Joanne Dru Biography

Joanne Dru

Actress who made her mark as the leading lady of such classic westerns as Red River (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Wagonmaster (1950). Originally a model and a Broadway showgirl, in 1941 Dru went with her first husband, pop singer Dick Haymes, to Hollywood, where she was discovered by a talent scout while working at a theatre. Her early work in westerns, often opposite John Wayne, brought fame, but left her typecast in westerns for most of her career. She had 3 children with Haymes and died in California in 1996.