Phyllis Brooks

Phyllis Brooks was an American actress and model born Phyllis Seiler on July 18, 1915, in Boise, Idaho. Social Security records confirm 1915 as her correct birth year, though some sources have incorrectly listed 1914. She died on August 1, 1995, in Cape Neddick, Maine, at the age of 80.

Before entering the entertainment industry, Brooks spent two years working as a model, becoming recognized as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl" through her promotional work for that brand. She transitioned from modeling to film, initially working under the name Mary Brooks. Her screen career began in 1934 with I've Been Around, and she went on to accumulate approximately 30 film appearances, establishing herself as a leading lady through the 1930s and 1940s. Among her notable film credits are In Old Chicago (1937), the Shirley Temple productions Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Little Miss Broadway (1938), The Shanghai Gesture (1941), and several entries in Sidney Toler's Charlie Chan series.

Brooks's Broadway career spanned from 1936 to 1945. She appeared in Stage Door during the 1936–37 season, followed by the musical Panama Hattie, which ran from 1940 to 1942. She also appeared in The Night Before Christmas in 1941 and the comedy Round Trip in 1945.

During World War II, Brooks served as president of Parties Unlimited Inc., an organization connected to Hollywood's wartime efforts, as reported in the UK Sunday Telegraph in December 1942. Alongside actress Una Merkel and film star Gary Cooper, she became one of the first civilian women to travel to the Pacific theater of war on a USO tour.

In her personal life, Brooks was at one point engaged to actor Cary Grant. On June 23, 1945, she married Torbert Macdonald in Tarrytown, New York. The couple relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, so that Macdonald could complete his studies at Harvard Law School. He had previously served as a Harvard football captain and as a decorated PT boat captain during World War II. The couple had four children. Macdonald died in office in 1976.