A professional model while still in high school, Mona Freeman was signed to a movie contract by Howard Hughes , who then proceeded to sell her contract to Paramount. Starting out in typical juvenile parts, she developed into a very competent actress. As she worked her way out of the teenage ingénue role, however, she found that she had less success in adult roles, and instead of landing parts in "A" pictures she found herself relegated to "B" westerns and somewhat tawdry crime dramas (e.g., Flesh and Fury (1952), Before I Wake (1954)). She basically retired from film work in the late 1950s, but worked steadily in television for quite some time after that.

Mother of actress Monie Ellis .Measurements: 34-23-33 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)She was briefly linked romantically to widower Bing Crosby .Perenially young bobbysoxer of post-war Paramount, she played teens long after she outgrew the roles, and it later stifled her adult career.The 18-year-old's first role was as Barbara Stanwyck teen stepdaughter in Billy Wilder 's Double Indemnity (1944) but she photographed so young, she was replaced by Jean Heather . She still made her debut in the movie, however, when she was instead handed a one-line bit part as Edward G. Robinson 's secretary. She was also cast to play Elizabeth Taylor 's older sister in National Velvet (1944) but once again was replaced (by Angela Lansbury ) because she did not look old enough. In truth, Mona was six years Taylor's senior.Of English, Irish and French heritage, her father Stuart Freeman, was a contractor.To help her brother enter Yale, Mona took it upon herself to find modeling work and became a successful teenage cover girl for John Robert Powers . She also became one of the "Miss Subway" girls in New York.Howard Hughes discovered her and gave her a two-year contract after seeing one her photographs on a magazine cover. Frustrated that she was not cast in anything, Paramount wound up buying up her contract from Hughes, having never done a bit of work for the eccentric mogul. She was cast in Angel Face (1952), an RKO/Howard Hughes production.First husband was Pat Nerney, a wealthy Hollywood auto dealer. They had a daughter, Mona, Jr., called Monie, in 1947.Her hobbies included portrait and landscape painting.Her second husband (since June of 1961), Jack Ellis , is a Los Angeles businessman. He officially adopted Mona's daughter from an earlier marriage who entered show business as Monie Ellis .