Born Angeline Brown, she moved to California after her family left North Dakota in 1942, aged 11.

A young beauty contest winner, Angie won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights Contest while a senior at Burbank’s Bellamarine Jefferson High.

It was her success in beauty contests that made her give up her childhood dreams of becoming a writer. After college, she worked as a secretary for Burbank Airplane Parts Factory for several years.

Angie acquired her professional name Angie Dickinson when she married the college football star, Gene Dickinson. From 1966 to 1980 however, she was to be married to composer Burt Bacharach.

In 1953, she entered the local Miss America contest, one day before the deadline, and took 2nd place. In August the same year, as one of five NBC beauty contest winners, she appeared in various variety shows on the network.

Her first bit-part in a film arrived in the Warner Bros musical 'Lucky Me' in 1954, and she spent the next few years in B-movie westerns, and television, where she enjoyed some success in the show 'Millionaire', in 1956.

When Howard Hawks asked her to play the female lead in 'Rio Bravo', her big break had finally come. The role allowed Dickinson to exhibit her celebrated legs, which, in what is now a common practice, were insured by Lloyds of London.

Her feature films range from the well-known 'Sabrina', 'Point Blank' and 'The Killers' (in which she played the moll to Ronald Reagan’s gangster) to the forgettable - 'Big Bad Mama' and 'The Sins of Rachel Cade'.

In 1974, with her career flagging, she concentrated on television, starring in the adventure series 'Police Woman', which lasted four seasons. Other TV appearances have included stints in 'Overboard', 'Wild Palms' and 'Hollywood Wives'.

More recently she appeared in 'Pay it Forward', in which she stars alongside Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt.

Credit: thebiographychannel.co.uk