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Chris Noel
Chris Noel on the Armed Forces Radio show, "A Date with Chris". Chris Noel had her own radio show during the Vietnam War.
Born	(1941-07-02) July 2, 1941 (age 83) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Other names	Sandee Noel, Sandra Louise Noel, Miss Christmas (by Troops), The Voice of Vietnam, America's answer to Hanoi Hannah, the next Marilyn Monroe
Occupation(s)	Actress, radio show host on American Forces Network, cover girl, cheerleader, author, singer, USO entertainer and executive director of a veteran's home.
Years active	1963–2010
Known for	Girl Happy, Wild Wild Winter, USO tours and The Tormentors
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse	Ty Herrington ​ ​(m. 1969, died)​
Website	vetsville.us

“I always said I was like a rock pillar. I had to be strong for these guys and never break down and show I was scared or tired.” “No matter what happened, I stayed bubbly. Miss Sunshine. Miss Christmas.” -- “I was the last female voice they (soldiers killed in Vietnam) hear or the last American woman or girl they saw." -- Chris Noel

“I'm no propagandist, I'm just a girl who's trying to make the men she loves happy. You see, I'm in love with half a million men—all our American troops in Vietnam.” Chris Noel

Chris Noel (Sandra Louise Noel, born July 2, 1941) is a retired American actress and entertainer. Noel is best known for her appearances in beach party movies in the 1960s, and for her work on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Service as the "Voice of Vietnam". A popular pin-up girl of the era, Noel made frequent visits to troops, and was at risk many times, having twice been shot at in the helicopters she was riding. She hosted the radio program A Date With Chris, one of Armed Forces Radio's most popular shows.

Model

Noel's picture appeared on the cover of Good Housekeeping magazine when she was 16 years old, and she was painted as a pin-up model by Gil Elvgren. Won the Miss Palm Beach pageant. After moving to New York City, she became a cheerleader for the New York Giants football team. Posters that showed her holding a Kodak Brownie camera were displayed in camera stores. She also had her own modeling school in Lake Park, Florida. Noel was the cover girl for a number of magazines and appeared in advertising for Ford Mustang and other products.

Vietnam

In addition to her work on radio during the Vietnam War, she toured the country eight times, including twice with Bob Hope's USO tours. Her interest in that war's military personnel began with her visit to a San Francisco VA hospital in 1965. At the VA hospital, she sang the song Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and talk to the Vets. She said, "That was the moment. I prayed to God to help me help young men in war." She was considered so valuable to American military morale, that the enemy placed a $10,000 bounty on her. Noel opened the show with the greeting "Hi, Love". Twice her chopper was downed by enemy fire while she was visiting American military personnel in Vietnam. Her radio show A Date with Chris was recorded in California and South Vietnam between 1966 and 1971 for the Armed Forces Radio heard on 300 stations around the world. Noel was the DJ for her show and did interviews with artists including Ray Charles, Lawrence Welk, Robert Mitchum, Marvin Gaye, Nancy Sinatra and others. Noel received the Distinguished Vietnam Veteran award in 1984 from the Veterans Network for her work during the war. Her last visit to South Vietnam was in 1969. Noel first co-hosted an Armed Forces Radio show called Small World, which was a hit and led to her own show. She was dating singer Jack Jones at the time. Noel sang, danced, read poetry, signed autographs, talk to, kissed and hugged the troops in South Vietnam from 1966 to 1970. She is the only woman to travel through South Vietnam to remote bases in helicopters, riding with the door open, next to the gunner. She survived mortar and assault rifle attacks in war zones. Noel broadcast her radio show from Saigon while in South Vietnam. She also made a number of visits troops at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, some with Betty Waldron and Bill Thrasher.

Singer

In the early 1970s, Noel was in New York and was working with Paul Colby, impresario and owner of the famous Greenwich Village club, The Bitter End. She was performing cover songs by John Prine and needed a backup band, so Colby asked Dennis Lepri, who had worked with Kenny Rogers and Gunhill Road, to form a band for her and produce her sound. After auditioning many New York area musicians, the band "Quilt" was formed. After extensive rehearsals at the Bitter End, the band showcased for selected industry executives to mixed reviews. Sometime after, the band was dissolved and Noel pursued other interests. In 1999 she released the CD Nashville Impact.

Personal life

Following his proposal in a helicopter, Noel wed soldier Green Beret captain Ty Herrington, who she later found out was diagnosed as a "paranoid schizophrenic manic-depressive". He killed himself in December 1969 after they had been married for 11 months. She went on to marry three more times, once to a Texan independent oil producer, another to a guy she met in church, and last to a lawyer. Noel also has written books, her latest book is about filming Cease Fire with Don Johnson. Another book is a 1987 book called Matter of Survival: The "War" Jane Never Saw and the 2011 book, Vietnam And Me her personal memoir of the war. In the 1960s her best friend was Eileen O’Neill and she dated Chad Everett. Chris Noel was asked and attended the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC in 1982. Noel and Captain Ty Herrington, (Clyde Berkley) born July 2, 1941, were married on January 11, 1969 in Miami. Ty Herrington released a 45 RPM promo single, with the songs: A Gun Don't Make A Man written by Boudleaux & Felice Bryant, and When The Green Berets Come Home written by Boudleaux Bryant in 1968.

“I didn't know how many people were going to remember me,” she said. “But everywhere I went veterans came up to me and thanked me. It felt like I was right back in Vietnam again.”

Noel founded the Women's Interactive Network in 1985 to help women with Post-traumatic stress disorder. In 1993, she opened a shelter in Boynton Beach, Florida, providing space for 10–12 drug-free veterans at a time. In 2019 she received Amvets Silver Helmet Award.

In 2004 a DVD documentary of her life was released Blonde Bombshell: The Incredible True Story of Chris Noel.

In May 2022 Noel was Awarded the Heroes Honor Lifetime Award at the Heroes Honor Festival.

Los Angeles Veterans Hospital

When a group of veterans went on a hunger strike in 1981 at the Los Angeles Veterans Hospital to get better treatment, the Reagan administration asked Noel to act as an intermediary with the veterans. Noel helped negotiate an end to the hunger strike.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Because of her lifelong work with troops and veterans, as well as for being shot at in an army helicopter twice over South Vietnam, which with surviving assault attacks in the war caused post-traumatic stress disorder, some groups and individuals have petitioned for Chris Noel to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Film and TV

Noel began acting started in 1963 on stage in the Broadway play Mister Roberts with Hugh O'Brian, her boyfriend at the time. Also in the Mister Roberts play was Will Hutchins, Vincent Gardenia, Tony Mordente, Alan Yorke, Vince O'Brien, Bill Fletcher, John J. Martin, directed by Billy Matthews. Noel acting in film started with a role in Soldier in the Rain, with Steve McQueen and included working with Elvis Presley in Girl Happy. She also was in Beach Ball with Edd Byrnes, and Cease Fire with Don Johnson.

Filmography

Film

Television

Books

Books by Chris Noel:

• Matter of Survival: The "War" Jane Never Saw
• Vietnam And Me, Noel's personal memoir of the war
• Confessions Of A Pin-Up Girl: The Hollywood Sex Symbol Who Became A Vietnam Icon
• Filming Cease Fire
• Filming Happy Girls
• Filming Soldier in the Rain
• Filming The Glory Stompers
• Filming Beach Ball
• Filming College Girl
• Filming For Singles Only
• Filming Wild Times
• Filming Joy in the Morning
• Filming Bewitched Love Is Blind: Behind the Scenes with Liz Montgomery and Dick York
• DVD documentary Blonde Bombshell: The Incredible True Story of Chris Noel

Broadway

• 1963, Mister Roberts, Directed by Billy Matthews, Hugh O'Brian leading role.

Music

• Doll House B side: Mr. and Mrs. Smith - 1968 Single Promo
• Forgotten Man - 1982 Album - Dedicated to Vietnam Veterans
• Nashville Impact – 1999 Album
• ...Next Stop Is Vietnam, The War on Record: 1961-2008 Introduction To "A Date With Chris" - 2010 Album.

See also

• List of entertainers who performed for American troops in Vietnam
• Lee Hansen
• Adrian Cronauer
• Patty Thomas

References

1. Fallen Heroes Project, Chris Noel
2. "A Date with Chris, by Chris Noel". Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
3. ^ Eyman, Scott. "The surprising life of Palm Beach's pin-up girl". The Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020.
4. Tucker, Spencer C. (May 20, 2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781851099610.
5. Hamilton, E. M. (2006). My Vietnam Journal: In the Rear with the Gear. Trafford. ISBN 9781412093170.
6. Gary, Claudia; Zabecki, David (June 12, 2008). "THE VIETNAM INTERVIEW: A DATE WITH CHRIS NOEL". HistoryNet.
7. Noel, Chris (January 1987). Matter of Survival: The "war" Jane Never Saw. Branden Publishing Company. ISBN 9780828319034.
8. leatherneck.com, Miss Christmas
9. News on 5, Chris Noel, Jun 30, 2008
10. ^ "Visit to a VA hospital led to 8 tours of Vietnam". The Palm Beach Post. July 29, 2011. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
11. youtube.com Chris Noel at the beach. Classic cars 1967 '68
12. famousfix.com, Chris Noel - Cine Revue Magazine Pictorial, France, 26 September 1968
13. afvnvets.net, A Date With Chris, show audio
14. sixtiescinema.com Chris Noel, A Salute To Chris Noel & Other 60s Starlets Who Went To Vietnam, By Tom Lisanti November 11, 2017
15. youtube.com, A DATE WITH CHRIS - 1967 Chris Noel Radio Program
16. youtube.com, Chris in Vietnam
17. youtube.com, Chris Noel sings "Sunny" to troops in Vietnam
18. Chris Noel signed autographs
19. youtube.com, Chris Noel in Vietnam
20. youtube.com, Chris Noel singing grovy in Vietnam
21. ^ "The Vietnam Interview: A Date with Chris Noel". historynet.com. January 12, 2012.
22. "Keeping a Date with Chris Noel". historynet.com. January 12, 2012.
23. AFR, Date with Chris
24. Ktroop, Chris Noel
25. Billboard, May 11, 1968, Chris Noel, page 12
26. Gary, Claudia; Zabecki, David T. (June 12, 2008). "The Vietnam Interview: A Date with Chris Noel". HistoryNet. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
27. Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema, by Tom Lisanti, Screen Stories, Movieland
28. The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool by Chris Strodder, page 239
29. Chris Noel — The Starlet Who Became a Soldier, by Donna Teresa, February 10, 2009
30. youtube.com, Chris Noel interview on WFDU July, 2013
31. myheritage.com aptain Ty Herrington
32. discogs.com Ty Herrington
33. youtube.com When The Green Berets Come Home--Capt Ty Herrington US Special Forces Green Berets-'68-Monument 1115
34. usawarriorstories.org, Christ Noel
35. Why the Beach Boys Matter, By Tom Smucker, page 172
36. ^ heroeshonorfestival.com, Chris Noel
37. Petition for Chris Noel to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
38. Petitioning President of the United States, Award The Presidential Medal of Freedom to Miss Chris Noel, From: Deanna Hopkins, Widow of a Vietnam Veteran.
39. Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969, page 402
40. Elvis Women, Chris Noel
41. youtube.com, Soldier in the Rain
42. youtube.com Chris Noel and Elvis Presley
43. imdb.com, The Tormentors
44. youtube.com The Lieutenant, Between Music and Laughter
45. youtube.com Burke's Law
46. youtube.com My Three Sons, Marriage and Stuff
47. youtube.com, American Bandstand
48. youtube.com My Mother the Car, "Many Happy No-Returns
49. youtube.com Occasional Wife
50. imdb.com Pistols 'n' Petticoats
51. youtube.com, Password March 1967
52. youtube.com The Hollywood Palace
53. youtube.com, What's My Line? Chris Noel
54. imdb.com, Wild Times
55. youtube.com, China Beach, Chris Noel
56. imdb.com The Definitive Elvis: The Hollywood Years-Part II: 1962–1969
57. youtube.com, episode #3, Chris Noel in Vietnam
58. youtube.com, Miller Beer Far East Tour Vietnam War Uso Tour
59. archive.org, Miller Beer Far East Tour
60. discogs.com, Doll House
61. youtube.com, Doll House, Chris Noel
62. allmusic.com, Forgotten Man
63. youtube.com, Forgotten Man, Chris Noel, Jul 7, 2008
64. Forgotten Man, By Chris Noel
65. Chris Noel, By G M, February 10, 2009
66. discogs.com, Next Stop Is Vietnam

External links

• youtube.com, Chris Noel, The Voice of Vietnam
• youtube.com Chris Radio in Vietnam
• American Forces Radio Vietnam, A Date With Chris
• Chris Noel at IMDb
• Chris Noel, AFRTS Archive

• Living people
• 20th-century American actresses
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• American cheerleaders
• American women in the Vietnam War
• National Football League cheerleaders
• American Forces Network
• 1941 births
• 21st-century American women writers
• American radio DJs
• American women radio hosts
• Female models from Florida
• American female models
• 20th-century American singers
• 20th-century American women singers
• American women DJs