Angie Dickinson was born in Kulm, North Dakota, in 1931, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Brown. Mr. Brown was the publisher of The Kulm Messenger. The family left North Dakota in 1942 when Angie was 11 years old, moving to Burbank, California. In December of 1946, when she was a senior at Bellamarine Jefferson High School in Burbank, she won the Sixth Annual Bill of Rights Contest. Two years later her sister Janet, did likewise. Being the daughter of a printer, Angie at first had visions of becoming a writer, but gave this up after winning her first beauty contest. After finishing college she worked as a secretary in a Burbank airplane parts factory for 3-1/2 years. In 1953 she entered the local Miss America contest one day before the deadline and took second place. In August of the same year she was one of five winners in a beauty contest sponsored by NBC and appeared in several TV variety shows. She got her first bit part in a Warner Brothers movie in 1954 and gained television fame in the TV series The Millionaire and got her first good film role opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin in Rio Bravo. Her success then spiraled until she became one of the nation's top movie stars.
Attended Immaculate Heart College and Glendale College. Turned down the role of Krystle Carrington on Dynasty. Measurements: 35-23-36 (as a 1960s starlet), 35C-25-35 1/2 (during Police Woman) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). Had a ten-year, on-again/off-again relationship with Frank Sinatra. Ranked #42 on "Playboy" Magazines "100 Sexiest Stars of the Century," January 1999. Said she initially declined to play the ill-fated, sexually frustrated "Kate Miller" in Dressed to Kill because she felt her role on the Police Woman TV series had made her into something of a role model, but director Brian De Palma eventually persuaded her to accept the role. When asked to choose a new actress name, first suggested "Angie Rome" which was eventually changed into "Dickinson". Older sister, Mary Lou Belmont, who has Altheizmer, and younger sister, Janet Lee. Originally had a major role as the main villain in Mel Gibson's Payback as Mrs. Bronson (there originally was no Kris Kristofferson role). When Mel Gibson took over, the role was deleted. It will be restored on "Payback - Straight Up" in 2007. Her daughter (with Burt Bacharach), Nikki Bacharach, died at age 40 on January 4, 2007, of suicide in Ventura County, California. She was born prematurely in 1966 and battled Asperger's disorder, a form of autism.