{{Short description|American actress (1921–1965)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Doris Colleen | image = Doris Houck.jpg | image_size = | caption = Houck in ''Brideless Groom'' (1947) | birth_name = Doris Colleen Houck | birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|09|28|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Wallace, Idaho, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|12|14|1921|09|28|mf=yes}} | death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | resting_place = Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery | other_names = Doris Colleen | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1940–1955 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Edward G. Nealis|1946|1948|end=div}} * {{marriage|Fred Otash|1950|1952|reason=div}} }}Arthur Valando (m.1954: div 1956) | parents = George Eli Houck; Evalena Elizabeth Grohe | website = }}
'''Doris Colleen Houck''' (September 28, 1921{{Citation needed |date=April 2022}} {{spaced ndash}}December 14, 1965), known professionally as '''Doris Colleen''', was an American model, 1940s Florentine Gardens performer and film actress on contract with Columbia Studios. She appeared in 25+ films from 1945-1947. In the 1950s, she was a published BMI contract songwriter.
== Biography == Houck was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Houck.<ref name=lat/> In 1942, she changed her last name to '''Howe'''.<ref name="stl">{{cite news |title=Has New Name |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107930918/doris-houck/ |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=The Salt Lake Telegram |agency=United Press |date=August 31, 1942 |page=11|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was a native of Wallace, Idaho.<ref>{{cite news |title=Claims Second Actress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107931507/doris-houck/ |access-date=August 20, 2022 |work=The Ogden Standard-Examiner |agency=Associated Press |date=August 5, 1945 |page=22|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Houck, credited as '''Doris Colleen''', is familiar to modern viewers for her roles in several Three Stooges short subjects, such as ''G.I. Wanna Home''. She is best remembered as the aggressive girlfriend who throws Shemp Howard's head into a vise until he decided to marry her in ''Brideless Groom'':
* Shemp: "I'm getting a headache!" * Houck: "I'll fix your headache!"{{Citation needed |date=August 2022}} Houck also performed in night clubs.<ref name="stl" />
In 1955, Houck signed an exclusive seven-year songwriting contract with Arthur Valanda, manager of T-C Publishing Corporation.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 1, 1955 |page=37 |title=Music as Written |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCMEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Doris+Houck%22+actress&pg=PA37 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref>
== Personal life == Houck was married to San Antonio, Texas oil man Edward G. Nealis; they divorced in May 1948. On January 6, 1950, Houck married Los Angeles police officer and Hollywood fixer Fred Otash, in Beverly Hills. They were divorced twice: the first order was vacated following a November 1950 reconciliation,<ref>{{cite news |title=Divorced Star Rejoins Her Cop a Week Later |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25228899/doris_houck/ |work= Daily News |date=November 5, 1950 |location=New York, New York City |page=B 10|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 25, 2019}}</ref> and their second and final divorce was granted on June 19, 1952.<ref name="lat">{{cite news |title=Vice Squad Officer's Wife Given Divorce |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25228237/doris_houck/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 19, 1952 |location=California, Los Angeles |page=Part II - 10|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 8, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>
== Death == Houck died "from acute {{sic|nolink=y|barbituate}} intoxication" on December 14, 1965, aged 44. She was cremated, and her remains are in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Scott |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. |date=August 19, 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2599-7 |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&dq=Doris+Houck+intitle%3AResting+intitle%3APlaces&pg=PA353 |access-date=July 9, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== * ''Brideless Groom'' (1947) * ''Little Miss Broadway'' (1947) * ''G.I. Wanna Home'' (1946) * ''Shadowed'' (1946) * ''Landrush'' (1946) * ''Heading West'' (1946) * ''Two-Fisted Stranger'' (1946) * ''Life with Blondie'' (1945)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0171723|name=Doris Houck}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Houck, Doris}} Category:1921 births Category:1965 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:American film actresses Category:Actresses from Idaho Category:People from Wallace, Idaho
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