Kamala Devi

She was the first Indian actress to play the female romantic lead in a Hollywood film. Emulating her portfolio, many Indian actresses tried to act in Hollywood movies but they could not achieve the same level of success. Kamala Devi played the role of an American-Indian princess in ‘Geronimo ‘, a 1962 release film. However, she had made her debut in western films through ‘Harry Black’ (a 20th Century Fox release) which was a 1958 British film adapted from a David Walker novel. In this film, she appeared as a nurse. After getting a foothold in Hollywood cinema, she played the role of Dara in a TV series (Tales of Vikings) in 1960 which was produced by Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas is a veteran Hollywood actor and dire >> Read More... . In 1964, she played Tezra opposite Tony Randall in The Brass Bottle), an American comedy. She acted in a small role in ‘Aas Ka Panchhi’ (1961), the only Indian film that she ever acted in.

Later, she got a chance to act in a film of William Wyler. In 1959, Wyler directed the American epic drama film ‘Ben-Hur.' In fact, Wyler had signed Kamala Devi for this project and even played a character called Iris. But her part was cut out, and she was not seen in the movie when it got released. There was another Hollywood director Mervyn LeRoy who tested her for a part in his film ‘The Devil At 4 O'Clock’. But later on, the director LeRoy felt that Kamala Devi was too beautiful for the role, hence got rejected. Although LeRoy clarified that Kamala Devi was the most beautiful star material he had seen, the progress of the story in his film demanded a sexy actress. This actress was seen dating actor Jeffrey Stone. Later Kamala Devi got settled in the USA and in 1963, she got married to Chuck Connors, who was the main hero of her film ‘Geronimo’. This marriage ended in divorce in 1972. Later on, she married Wallace Guberman on April 28th, 1978. After five years, this marriage also ended in a divorce in 1983.

Kamala Devi was the only Indian, who played East European, even an African character. She is the only Indian, who was a gossip material with many Hollywood stars and even got selected to act with many Hollywood heroes of her times. She was born in 1934 in Mumbai.