Actress. A glamorous model in her teens, she went on to a significant film and television career. Born Monica Elizabeth Freeman, she started modeling early and became known as the face of the New York Subway system after being selected as Miss Subways 1941. Signed for RKO by Howard Hughes, she saw her contract sold to Paramount and made her 1944 silver screen bow in "Till We Meet Again." Eternally cast, sometimes to her frustration, as a teenager, she had roles in 1945's "Junior Miss," the 1947 "Mother Wore Tights," "Dear Wife," "The Streets of Laredo," and "The Heiress" (all 1949), 1951's "Dear Brat," the 1952 "Angel Face," and 1955's "Battle Cry." Mona bade farewell to film with the 1957 "Dragon Wells Massacre," toured with Edward G. Robinson in a 1958 production of Paddy Chayefsky's "Middle of the Night," and over the next years was a small screen regular. Seen in "Wagon Train," "Maverick," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," and in multiple episodes of the "United States Steel Hour" and "Perry Mason," she earned her 1972 final credit with "Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol." In later years, she ran an art studio and gallery and became a portrait painter of note, her best-known work being the familiar image of Mrs. Mary See, which is the trademark of See's Candy stores. Mona lived out her days in Beverly Hills and died following a protracted illness. She said of her decision to leave show business, "I didn't dislike acting, but when I no longer needed the money, I lost all interest."
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945. The couple had one daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, she married H. Jack Ellis, a businessman from Los Angeles.
She died on May 23, 2014, at the age of 87, after a long illness, at her Beverly Hills home.
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945. The couple had one daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, she married H. Jack Ellis, a businessman from Los Angeles.
She died on May 23, 2014, at the age of 87, after a long illness, at her Beverly Hills home.
Actress. A glamorous model in her teens, she went on to a significant film and television career. Born Monica Elizabeth Freeman, she started modeling early and became known as the face of the New York Subway system after being selected as Miss Subways 1941. Signed for RKO by Howard Hughes, she saw her contract sold to Paramount and made her 1944 silver screen bow in "Till We Meet Again." Eternally cast, sometimes to her frustration, as a teenager, she had roles in 1945's "Junior Miss," the 1947 "Mother Wore Tights," "Dear Wife," "The Streets of Laredo," and "The Heiress" (all 1949), 1951's "Dear Brat," the 1952 "Angel Face," and 1955's "Battle Cry." Mona bade farewell to film with the 1957 "Dragon Wells Massacre," toured with Edward G. Robinson in a 1958 production of Paddy Chayefsky's "Middle of the Night," and over the next years was a small screen regular. Seen in "Wagon Train," "Maverick," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," and in multiple episodes of the "United States Steel Hour" and "Perry Mason," she earned her 1972 final credit with "Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol." In later years, she ran an art studio and gallery and became a portrait painter of note, her best-known work being the familiar image of Mrs. Mary See, which is the trademark of See's Candy stores. Mona lived out her days in Beverly Hills and died following a protracted illness. She said of her decision to leave show business, "I didn't dislike acting, but when I no longer needed the money, I lost all interest."
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945. The couple had one daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, she married H. Jack Ellis, a businessman from Los Angeles.
She died on May 23, 2014, at the age of 87, after a long illness, at her Beverly Hills home.
Freeman married Pat Nerney, a car dealer, in Los Angeles in 1945. The couple had one daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, she married H. Jack Ellis, a businessman from Los Angeles.
She died on May 23, 2014, at the age of 87, after a long illness, at her Beverly Hills home.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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