Sheree North (born Dawn Shirley Crang; January 17, 1932 – November 4, 2005) was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe.

[citation needed] In early 1954, at age 22, she appeared in a live TV version of Cole Porter's Anything Goes on The Colgate Comedy Hour, with Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, and Bert Lahr.

[7] In an attempt to promote North, Fox studio executives lobbied to cast her in films surrounded with popular stars.

The studio had campaigned to cast her in a film with comedian Tom Ewell, hoping to repeat the success he had with Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (1955).

[citation needed] North's follow-up was The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956), a lavish musical in which her singing voice was dubbed by Eileen Wilson.

It was an attempt by the studio to broaden North's audience appeal, and while it earned favorable reviews from critics, it did not become the success for which Fox had hoped.

In 1956, Fox signed another blonde bombshell in the person of Broadway actress Jayne Mansfield to a contract, and began promoting her instead of North.

She was offered the lead role in a film called The Girl Upstairs, in which she would have parodied Monroe's on-screen persona.

[citation needed] When North's agent suggested she decline the film, Fox put her on suspension for two months.

When her suspension was lifted one month later, North agreed to appear in The Way to the Gold, but only on the assurance that Elvis Presley would be her co-star.

Although the musical film genre had declined in profitability, she next co-starred in Mardi Gras (1958) with Pat Boone and Tommy Sands.

[citation needed] After North's contract with Fox ended in 1958, her career stalled, although she continued to act in films, television, and on the stage throughout the rest of her life.

She appeared on Broadway doing a lively routine in the musical Hazel Flagg (1953), and won a Theatre World Award.

From the 1960s onward, North focused mainly on becoming a solid and versatile character actress, appearing on almost every television Western, cop show, and medical drama produced from the 1960s through the 1990s.

She also appeared in the crime drama The Organization (1971) with Sidney Poitier, and in The Outfit (1973) with Duvall, Joe Don Baker, and Karen Black.

During the 1980–81 season, North starred in I'm a Big Girl Now with Diana Canova, Danny Thomas, and Martin Short.

[citation needed] At the time of her death, North was married to her fourth husband, Emmy Award-winning title designer Phillip "Phill" Norman.