Phyllis Brooks

Phyllis Brooks was a prominent American actress and model, born Phyllis Seiler in Boise, Idaho, on July 18, 1915. At 20, she embarked on her film career, quickly becoming known as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl" due to her modeling work. Over her career, Brooks appeared in approximately 30 films, establishing herself as a B-movie leading lady during the 1930s and 1940s. Notable films in her repertoire include *In Old Chicago* (1937), *Little Miss Broadway* (1938), and *The Shanghai Gesture* (1941). In the late 1930s, she was romantically linked to Cary Grant, who affectionately referred to her as "Brooksie," leading to speculation about their potential marriage. Brooks, a figure in social circles, also had a relationship with Howard Hughes.

In a historic moment during World War II, Brooks, alongside actress Una Merkel and actor Gary Cooper, became one of the first civilian women to visit the Pacific Theater on a USO tour. She later married Torbert Macdonald, an 11-term Congressman from Massachusetts and a close associate of John F. Kennedy, whom he had roomed with at Harvard. After moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1945 for Macdonald to complete his law degree, Brooks continued to perform in summer stock theater and hosted Boston’s first television interview program in the early 1950s. Following her retirement from public life to focus on family, she and Macdonald raised four children, including a godson of President Kennedy. Phyllis Brooks passed away on August 1, 1995, in Cape Neddick, Maine, at the age of 80.