Hollywood glamour comes to Luton

These pictures show her touring the Electrolux factory in Luton in October 1949, although the reason for her visit is not clear.

Details about Decker are sketchy, although it would appear she is still alive and well into her 80s.

One website says she was born in Queens, New York, in 1924, while another lists her birthplace as Hollywood in 1926.

Her family settled in England when she was a child and one of her first roles was in the 1944 black and white movie Fiddlers Three, starring comedian Tommy Trinder.

Decker, who was also a singer and released some records, was a drunken blonde in The Barefoot Contessa, alongside Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner, in 1954, and she played Jean Farlow in the Stanley Kubrick film Lolita eight years later.

Her many TV credits include Douglas Fairbanks Jr Presents, The New Adventures Of Martin Kane, The Vise and Hotel Imperial.

Decker’s last role was as Madeleine Braun in horror flick Devils Of Darkness in 1965.

At the time of her trip to Electrolux, visiting all parts of the factory, the boardroom and even the company’s nurse, the famous refrigerator and vacuum cleaner manufacturer employed well over 2,000 people in Luton.

Of Swedish origin, Electrolux took over the site of the old aircraft works at Leagrave in 1927.

It now has a much smaller operation at the Oakley Road site.