Angie Dickinson

About Angie Dickinson

Angie Dickinson (born September 30, 1931) is a Golden Globe-winning American television and film actress, perhaps best known for her role as Sergeant Leann "Pepper" Anderson in the 1970s crime drama Police Woman.

Dickinson, the second of three daughters, was born Angeline Brown in Kulm, North Dakota, the daughter of Frederica and Leo H. Brown, who was a small-town newspaper publisher and editor. Dickinson's first job was selling Hershey's Kisses for five cents, so her sisters could buy ice cream cones. In 1942, her family moved to Burbank, California. She graduated from Bellamarine Jefferson High School in 1947, at 15 years of age. The previous year, she won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights essay contest. She studied at Glendale Community College and in 1954 graduated from Immaculate Heart College with a degree in business. Taking a cue from her publisher father, she originally intended to be a writer. While a student from 1950-52, she worked as a secretary at Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank (now Bob Hope Airport) and in a parts factory.

In 1953, she placed second in a beauty pageant. Soon after her first marriage to Gene Dickinson, she decided to pursue an acting career under the name Angie Dickinson. She was approached by NBC to guest-star on a number of variety shows, including The Colgate Comedy Hour. She soon met Frank Sinatra who became a lifelong friend. She played Sinatra's wife in the film Ocean's Eleven.