Arlene Dahl Dies: ‘Journey To The Center Of The Earth’ Star Was 96

Arlene Dahl, who starred in the 1959 sci-fi classic Journey to the Center of the Earth and many other films along with TV roles and also was an influential beauty and astrology writer, has died. She was 96.

Her son, actor Lorenzo Lamas, posted the news on social media but did not provide details.

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“Mom passed away this morning in New York,” Lamas wrote. “She was the most positive influence on my life.” See his full post below.

Dahl was born on August 11, 1925, in Minneapolis. By the time Dahl landed her signature role as Professor Carla Göteborg in Henry Levin’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, she already had appeared in more than 20 features — from 1947’s My Wild Irish Rose to 1957’s She Played with Fire. Her credits from the era also include The Bride Goes Wild — her first film under an MGM contract — The Outriders, The Diamond Queen, Inside Straight, Reign of Terror and Sangaree.

She then played the female lead opposite James Mason and Pat Boone in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Based on the Jules Verne novel, the film follows a group tracing an explorer’s trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano in 1880.

Dahl appeared on multiple TV soap operas including All My Children and One Life to Live and guested on such popular series as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Love, American Style. She also played different characters on multiple episodes of Burke’s Law in the mid-1960s.

She had three runs on Broadway — all in different decades: Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945), as Roxane opposite Jose Ferrer’s Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac (1953) and Applause (1972).

Early in her career, Dahl appeared on popular radio series including The Bob Hope Show, Martin and Lewis and Lux Radio Theater.

In the early 1950s, she launched a syndicated beauty column called “Let’s Be Beautiful,” which would run for more than two decades. She later started Arlene Dahl Enterprises, which specialized in lingerie and cosmetics, and became a widely syndicated astrology writer in the 1980s. Her work was featured daily in major newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, and she would pen more than two dozen books on astrology and beauty.

She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Dahl was married six times, including to Argentine actor Fernando Lamas. Along with her son Lamas, she is survived by a daughter, Carole Delouvrier; another son, Stephen Schaum; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Here is Lamas’ tribute to his mother:

“Mom passed away this morning in New York. She was the most positive influence on my life. I will remember her laughter, her joy, her dignity as she navigated the challenges that she faced. Never an ill word about anyone crossed her lips. Her ability to forgive left me speechless at times. She truly was a force of nature and as we got closer in my adult life, I leaned on her more and more as my life counselor and the person I knew that lived and loved to the fullest. My sympathies go to her loving husband @marcrosennyc who, for the last 37 years, made her life so wonderful and joyous. Love you mom forever ♥️ #ArleneDahl #Moviestar #legend #mom #RIP

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