TLDR: The Golddiggers were an all-female singing and dancing ensemble formed in 1968 by The Dean Martin Show‘s musical director Lee Hale and executive producer Greg Garrison. More than 75 women rotated through the group across its history. They toured Vietnam with Bob Hope, launched careers including one of the women who played Grease’s cheerleader Patty Simcox, and were inadvertently used in photographs that a Swiss UFO religion cult claimed were extraterrestrials.
In 1968, The Dean Martin Show had been running for three seasons on NBC and needed a signature recurring act that could anchor weekly performances alongside a star who refused to rehearse.
Lee Hale, the show’s musical director, and executive producer Greg Garrison created the Golddiggers, a rotating ensemble of singers and dancers whose combination of precision choreography and Hollywood glamour made them one of the most recognizable acts in late 1960s television.
What They Did
The Golddiggers performed weekly backup routines on The Dean Martin Show and starred in several NBC summer replacement series: Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers in 1968, 1969, and 1970, and the syndicated Chevrolet Presents the Golddiggers running from 1971 to 1973.
They also toured internationally with Bob Hope’s USO Christmas tours in 1968, 1969, and 1970, performing for American military personnel in Vietnam, Japan, and Korea.
A spin-off quartet called the Ding-a-ling Sisters performed alongside the main ensemble on several productions.
Both groups continued performing as a live touring act long after The Dean Martin Show ended in 1974, opening for Martin’s Las Vegas and national touring shows through the early 1990s.
Where They Went
Susan Buckner was a Golddigger from 1973 to 1974. She had been crowned Miss Washington in 1971 and placed in the top ten at Miss America 1972.
Her Golddiggers exposure led to a significant acting career, with her defining screen role as the cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical film Grease, followed by a starring role in Wes Craven’s horror film Deadly Blessing in 1981.
She stepped back from performing in the 1980s to raise her children and died in May 2024 at age 72.
Jayne Kennedy performed with the Ding-a-ling Sisters from 1972 to 1973 and went on to become one of the most prominent Black women in American sports broadcasting, breaking significant racial and gender barriers on national television through the late 1970s and 1980s.
Lindsay Bloom, also a Ding-a-ling Sister from 1972 to 1973, built an extensive acting career in film and television, culminating in her role as Velda, Mike Hammer’s loyal secretary, in the CBS series Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1989.
Lonette McKee performed alongside fellow Ding-a-ling Sister Michelle DellaFave as a musical duo on The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters in 1972 before establishing a distinguished decades-long career as a Broadway star and film actress.
The UFO Hoax
The Golddiggers were connected to one of the stranger chapters in twentieth-century UFO mythology entirely without their knowledge or consent.
Billy Meier, a Swiss farmer who became the central figure in a UFO religion called FIGU, had claimed since the 1970s to have regular contact with human-like extraterrestrials named Asket and Nera, whom he claimed to have photographed.
In 1997, Meier’s former wife Kalliope publicly revealed that the photographs were fabricated.
Independent researchers subsequently verified her claims, confirming that the widely circulated “alien” photographs were actually television screenshots of Golddiggers members Michelle DellaFave and Susan Lund performing on The Dean Martin Show.
Meier subsequently claimed the photographs had been switched by hostile forces. The two women who were mistaken for extraterrestrials had no involvement in the deception whatsoever.
For the full story of the show and the man at its center, see our Dean Martin Show hub.
The Golddiggers: Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the Dean Martin Golddiggers?
The Golddiggers were an all-female singing and dancing ensemble formed in 1968 by Dean Martin Show musical director Lee Hale and executive producer Greg Garrison. More than 75 women rotated through the group across its history. They performed weekly on The Dean Martin Show, starred in several NBC summer replacement series, toured Vietnam with Bob Hope’s USO shows, and continued as a live touring act supporting Dean Martin through the early 1990s.
Did any Golddiggers become famous?
Yes. Susan Buckner, a Golddigger from 1973 to 1974, became best known as cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 film Grease. Jayne Kennedy, a Ding-a-ling Sister spin-off member, became a pioneering Black sports broadcaster on national television. Lindsay Bloom starred as Velda in CBS’s Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1989. Lonette McKee established a major Broadway and film career.
What was the UFO connection to the Golddiggers?
Swiss UFO cult leader Billy Meier claimed for years to have photographed human-like extraterrestrials named Asket and Nera. In 1997, independent researchers confirmed that the photographs were actually television screenshots of Golddiggers members Michelle DellaFave and Susan Lund performing on The Dean Martin Show. The two women had no involvement in the hoax.
