Veronica Lake — born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman on November 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York — was one of the most mesmerizing stars of 1940s Hollywood. With her trademark peek-a-boo hairstyle and sultry voice, she became a symbol of wartime glamour, often cast as the mysterious femme fatale. Her rise came fast with films like Sullivan’s Travels (1941), This Gun for Hire (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946), where she starred opposite Alan Ladd — their chemistry becoming legendary. But behind