Jacqueline Dalya (August 3, 1918 – November 25, 1980) was an American film and stage actress—and later a songwriter—who built a steady career in the 1940s studio system, then returned intermittently in later decades for smaller screen roles.
Early life
Dalya was born August 3, 1918, in New York City.
Career
Dalya’s busiest period came in the 1940s, when she appeared in a long run of studio pictures—often in supporting roles—turning up across genres: mysteries, adventure films, musicals, and B-features. Her film appearances from that decade include titles such as Primrose Path, One Million B.C., Blood and Sand, Charlie Chan in Rio, Flesh and Fantasy, Bathing Beauty, and Adventures of Casanova, among many others.
She also worked on Broadway, appearing in The French Touch (1945) and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (1950), showing she wasn’t confined to the camera-only track that swallowed a lot of working film actresses of the era.
In 1947, she made headlines for an incident that sounds almost surreal now: while giving autographs in New York City, a fan reportedly grabbed her ankle and yanked, causing her to fall. She hit her head on the sidewalk and suffered a skull fracture. It’s the kind of story that captures the strange edge of mid-century celebrity—fame as a public contact sport.
In the 1950s, Dalya continued with film work including Wabash Avenue and Mystery Submarine. After that, her screen appearances became more occasional. She later appeared in Blood Mania (1970) and made her final film appearance in Miss Melody Jones (1972).
Marriages
Dalya married screenwriter William Conselman Jr. in January 1941 in Las Vegas, and they divorced in 1944. In 1949, she married lyricist Bob Hilliard, and they remained together until his death in 1971.
Death
Jacqueline Dalya died on November 25, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 62.
