Marion Martin
Acting • Born 1908-06-07 – Died 1985-08-13
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Marion Martin (born Marion Suplee, June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985) was an American movie and stage actress. Martin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. She became an actress after her family fortune was lost in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and appeared in the Broadway productions Lombardi Ltd. and Sweet Adeline. She made her film debut in She's My Lillie, I'm Her Willie and subsequently played minor roles, often as showgirls. Several of her early roles were in musicals and she achieved some success as a singer. By the end of the decade she had played leading female roles in several "B" pictures, playing one of her most notable roles in James Whale's Sinners in Paradise (1938). Despite her success she was often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl Friday (1940). The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also appeared in dramas such as Boom Town (1940) in which she played a dance hall singer who is briefly romanced by Clark Gable. She played secondary roles in three Lupe Vélez "Mexican Spitfire" films in the early 1940s, and was a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in The Big Store, where the back of her skirt is cut away by Harpo. She played a ghost in Gildersleeve's Ghost, and was the subject of a legendary fistfight between Gildersleeve star Harold Peary and Warner Bros studio mogul Bud Stevens at the Mocambo nightclub in 1943. Her more substantial roles included Alice Angel, a dizzy showgirl, in the murder mystery Lady of Burlesque with Barbara Stanwyck and Angel on My Shoulder. She also appeared in The Big Street with Lucille Ball, in the western The Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor and in The Great Mike at PRC in 1944. By the late 1940s, her roles were often minor. Three Stooges fans will remember her as western cowgirl Gladys in Merry Mavericks. She played "Belle Farnol" in a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger entitled "Pardon for Curley". Shortly afterward, she made her final film appearance in 1952. Married to a physicist, Martin retired, and although she expressed the desire to return to show business, suitable roles were not offered to her. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures, at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. She died in 1985 in Santa Monica, California, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Filmography
75 credits
Black Angel
Movie • 1946
Millie
Angel on My Shoulder
Movie • 1946
Rosie Morgan Bentley
Suspense
Movie • 1946
Shooting Gallery Blond (uncredited)
Tales of Manhattan
Movie • 1942
Squirrel
Cupid Takes a Holiday
Movie • 1938
Annabelle Postal -1st Prospective Bride
The Man in the Iron Mask
Movie • 1939
Mlle. de la Valliere
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
Movie • 1940
Cornelia
Lady of Burlesque
Movie • 1943
Alice Angel
Invitation to Happiness
Movie • 1939
Lola Snow
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Movie • 1941
Dawn
Lady Scarface
Movie • 1941
Ruby / Mary Jordan
The Big Street
Movie • 1942
Mimi Venus
Should Husbands Marry?
Movie • 1947
Loud Friend's Girlfriend
Lighthouse
Movie • 1947
JoJo, the Blonde
Deadline for Murder
Movie • 1946
Laura Gibson
Gangs of the Waterfront
Movie • 1945
Rita (as Marian Martin)
Merry Mavericks
Movie • 1951
Gladys
Sinners in Paradise
Movie • 1938
Iris Compton
The McGuerins from Brooklyn
Movie • 1942
Myrtle
Sergeant Madden
Movie • 1939
Charlotte LePage
Gildersleeve's Ghost
Movie • 1944
Terry Vance
Queen of Burlesque
Movie • 1946
Lola Cassell
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
Movie • 1942
Fifi Russell
The Merry Monahans
Movie • 1944
Soubrette
Weekend for Three
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Gloria Weatherby
The Miss They Missed
Movie • 1938
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Movie • 1941
Fifi
Oklahoma Annie
Movie • 1952
LaBelle La Tour
Mystery of the Riverboat
Movie • 1944
Celeste Eltree [Chs. 1-4, 7]
Key to the City
Movie • 1950
Emmy
The Great Mike
Movie • 1944
Kitty Tremaine
Boom Town
Movie • 1940
Whitey
Mr. W's Little Game
Movie • 1934
The Blonde
She's My Lilly, I'm Her Willie
Movie • 1934
Miss Brooks
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
Movie • 1942
Diana De Corro
They Got Me Covered
Movie • 1943
Gloria
The Phantom Speaks
Movie • 1945
Betty Hanzel
Youth Takes a Fling
Movie • 1938
Girl on Beach
The Big Store
Movie • 1941
Peggy Arden
Pirates of the Skies
Movie • 1939
Cinderella Jones
Movie • 1946
Burlesque Queen
Come to the Stable
Movie • 1949
Rossi's Manicurist (uncredited)
Girls of the Big House
Movie • 1945
Dixie
His Girl Friday
Movie • 1940
Evangeline (uncredited)
Dakota Lil
Movie • 1950
Blonde Singer
It Happened Tomorrow
Movie • 1944
Nurse (uncredited)
His Exciting Night
Movie • 1938
Gypsy McCoy
The Lady from Cheyenne
Movie • 1941
Gertie
That Brennan Girl
Movie • 1946
Marion, Natalie's Girl Friend (as Marian Martin)
The Woman of the Town
Movie • 1943
Daisy Davenport
Untamed
Movie • 1940
2nd Girl in Limousine (uncredited)
Thunder in the Pines
Movie • 1948
Pearl (as Marian Martin)
Cracked Nuts
Movie • 1941
Flashy Blonde in Corridor
Love at First Fright
Movie • 1941
Liza Hatrack
Eadie Was a Lady
Movie • 1945
Rose Allure
Blonde Inspiration
Movie • 1941
Wanda
Powder Town
Movie • 1942
Sue, Blonde Piano Player
New Wine
Movie • 1941
Mitzi
The Storm
Movie • 1938
Jane
Sweethearts of the U.S.A.
Movie • 1944
Ghost of Josephine
Fly By Night
Movie • 1942
Nurse
Penthouse Rhythm
Movie • 1945
Irma King
Crime Without Passion
Movie • 1934
Theatre Cashier (uncredited)
Oh, You Beautiful Doll
Movie • 1949
Bar Blonde
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Movie • 1945
Miss Milbane
Moon Over Manhattan
Movie • 1935
Nobody Lives Forever
Movie • 1946
Lou, Blonde (uncredited)
On Stage Everybody
Movie • 1945
Bubbles (uncredited)
Invisible Stripes
Movie • 1939
Blonde (uncredited)
Wedded Blitz
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Errol
Blondes and Blunders
Movie • 1940
Blondie, Jewel Thief
Journey Into Light
Movie • 1951
Diana (as Marian Martin)
Richard Himber and His Orchestra
Movie • 1935
Singer
The Magic of Music
Movie • 1935
Blonde guest
Boy, Oh Boy
Movie • 1936
Miss Glory Hutchinson