s western films, has died of respiratory failure at her Beverly Hills home. She was 73. Dru, a former model whose real name was Joanne LaCock, died Tuesday night after suffering from lymphedema, an accumulation of lymph in tissues that leads to swelling, mainly in the legs. Dru's brother Peter Marshall -- known best as the host of television's long running 'Hollywood Squares' game show -- said donations for Dru should be sent to the National Lymphedema Network in San Francisco. Dru was born in Logan, W. Va. on Jan. 31, 1923 and began her film career in 1946 when she moved to California with then-husband Dick Haymes after starting out in New York on Broadway chorus lines. She made her debut in 'Abie's Irish Rose,' where director Howard Hawk first spotted her and cast her in his 1948 Western classic, 'Red River.' Following her 'Red River' role, Dru was immediately typecast as a Western heroine, which she accepted but confessed to columnist Hedda Hopper she didn't like very much. 'While a western is a good bet for the producer and the male star, it seldom does anything for the woman in it,' Dru told Hopper in 1957. 'And those long gingham dresses with boned bodices are miserable things to wear.' Dru also starred with John Wayne in the 1949 movie 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,' followed by John Ford's 'Wagon Master,' Disney's 'Light in the Forest,' 'All The King's Men,' 'Return of the Texan,' 'Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell' and 'Southwest Passage.'
Dru occasionally stepped outside her typical Western role, with a memorable comedy role in the Dizzy Dean biography, 'Pride of St. Louis, ' which also starred Dan Dailey and Dale Robertson. Dru made television appearances during her film career in 'Playhouse 90' presentations and starred with J. Carrol Naish in the 1960-61 series 'Guestward Ho,' which centered around a New York couple who became fed up with city life and took over a New Mexico dude ranch. But Dru's film career dissipated with the popularity of western movies and she retreated from the public spotlight. After divorcing her first husband, Dru married actor John Ireland in 1949 and divorced him in 1956. The actress was later married to developer C.V. Wood for 22 years. She is survived by her two children, Richard Haymes and Joanna Santos; her brother Marshall and another brother, David Moss; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled for Sept. 22 at Christ Church in Los Angeles, Marshall said.
