Long before one-named celebrities became a fixture in American pop culture \u2014 before Oprah, before Madonna, even before Cher \u2014 there was Acquanetta.<\/p>\n
For decades the raven-haired beauty, who appeared in a series of B-movies in the 1940s, was the Valley\u2019s biggest celebrity, a larger-than-life personality who starred in countless corny television ads for her husband\u2019s Lincoln Mercury dealership and hosted \u201cAcqua\u2019s Corner,\u201d a local TV show that accompanied Friday late-night movies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never thought much about (her fame) when we were growing up,\u201d said Lance Ross, Acquanetta\u2019s oldest son. \u201cWe knew about it, but only because everywhere we went she was recognized and people wanted her autograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acquanetta\u2019s early years are shrouded in a sort of biographical haze. In a 1942 spread in Life magazine, she claimed to have been born Burnu Acquanetta (\u201cBurning Fire Deep Water\u201d) to Arapaho parents in Ozone, Wyo., in 1921. But she grew up as Mildred Davenport in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
She started her career as a model, then signed with Universal Studios in 1942. A press agent dubbed her the \u201cVenezuelan Volcano,\u201d possibly an homage to Carmen Miranda, aka the \u201cBrazilian Bombshell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acquanetta\u2019s first role was as a harem girl in \u201cArabian Nights\u201d in 1942. A year later, she appeared as the Gorilla Girl in \u201cCaptive Wild Woman,\u201d which Universal hoped would spawn a series of sequels. The trailer alone \u2014 www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xKbCE0ydNFA \u2014 is a classic of B-movie camp.<\/p>\n
The highlight of Acquanetta\u2019s film career came in 1946, when she starred as Lea, the High Priestess in \u201cTarzan and the Leopard Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acquanetta married Los Angeles businessman Jack Ross in 1953; the couple moved to Mesa a couple of years later. Together they supported innumerable charities and arts organizations, notably Mesa Lutheran Hospital (now Banner Mesa Medical Center), Phoenix Indian School and Scottsdale\u2019s Sagebrush Theatre.<\/p>\n
A collection of her poetry, \u201cThe Audible Silence,\u201d was published in 1974.<\/p>\n
She and Ross had four sons together and divorced in the 1980s. Acquanetta died in Ahwatukee Foothills in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was the most remarkable person, with an unbelievable generosity,\u201d said Lance, president of Ross Property Advisors in Scottsdale. \u201cShe did so many things for so many people. I think about her every day.\u201d