Acquanetta
Acquanetta in 1944
Born
Mildred Davenport

(1921-07-17)July 17, 1921
Newberry, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedAugust 16, 2004(2004-08-16) (aged 83)
Ahwatukee, Arizona, U.S.
Resting placeParadise Memorial Gardens, Scottsdale, Arizona
OccupationActress
Years active1942–1953
Spouses
Luciano Bashuk
​
​
(m. 1948; div. 1950)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1950; div. 1953)​
    Children5

    Acquanetta (born Mildred Davenport; July 17, 1921 – August 16, 2004),[lower-alpha 1] 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.[3][4] Although accounts differ (some giving her birth-name as Mildred Davenport, from Norristown, Pennsylvania),[3][5][6] 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),[7] 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.[4] Other accounts suggest she was a light-skinned African American who concealed her heritage due to the racial discrimination of the era;[8][9] 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.[7]

    According to the 1940 US Census, she had five siblings, including a sister, Kathryn Davenport,[5][10] and a brother, Horace Davenport, who was, according to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, "the first African-American judge in Montgomery County."[5][11]

    Film career

    Acquanetta started her career as a model in New York City[3][6] with Harry Conover and John Robert Powers.[5] 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,[12] 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.[5]

    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,[13][14] after the couple's bitter divorce in 1950,[15] where she lost her suit for half his fortune when no record of their marriage could be produced.[5] In 1950, Acquanetta married painter and illustrator Henry Clive, who was 40 years her senior, and returned to acting.[5][6] The couple were divorced in 1953.[16] That year she retired from films and became a disk jockey for radio station KPOL (AM) in Los Angeles.[5]

    By 1955 she had married Jack Ross,[17][18] a car dealer who later ran for governor of Arizona in 1970 and 1974. The couple settled in Mesa, Arizona,[19] and she returned to a degree of celebrity by appearing with Ross in his local television advertisements,[12] and also by hosting a local television show called Acqua's Corner that accompanied the Friday late-night movies.[5] The couple were prominent citizens, donating to the Phoenix Symphony and the construction of Mesa Lutheran Hospital and founding Stagebrush Theatre.[3] She and Ross had four sons together, Lance, Tom, Jack Jr. and Rex, before divorcing in the early 1980s.[19][20] In 1987, Acquanetta sold the Mesa Grande ruins to the city of Mesa.[3] An apocryphal Phoenix legend has Acquanetta, upon learning of her husband's infidelity, filling the interior of his Lincoln Continental convertible with concrete.[3][21]

    Acquanetta wrote a book of poetry, published in 1974, titled The Audible Silence.[3][5][22] She did not smoke, and did not drink alcohol, tea, or coffee.[5]

    Acquanetta succumbed to complications of Alzheimer's disease on August 16, 2004, at Hawthorn Court in Ahwatukee, Arizona. She was 83.[23] She is buried in Paradise Memorial Gardens in East Shea, Scottsdale, Arizona.[24]

    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

    Acquanetta, based on her life,[25] premiered as a Grand Opera in 2006 in Aachen, Germany.[26] The chamber version of Acquanetta had its world premiere at the 2018 Prototype Festival,[27] followed by a subsequent run at Bard SummerScape in 2019.[28]

    Filmography

    Acquanetta filmography
    Year Film Role Notes
    1942 Arabian Nights Ishya (uncredited)
    1943 Rhythm of the Islands Luani as Burnu Acquanetta
    Captive Wild Woman Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl
    1944 Jungle Woman Paula Dupree – the Gorilla Girl
    Dead Man's Eyes Tanya Czoraki
    1946 Tarzan and the Leopard Woman Lea, the High Priestess
    1951 The Sword of Monte Cristo Felice
    Lost Continent Native Girl
    Callaway Went Thataway Native Girl with Smoky Uncredited
    1953 Take the High Ground! Bar Girl Uncredited
    1989 Grizzly Adams – The Legend Never Dies[29] Direct-to-video release

    Notes

    1. ↑ Some sources, including Social Security records, give her year of birth as 1920.[1][2]

    References

    1. ↑ "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". Ancestry.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
    2. ↑ Wollstein, Hans J. "Acquanetta: Biography". AllMovie. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Acqua Blues". Phoenix New Times. September 2, 2004. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
    4. 1 2 "Billed As Venezuela Beauty,' Indian Girl Hoaxed Filmdom". The Milwaukee Journal. July 20, 1942. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Richard Beland (October 15, 2009). "Jungle Frolics: Acquanetta". Junglefrolics.blogspot.com. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
    6. 1 2 3 "Hollywood Jungle Girl - The Actress Aquanetta". Jet Magazine. February 14, 1952. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
    7. 1 2 "Venezuelan Volcano". LIFE. Vol. 13, no. 8. Time, Inc. August 24, 1942. pp. 57–59. ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
    8. ↑ Freulich, Roman; Abramson, Joan (1971). Forty Years in Hollywood: Portraits of a Golden Age. New York: Castle Books. pp. 73-74.
    9. ↑ Bojarksi, Richard (September 1971). "John Carradine, the Master Villain". For Monsters Only. 1 (9): 52–53.
    10. ↑ Annonces, Vieilles. "Actress Acquanetta's Sister Marries in Tokyo - Jet Magazin…". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
    11. ↑ "Horace Davenport, groundbreaking Montgomery County senior judge, dies at 98". The Pottstown Mercury. April 5, 2017. Archived from the original on January 23, 2020.
    12. 1 2 "Acquanetta, Movie Actress". Beaver County Times. August 18, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
    13. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994". FamilySearch. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
    14. ↑ Annonces, Vieilles. "Actress Acquanetta to Collect $4,000 in Son's Death - Jet …". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
    15. ↑ Annonces, Vieilles. "Actress Acquanetta Has Child - Jet Magazine Aug 5, 1954". Flickr. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
    16. ↑ "Actress is Sued by Insurance Company". Argus-Leader. South Dakota. March 15, 1953 – via Newspapers.com.
    17. ↑ "Acquanetta Wins Lawsuit Over Death of Her Son". Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1955. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
    18. ↑ Stanley, John (April 7, 2013). "B-movie Star was A-list Arizonan". Arizona Republic. p. T2 – via Newspapers.com.
    19. 1 2 Cone Sexton, Connie (February 15, 2013). "A Life Remembered: Jack Ross, iconic Arizona car dealer". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
    20. ↑ "Acquanetta, Actress known as 'The Venezuelan Volcano'". The Independent. August 19, 2004. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010.
    21. ↑ "Best of Phoenix 2014: Legend City / The Many Mysteries of Acquanetta (and Jack Ross)". Phoenix New Times. September 25, 2015. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
    22. ↑ Acquanetta; Illustrated by Emilie Touraine (1974). The Audible Silence (1st ed.). Flagstaff: Northland Press. ISBN 9780873581196.
    23. ↑ "Acquanetta, 83, A Star of B Movies". The New York Times. August 23, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
    24. ↑ Resting Places: The Burial Places of 14,000 Famous Persons, by Scott Wilson
    25. ↑ Brantley, Ben (July 14, 2019). "Review: In 'Acquanetta,' a Cult Movie Star's Eyes to Die For". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
    26. ↑ "ACQUANETTA | Beth Morrison Projects". bmp-opera-music. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
    27. ↑ "Acquanetta". Prototype Festival. January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
    28. ↑ "Acquanetta at Bard College". Fisher Center at Bard. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
    29. ↑ Mank, Gregory William (2015). Women in Horror Films, 1940s (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 218. ISBN 9781476609553.

    Further reading

    • Price, Michael H.; Wooley, John (2018). Fantasies in the Sand: Birth of the Beach Party Box-Office Bonanza. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1723281068. – Features Acquanetta and her connection to the beach party films
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