# Victoria Shaw (actress)
**Victoria Shaw** (born Jeanette Ann Lavinia Mary Elizabeth Elphick; May 25, 1935 – August 17, 1988) was an Australian film and television actress who worked in Hollywood from the mid-1950s, best remembered for roles in *[The Eddy Duchin Story](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-eddy-duchin-story)* (1956), *The Crimson Kimono* (1959), and *Westworld* (1973).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | May 25, 1935, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, as Jeanette Ann Lavinia Mary Elizabeth Elphick[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) |
| Died | August 17, 1988, Sydney, aged 53[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) |
| Discovery | Spotted by Bob Hope during his 1955 Australian tour; signed to Columbia Studios on July 26, 1955[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) |
| Screen debut | *The Phantom Stockman* (1953), credited under her real name Jeanette Elphick[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) • [3](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2024/07/16/chips-rafferty/1956-03-06-prospectus-australian-television-enterprises-limited/) |
| Notable films | *The Eddy Duchin Story* (1956), *The Crimson Kimono* (1959), *Edge of Eternity* (1959), *Because They're Young* (1960), *I Aim at the Stars* (1960), *Alvarez Kelly* (1966), *Westworld* (1973)[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw) |
| Marriages | Roger Smith (July 28, 1956 – April 19, 1965, divorced, three children); Elliott Alexander (married 1966, divorced)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) |
## Early life and modeling
Shaw was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and lived in the suburb of Croydon, attending a convent school.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) She was named "Model of the Year" in 1951, first coming to public notice at that year's Sydney Artists' Ball.[3](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2024/07/16/chips-rafferty/1956-03-06-prospectus-australian-television-enterprises-limited/)
## Australian film debut
In 1952 the production team of Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson chose her for the leading feminine role in *Phantom Stockman*, an outback story they produced; she made her screen debut in the film in 1953, credited as Jeanette Elphick.[3](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2024/07/16/chips-rafferty/1956-03-06-prospectus-australian-television-enterprises-limited/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) The film was released in the United States (as *Return of the Plainsman*), where talent scouts took notice, and she was placed under long-term contract to [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) in Hollywood.[3](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2024/07/16/chips-rafferty/1956-03-06-prospectus-australian-television-enterprises-limited/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/)
## Hollywood career
**Discovery and contract.** Comedian Bob Hope spotted her while on tour in Australia in 1955 and urged her to come to Hollywood for a screen test; she was put under contract to Columbia Studios on July 26, 1955.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) [The Australian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-australian) press promoted her as an example of the local girl "discovered" by Hollywood: the Perth *Mirror* in September 1955 proclaimed that model Jeanette Elphick, renamed Victoria Shaw, had become "Hollywood's Cinderella" within days of arriving in the United States.[5](https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/104532/1/Rees%20Thesis%202016.pdf)
**Films.** Her Hollywood roles included Chiquita, the second wife of [Tyrone Power](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyrone-power)'s character, in *The Eddy Duchin Story* (1956).[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw) She appeared in [Samuel Fuller](https://www.edgepedia.org/samuel-fuller)'s *The Crimson Kimono* (1959) opposite [James Shigeta](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-shigeta), and in *Edge of Eternity* the same year.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw) Later credits included *Because They're Young* (1960) with Dick Clark, *I Aim at the Stars* (1960) as Maria von Braun, *To Trap a Spy* (1964), *Alvarez Kelly* (1966) with William Holden, and the science-fiction film *Westworld* (1973) with Yul Brynner, her last American film.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html)
**Television.** From the 1960s she worked extensively in American television, with credits including *77 Sunset Strip*, *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*, *The F.B.I.*, *Ironside*, *[McCloud](https://www.edgepedia.org/mccloud-tv-series)*, *Barnaby Jones*, *Charlie's Angels*, and the soap opera *General Hospital*, as well as the CBS television movie *Flying High* (1977–78).[6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/victoria-shaw/credits/3030023011/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw)
## Personal life
Shaw married actor [Roger Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-smith-actor), later the star of *77 Sunset Strip*, on July 28, 1956; they divorced on April 19, 1965, and had three children, Tracey (born 1957), Jordan (born 1958), and Dallas (born 1961).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw) She married Elliott Alexander on March 12, 1966; sources differ on the year that marriage ended, with IMDb giving 1968 and a Japanese-language biographical compilation giving 1969.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/)
## Later years and death
Shaw returned to Australia in 1985 because of failing health.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) She died on August 17, 1988, in a hospital near Sydney at the age of 53. The Los Angeles Times obituary attributed her death to a lengthy battle with asthma, while IMDb lists emphysema as the cause.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/) She was survived by two sons, a daughter, two grandchildren, and her mother, three sisters, and a brother in Australia.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html)
## Portraiture
A gelatin silver photograph of Shaw by the Melbourne photographer Athol Shmith, inscribed "Victoria Shaw - Film Actress" and dated on the reverse to the late 1950s, is held in the Australian Photography collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (accession number PH50-1989).[7](https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/10930/)
## References
1. [Victoria Shaw – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790021/bio/)
2. [Victoria Shaw; Australian Actress Found by Bob Hope, Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1988](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-23-mn-803-story.html)
3. [1956 Prospectus, Australian Television Enterprises Limited, Hunter Living Histories](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2024/07/16/chips-rafferty/1956-03-06-prospectus-australian-television-enterprises-limited/)
4. [Victoria Shaw, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_shaw)
5. [Anne Rees (2016), Travelling to Tomorrow: Australian Women in the United States, 1910–1960, ANU thesis](https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/104532/1/Rees%20Thesis%202016.pdf)
6. [Victoria Shaw List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/victoria-shaw/credits/3030023011/)
7. [Victoria Shaw, film actress, Athol Shmith, National Gallery of Victoria](https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/10930/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames O to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license