Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s. Early life Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter was born in 1917 and grew up in Joliet in Will County in northeastern Illinois. Her parents were John Totter, who was born in Slovenia with birth name Janez, and Ida Mae Totter. Her father was of Austro-Slovenian descent and her mother was Swedish American. She had two brothers, Folger and George, and a sister, Collette. Totter graduated from Joliet High School, where she acted in school plays. She was a Methodist who began her career performing in several productions for her local church, as well as being involved with the YWCA players. Career Radio Totter began her acting career in radio in the late 1930s in Chicago, only 40 miles northeast of Joliet. She played in soap operas, including Painted Dreams, Ma Perkins, and Bright Horizon. Film Following success in Chicago and New York City, Totter was signed to a seven-year film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). She made her film debut in Main Street After Dark (1945) and established herself as a popular female lead in the 1940s. Due to Totter's limited skill as a singer, MGM used Harriet Lee as her voice double in the 1945 film, Dangerous Partners. Although she performed in various film genres, she became most widely known to movie audiences for her work in film noir. Looking back, Totter stated in August 1999, "The bad girls were so much fun to play. I wouldn't have wanted to play the Coleen Gray good-girl parts." Among her successes were: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) with John Garfield and Lana Turner Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery and Jayne Meadows The Unsuspected (1947 for Warner Bros.) with Claude Rains High Wall (1947) with Robert Taylor The Saxon Charm (1948) with Robert Montgomery, Susan Hayward, and John Payne Alias Nick Beal (1949) with Ray Milland The Set-Up (1949) with Robert Ryan Any Number Can Play (1949) with Clark Gable and Alexis Smith Tension (1950) with Richard Basehart The Blue Veil (1951) with Jane Wyman FBI Girl (1951) with Cesar Romero and George Brent The Sellout (1952) with Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, and Paula Raymond By the early 1950s, the tough-talking "dames" she was best known for portraying were no longer