The actress called Fame was a young starlet who was skilled at self-promotion. She was blonde and attractive.
The Dick Tracy Story[]
Fame met and became engaged to Vitamin Flintheart, who was many years her senior. With Vitamin's help, Fame secured the role of Tess in The Dick Tracy Story after fellow actress B.U. Tiffil decided to give up the role.
Fame was clearly ambitious, and had billboards placed all around Los Angeles with her name and picture on them. She met Dick Tracy on the film's set, and confided in him that she had used cosmetic surgery to improve her appearance. She seemed to be genuinely fond of Vitamin, but Tracy had doubts.
Sabotage[]
The film was plagued by several acts of sabotage, and one of these injured Fame. As she was recuperating in the hospital, she was visited by the criminal Haf-and-Haf. It was revealed that Fame had grown up on the carnival circuit and knew Haf-and-Haf from her youth. She had hired him as a her chauffeur, thus allowing him to access to the production studio and enabling him to commit the sabotage.
Following Haf-and-Haf's arrest, Fame staged her own abduction. Tracy tracked her to the Hollywood sign, where he explained how he had found her. Fame told Tracy that she wanted to become a show business legend, and she jumped/fell to her death (October 15th, 1990). Vitamin had just arrived on the scene and Fame died in his arms, professing her love for him. Tracy kept his doubts about her sincerity from his grieving friend.
Notes[]
- While Fame shares several characteristics with Madonna (attractive, blonde, fairly new to Hollywood at the time, one name), she was also presumably inspired by Los Angeles personality Angelyne.
- Tracy implied that Haf-and-Haf or Fame herself were responsible for the bout of "nervous exhaustion" that caused B.U. Tiffil to abandon the role of Tess.