{{short description|American actress (1921–2004)}} {{About|the American movie actress|the African-American dancer|Mildred Davenport}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Acquanetta | image = Acquanetta Studio Portrait Photograph 1944 Universal Pictures Jungle Woman by Ray Jones.jpg | caption = Acquanetta in 1944 | other_names = The Venezuelan Volcano | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|7|17}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|2004|8|16|1921|7|17}} | death_place = Ahwatukee, Arizona, U.S. | resting_place = Paradise Memorial Gardens, Scottsdale, Arizona | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1942–1953 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Luciano Bashuk|1948|1950|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Henry Clive|1950|1953|end=divorced}} * Jack Ross<br/>({{abbr|m.|married}} {{circa}} 1955; {{abbr|div.|divorced}}) }} | children = 5 }} '''Acquanetta''' (born July 17, 1921 – August 16, 2004),{{efn|Some sources, including Social Security records, give her year of birth as ''1920''.<ref name="SSDI">{{cite web |title=U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 |url=https://www.ancestry.com.au/inst/discoveries/PfRecord?emailId=N-b26a8013-1bc9-40f6-902c-7e54c01001f2&collectionId=60901&recordId=44399545&ahsht=2020-01-23T01:29:16&language=en-AU&ahsh=da3c9bf03a29a46e78280780e73460cc |website=Ancestry.com |access-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref><ref name="AMG">{{cite web |last1=Wollstein |first1=Hans J. |title=Acquanetta: Biography |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/acquanetta-p211 |website=AllMovie |access-date=January 23, 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref>}} nicknamed "'''The Venezuelan Volcano'''", was an American B-movie actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Acquanetta was most known for her "exotic" beauty.
==Early years== The facts of Acquanetta's origins are not known with certainty.<ref name=nt/><ref name=MS/> Although accounts differ (some giving her birth-name as Mildred Davenport, from Norristown, Pennsylvania),<ref name=nt>{{cite news |url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2004-09-02/culture/acqua-blues/ |title=Acqua Blues |date=September 2, 2004 |work=Phoenix New Times |access-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-date=May 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512093042/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2004-09-02/culture/acqua-blues/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=jf/><ref name=hjg>{{cite news |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/2577937872/lightbox/ |title=Hollywood Jungle Girl - The Actress Aquanetta |date=February 14, 1952 |work=Jet Magazine |access-date=July 6, 2013}}</ref> Acquanetta claimed she was born '''Burnu Acquanetta''', meaning "Burning Fire/Deep Water", in Ozone, Wyoming. Orphaned from her Arapaho parents when she was two (or three),<ref name="LIFE-1942" /> she lived briefly with another family before being taken in by an artistic couple with whom she remained until she made the choice to live independently at the age of fifteen.<ref name=MS>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kzUdAAAAIBAJ&pg=3234,1835551&dq=acquanetta&hl=en |title=Billed As Venezuela Beauty,' Indian Girl Hoaxed Filmdom |date=July 20, 1942 |work=The Milwaukee Journal |access-date=December 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312094603/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kzUdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3234,1835551&dq=acquanetta&hl=en |archive-date=March 12, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Other accounts suggest she was a light-skinned African American who concealed her heritage due to the racial discrimination of the era.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freulich |first1=Roman |last2=Abramson |first2=Joan |title=Forty Years in Hollywood: Portraits of a Golden Age |date=1971 |publisher=Castle Books |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsinholl00freu/page/73 73]-74 |isbn=978-0-498-07804-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/fortyyearsinholl00freu |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Bojarski">{{cite journal |last1=Bojarksi |first1=Richard |title=John Carradine, the Master Villain |journal=For Monsters Only |date=September 1971 |volume=1 |issue=9 |pages=52–53 |url=https://archive.org/details/For_Monsters_Only_v01n09_1971-09_Major_D/page/n45}}</ref> Her career was followed closely by the African American press. In 1942, ''Life'' magazine noted her mysterious origins, but reported that she had lived with a Spanish family in Spanish Harlem posing as a Venezuelan before moving to Mexico, then Venezuela to obtain citizenship. The article suggests that the Arapaho orphan story was invented because she was unable to produce any identification for the Screen Actors Guild.<ref name="LIFE-1942">{{cite magazine |title=Venezuelan Volcano |magazine=LIFE |publisher=Time, Inc. |date=August 24, 1942 |volume=13 |issue=8 |pages=57–59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fk4EAAAAMBAJ&q=Acquanetta&pg=PA57 |access-date=June 30, 2018 |issn=0024-3019}}</ref>
According to the 1940 US Census, she had five siblings, including a sister, Kathryn Davenport,<ref name=jf/><ref>{{cite web |last=Annonces |first=Vieilles |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/1217063237/ |title=Actress Acquanetta's Sister Marries in Tokyo - Jet Magazin… |date=June 2, 2009 |publisher=Flickr |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref> and a brother, Horace Davenport, who was, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, "the first African-American judge in Montgomery County."<ref name=jf>{{cite web |author=Richard Beland |url=http://junglefrolics.blogspot.com/2009/10/acquanetta.html |title=Jungle Frolics: Acquanetta |website=Junglefrolics.blogspot.com |date=October 15, 2009 |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref><ref name="PM">{{cite news |title=Horace Davenport, groundbreaking Montgomery County senior judge, dies at 98 |url=https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/horace-davenport-groundbreaking-montgomery-county-senior-judge-dies-at/article_95c904bf-4566-55c7-a229-9825aab84c70.html |work=The Pottstown Mercury |date=April 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200123053846/https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/horace-davenport-groundbreaking-montgomery-county-senior-judge-dies-at/article_95c904bf-4566-55c7-a229-9825aab84c70.html |archive-date=January 23, 2020}}</ref>
==Film career== Acquanetta started her career as a model in New York City<ref name=nt/><ref name=hjg/> with Harry Conover and John Robert Powers.<ref name=jf/> She signed with Universal Studios in 1942 and acted mostly in B-movies, including ''Arabian Nights'', ''The Sword of Monte Cristo'', ''Captive Wild Woman'' and ''Jungle Woman'',<ref name="BC Times">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EWgyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4390,4777538&dq=acquanetta&hl=en |title=Acquanetta, Movie Actress |date=August 18, 2004 |work=Beaver County Times |access-date=December 23, 2010}}</ref> in which Universal attempted to create a female monster movie series with Acquanetta as a transformative ape. After her contract with Universal expired, Acquanetta signed on with Monogram Pictures but did not appear in any movies; she then signed with RKO where she acted in her only big-budget movie, ''Tarzan and the Leopard Woman''.<ref name=jf/>
==Personal life== In 1947, Acquanetta and "Mexican-Jewish millionaire" Luciano Baschuk had a son, Sergei (variously Sergio), who died of cancer in 1952 at age five,<ref name="SB">{{cite web |title=California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2Y-8K9K |website=FamilySearch |access-date=February 10, 2020 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Annonces |first=Vieilles |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/3035163739/ |title=Actress Acquanetta to Collect $4,000 in Son's Death - Jet … |date=December 26, 2008 |publisher=Flickr |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref> after the couple's bitter divorce in 1950,<ref>{{cite web |last=Annonces |first=Vieilles |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/1298720031/ |title=Actress Acquanetta Has Child - Jet Magazine Aug 5, 1954 |date=June 2, 2009 |publisher=Flickr |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref> where she lost her suit for half his fortune when no record of their marriage could be produced.<ref name=jf/> In 1950, Acquanetta married painter and illustrator Henry Clive, who was 40 years her senior, and returned to acting.<ref name=jf/><ref name=hjg/> The couple were divorced in 1953.<ref>{{cite news |title=Actress is Sued by Insurance Company |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38929758/acquanetta_wife_of_henry_clive_sued/ |work=Argus-Leader |date=March 15, 1953 |location=South Dakota |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> That year she retired from films and became a disk jockey for radio station KPOL (AM) in Los Angeles.<ref name=jf/>
By 1955 she had married Jack Ross,<ref>{{cite news |title=Acquanetta Wins Lawsuit Over Death of Her Son |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42709894/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 29, 1955 |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanley |first1=John |title=B-movie Star was A-list Arizonan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42692939/ |work=Arizona Republic |date=April 7, 2013 |page=T2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> a car dealer who later ran for governor of Arizona in 1970 and 1974. The couple settled in Mesa, Arizona,<ref name=RossObit>{{cite news |url=http://archive.azcentral.com/thingstodo/living/articles/20130215arizona-people-life-remembered-jack-ross.html |title=A Life Remembered: Jack Ross, iconic Arizona car dealer |last=Cone Sexton |first=Connie |work=The Arizona Republic |date=February 15, 2013 |access-date=February 26, 2020}}</ref> and she returned to a degree of celebrity by appearing with Ross in his local television advertisements,<ref name="BC Times"/> and also by hosting a local television show called ''Acqua's Corner'' that accompanied the Friday late-night movies.<ref name=jf/> The couple were prominent citizens, donating to the Phoenix Symphony and the construction of Mesa Lutheran Hospital and founding Stagebrush Theatre.<ref name=nt/> She and Ross had four sons together, Lance, Tom, Jack Jr. and Rex, before divorcing in the early 1980s.<ref name=RossObit/><ref>{{cite news |title=Acquanetta, Actress known as 'The Venezuelan Volcano' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/acquanetta-550306.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111041133/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/acquanetta-550306.html |archive-date=November 11, 2010 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=The Independent |date=August 19, 2004}}</ref> In 1987, Acquanetta sold the Mesa Grande ruins to the city of Mesa.<ref name=nt/> An apocryphal Phoenix legend has Acquanetta, upon learning of her husband's infidelity, filling the interior of his Lincoln Continental convertible with concrete.<ref name=nt/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2014-09-25/best-of-phoenix/legend-city-the-many-mysteries-of-acquanetta-and-jack-ross/full/ |title=Best of Phoenix 2014: Legend City / The Many Mysteries of Acquanetta (and Jack Ross) |date=September 25, 2015 |work=Phoenix New Times |access-date=March 14, 2015 |archive-date=May 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512172004/http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2014-09-25/best-of-phoenix/legend-city-the-many-mysteries-of-acquanetta-and-jack-ross/full |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Acquanetta wrote a book of poetry, published in 1974, titled ''The Audible Silence''.<ref name=nt/><ref name=jf/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Acquanetta |author2=Illustrated by Emilie Touraine |title=The Audible Silence. |date=1974 |publisher=Northland Press |location=Flagstaff |isbn=9780873581196 |edition=1st}}</ref> She did not smoke, and did not drink alcohol, tea, or coffee.<ref name=jf/>
Acquanetta succumbed to complications of Alzheimer's disease on August 16, 2004, at Hawthorn Court in Ahwatukee, Arizona. She was 83.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/arts/acquanetta-83-a-star-of-b-movies.html |title=Acquanetta, 83, A Star of B Movies |date=August 23, 2004 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 23, 2010}}</ref> She is buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in East Shea, Scottsdale, Arizona.<ref>''Resting Places: The Burial Places of 14,000 Famous Persons'', by Scott Wilson</ref>
==In popular culture==
In 1987, the all-female band The Aquanettas adopted (and adapted) their name from hers.
Acquanetta's obituary inspired the composer Michael Gordon to collaborate with librettist Deborah Artman on the opera ''Acquanetta'' (2005/2017). Produced by Beth Morrison Projects, the chamber version received its world premiere at the Prototype Festival in Brooklyn, New York, in January 2018.
== Opera == {{expand section|date=September 2019}} ''Acquanetta'', based on her life,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=Review: In 'Acquanetta,' a Cult Movie Star's Eyes to Die For |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/theater/acquanetta-bard-summerscape-review.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=September 2, 2019 |date=July 14, 2019}}</ref> premiered as a Grand Opera in 2006 in Aachen, Germany.<ref>{{cite web |title=ACQUANETTA {{!}} Beth Morrison Projects |url=https://www.bethmorrisonprojects.org/acquanetta |website=bmp-opera-music |access-date=September 2, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The chamber version of ''Acquanetta'' had its world premiere at the 2018 Prototype Festival,<ref>{{cite web |title=Acquanetta |url=http://prototypefestival.org/shows/acquanetta/ |website=Prototype Festival |access-date=January 15, 2020 |date=January 9, 2018}}</ref> followed by a subsequent run at Bard SummerScape in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acquanetta at Bard College |url=https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/acquanetta/ |website=Fisher Center at Bard |access-date=September 2, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |+Acquanetta filmography |- style="text-align:center;" !scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year !scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film !scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role !scope="col" style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1942 |scope="row"| ''Arabian Nights'' | Ishya | (uncredited) |- | rowspan="2"| 1943 |scope="row"| ''Rhythm of the Islands'' | Luani | as Burnu Acquanetta |- |scope="row"| ''Captive Wild Woman'' | Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl | |- | rowspan="2"| 1944 |scope="row"| ''Jungle Woman'' | Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl | |- |scope="row"| ''Dead Man's Eyes'' | Tanya Czoraki | |- | 1946 |scope="row"| ''Tarzan and the Leopard Woman'' | Lea, the High Priestess | |- | rowspan="3"| 1951 |scope="row"| ''The Sword of Monte Cristo'' | Felice | |- |scope="row"| ''Lost Continent'' | Native Girl | |- |scope="row"| ''Callaway Went Thataway'' | Native Girl with Smoky | Uncredited |- | 1953 |scope="row"| ''Take the High Ground!'' | Bar Girl | Uncredited |- | 1989 |scope="row"| ''Grizzly Adams – The Legend Never Dies''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mank |first1=Gregory William |title=Women in Horror Films, 1940s |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476609553 |page=218 |edition=illustrated}}</ref> | | Direct-to-video release |}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Price |first1=Michael H. |last2=Wooley |first2=John |author-link2=John Wooley |title=Fantasies in the Sand: Birth of the Beach Party Box-Office Bonanza |year=2018 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1723281068}} – Features Acquanetta and her connection to the beach party films
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|id=0010270|name=Acquanetta}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American people who self-identify as being of Algonquian descent Category:Actors from Cheyenne, Wyoming Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Arizona Category:Actresses from Wyoming Category:1921 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Arapaho Category:American film actresses Category:Deaths from dementia in Arizona Category:People from East Harlem Category:20th-century African-American actresses