Dagmar, the buxom blonde actress who became one of American television's first sex symbols on the pioneering NBC late-night show Broadway Open House, has died at the age of 79. Dagmar, who had been ill in recent years, died on October 9 at her home in West Virginia. Born Virginia Ruth Egnor, she became an overnight sensation as the sexy dumb blonde who appeared with comedians Jerry Lester and Morey Amsterdam on vaudeville-style Broadway Open House, an early 1950s forerunner to The Tonight Show. She also played a nurse on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater, briefly hosted her own TV show, Dagmar's Canteen, and was a regular panelist on ABC's Masquerade Party. Dagmar married three times, but outlived all three of her husbands, including actor Danny Dayton and bandleader Dick Hinds. She is survived by three sisters, three brothers, an aunt and numerous nieces and nephews.
- 10/15/2001
- WENN
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