Veronica Lake

Veronica Lake was known for her trademark "peekaboo" hairstyle that often fell in front of one eye in photos. x-ray_delta_one/Flickr Lake famously cut her hair during World War II to inspire women who were working in factories to wear safer hairstyles.ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER/Flickr At 4'11", Lake was too short to be a model in the traditional sense. But when she became a pinup girl, no one complained about her height.Fox Photos/Getty Images Along with posing as a pinup model, Lake also acted in American war films, such as So Proudly We Hail!Donaldson Collection/Getty Images A cadet shows Veronica Lake his picture on a flight organization board. Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images Though she was initially named Constance Frances Marie Ockelman, she became Veronica Lake at the request of a film producer. As Lake later recalled, "Veronica was for my classic features and Lake was for the coolness people felt looking into my eyes."John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images Lake in her role as Sally Vaughn in I Wanted Wings. Circa 1941. Eugene Robert Richee/John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images A still from I Married a Witch. Circa 1942.tom-margie/Flickr While Lake was considered Hollywood royalty in the early 1940s, her star would decline rather quickly.Kristine/Flickr While some blamed Lake's shorter hair for her declining career, others claimed she was simply difficult to work with.tom-margie/Flickr By the 1950s and 1960s, she was only acting sporadically. Between jobs, she'd sometimes work as a hotel barmaid — which attracted quite a bit of negative attention. John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images Sadly, alcohol abuse got the best of Lake in the end, and she died at age 50 in 1973.Kristine/Flickr Veronica Lake View Gallery

First named Constance Frances Marie Ockelman, Veronica Lake was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 14, 1922. Like Betty Grable, Lake had a mother who pushed her into show business at an early age.

After Lake completed high school, her mother and stepfather moved to Beverly Hills to enroll her into the Bliss Hayden School of Acting. She showed remarkable talents as an actress — and she also fit the physical mold of a starlet.

It didn't take long for Lake to start getting movie roles in the early 1940s. At first, she was still going by her birth name, but then film producer Arthur Hornblow decided to change it. So he simply told her what her new name would be.

"Veronica was for my classic features and Lake was for the coolness people felt looking into my eyes," she remembered.

At just 4'11", Lake wasn't tall enough to be a model in the traditional sense. However, the GIs didn't complain about her height during World War II, as she was one of the most famous pinup models of the era.

Lake embarked on a nationwide tour to sell war bonds and even changed her trademark "peekaboo" hairstyle to help the war effort. By shortening her long hair, she inspired other women follow suit, which prevented them from getting their hair caught in the machines as they worked at the factories.

ImgurVeronica Lake showing what could happen to women in the workforce if they wore their hair too long.

Unfortunately, some say that the hairstyle change also led to the decline of Lake's career. However, others claim that it was her personality that made her hard to work with. Her mother claimed that Lake had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, but it's unknown whether she was telling the truth.

Either way, Lake's time as Hollywood royalty was over by the end of the 1940s. Yet she continued to work sporadically in the 1950s and 1960s. In between acting gigs, she'd sometimes be spotted taking on other jobs, like working as a hotel barmaid.

Sadly, as her star began to dim, alcohol abuse got the best of her. She died of renal failure and a hepatitis infection at age 50 in 1973. In one last sad twist, Lake's ashes reportedly sat anonymously at a funeral home for nearly three years.

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