CAUSE: She died aged 79 from complications due to heart trouble and pneumonia in Ruislip.
Mae Marsh
Born November 9, 1895
Died February 13, 1968
Silent heroine. Born in Madrid, New Mexico, Mary Wayne Marsh bunked off school to see her big sister, Marguerite Loveridge (d. 1925), act but it was Mae who achieved fame when she was spotted by D.W. Griffith. She appeared in over 150 films but excelled in Griffith’s The Birth Of A Nation (1915) as Flora Cameron and Intolerance (1916) as The Dear One. Sensing her talent Goldwyn poached her, but that studio couldn’t find any suitable material for her and the pictures she was given were mediocre. She returned to her mentor in 1923 for The White Rose (1923) giving a superlative performance as Bessie ‘Teazie’ Williams. She mainly retired in 1925 but made a comeback when talkies were invented and was regularly in demand as a character actress. She appeared in Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) as Aunt Jane, Hollywood Boulevard (1936) as Carlotta Blakeford, Drums Along The Mohawk (1939), The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) as Floyd’s Wife, Tobacco Road (1941), Tales Of Manhattan (1942) as Molly, The Song Of Bernadette (1943), Jane Eyre (1944) as Leah, Fort Apache (1948) as Mrs Gates, My Blue Heaven (1950), The Robe (1953), A Star Is Born (1954), Donovan’s Reef (1963) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). In 1918 she married Louis Lee Adams and had two daughters and a son. All survived her.
CAUSE: Aged 72, she died of a heart attack in Hermosa Beach, California.
Herbert Marshall
Born May 23, 1890
Died January 22, 1966
One-legged wonder. London-born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall was the epitome of the well-bred Englishman, yet he began his career as an accountant and became business manager to an impresario. That gave him the acting bug and he made his stage début in Brighton in 1911. During World War I he lost his right leg in action but managed to hide his disability well. In 1915 he married actress Mollie Maitland. They divorced in 1928, the year after his first screen appearance with Mumsie (1927) as Colonel Armitage. On November 26, 1928, he married his leading lady Edna Best in Jersey City, New Jersey. The following year he made his first major American film, The Letter (1929), as Geoffrey Hammond starring opposite Jeanne Eagels. He commuted between London and America appearing on the stage in both countries until 1932 when he began to work solely in the movies. He appeared in Trouble In Paradise (1932) as Gaston Monescu, Blonde Venus (1932) as Edward Faraday, I Was A Spy (1933) as Stephan, Four Frightened People (1934) as Arnold Ainger, If You Could Only Cook (1935) as Jim Buchanan, Girls’ Dormitory (1936) as Dr Stephen Dominick, Angel (1937) as Sir Frederick Barker, Zaza (1939) as Dufresne, Foreign Correspondent (1940) as Stephen Fisher, The Letter (1940) as Robert Crosbie, Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble (1944) as Dr M.J. Standish, Duel In The Sun (1946) as Scott Chavez, The Virgin Queen (1955) as Lord Leicester and The List Of Adrian Messenger (1963) as Sir Wilfrid Lucas. Edna Best claimed he had deserted her in 1934 and they finally divorced in Las Vegas on February 7, 1940. Nineteen days later, he married actress Lee Russell. They divorced in 1946. On August 3, 1947, he married Boots Mallory (b. 1913), who would die on December 1, 1958, in Santa Monica. On April 25, 1960, he married for the fifth and final time, to Dee Ann Kahman.
CAUSE: Aged 75, he died of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California.
Dean Martin
(DINO CROCETTI)
Born June 7, 1917
Died December 25, 1995
Rat Packer. Jokes abounded about Dean Martin’s copious consumption of alcohol. “Dean Martin saw a sign that said ‘Drink Canada Dry’ so he went there and did.” “I wouldn’t say Dean has a drinking problem, but his major concern in life is what wine goes with whisky.” The humour tends to overlook the role played by Dean Martin in twentieth-century entertainment. Born at 11.55pm, prematurely, at 319 South Sixth Street, Steubenville, Ohio, the son of an Italian immigrant and a second- generation Italian immigrant, like many in showbiz he worked at a variety of jobs before breaking into the biz. Among his tasks were petrol pump attendant, steel mill worker, boxer and card dealer for the local mob-run casino. Finally, he turned to singing and rose to the top of the profession, gaining enormous power and vast wealth along the way. As he did so, Martin retreated into himself. People knew of his professional life but only as much of his personal life as he wanted them to know. When he was 27 he had a rhinoplasty. His starting salary as a singer was $50 a week (less than he made working as a croupier) but that soon rose to $750 a week at Atlantic City’s 500 Club where, in 1946, he made the acquaintance of a comedian called Jerry Lewis. They formed a partnership that was, initially, unsuccessful. Ditching their scripts they began to ad lib a routine and rapidly became a smash, going on to appear in 16 films together. They were: My Friend Irma (1949), My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), At War With The Army (1951), That’s My Boy (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), The Stooge (1953), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money From Home (1954), Living It Up (1954), Three Ring Circus (1954), You’re Never Too Young (1955), Artists & Models (1955), Pardners (1956) and Hollywood Or Bust (1956). They split amid much acrimony – “I still love Dean, but I don’t like him any more,” said Lewis – but Dean’s solo film début came in the flop 10,000 Bedrooms (1957). However, critics began to take him seriously when he gave a remarkable performance as the draft dodger in The Young Lions (1958). His later films included Some Came Running (1959), Rio Bravo (1959) as Dude (the film made as an “antidote” to High Noon [1953]), Career (1959), Who Was That Lady? (1956), Ocean’s 11 (1960) the first Rat Pack film, All In A Night’s Work (1961), Sergeants 3 (1962), which was produced by Frank Sinatra, The Road To Hong Kong (1962), 4 For Texas (1963) another Rat Pack film, What A Way To Go! (1964), Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964), another Rat Pack film, The Sons Of Katie Elder (1965), Five Card Stud (1968), Airport (1970) as Vernon Demerest, Mr Ricco (1973), The Cannonball Run (1981) and Cannonball Run II (1984). Dean Martin was cast in the 1962 movie Something’s Got To Give which starred Marilyn Monroe. When she was fired he gallantly refused to work with another actress; Marilyn died before filming could resume. He first entered the British pop charts on September 18, 1953, with the Top 10 hit ‘Kiss’ and was still charting over 40 years later. His theme tune was ‘Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime’, but he topped the charts in 1956 with ‘Memories Are Made Of This’. He was married three times. On October 2, 1940, he married Elizabeth Anne MacDonald (b. Chester, Pennsylvania, 1923, d. 19??) in St Anne’s, Cleveland. They had four children: Stephan Craig (b. Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, Cleveland, June 29, 1942); Claudia (b. Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1944); Barbara Gail (b. Ohio Valley Hospital, 1101 Cardinal Avenue, April 11, 1945) and Deana (b. New York, August 19, 1948). The couple was divorced on August 24, 1949. On September 1 of the same year he married model Dorothy Jean ‘Jeanne’ Beiggers (b. Florida, March 27, 1927) in Beverly Hills. They had three children: pop singer Dean-Paul (b. St John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, November 17, 1951, k. San Bernardino National Forest, March 20, 1987, in a plane crash); Ricci James (b. St John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, September 20, 1953) and Gina Carolyn (b. St John’s Hospital, Santa Monica, December 20, 1956). They divorced on March 29, 1973. On April 25, 1973, he married beautician Catherine Mae Hawn (b. Ohio, November 5, 1947) in his Bel-Air home, 363 Copa del Oro. They divorced on February 24, 1977. Dean once opined: “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink, ’cos when they get up in the morning that’s as good as they are going to feel all day.”
CAUSE: He died aged 78 of acute respiratory failure caused by emphysema.
FURTHER READING: Dino: Living High In The Dirty Business Of Dreams – Nick Tosches (New York: Doubleday, 1992).
Mary Martin
Born December 1, 1913
Died November 3, 1990
J.R.’s mum. Born in Weatherford, Texas, Mary Martin started her career as a celebrated actress renowned for her Peter Pan (winning a Tony for her performance in 1954) and ended it known as someone’s mum. That someo
ne was a pretty big someone, however – her son Larry Hagman, the villainous J.R. Ewing in Dallas. Mary, who was a lesbian, also won a Tony for her role in the 1959 production of The Sound Of Music. Her films included The Rage Of Paris (1938), The Great Victor Herbert (1939) as Louise Hall, Kiss The Boys Goodbye (1941) as Cindy Lou Bethany, Birth Of The Blues (1941) as Betty Lou Cobb, Night And Day (1946) and Main Street To Broadway (1953). Mary Martin married twice. In 1930 she wed lawyer Bernard Hageman. On May 5, 1940, she married literary agent Richard Halliday (b. 1906, d. Brasilia, Brasil, March 3, 1973, following an operation). Their daughter, Mary Heller, was born in 1941. Ethel Merman said of her: “Mary Martin? Oh, she’s all right, if you like talent.”
CAUSE: She died in Rancho Mirage, California, aged 76, from cancer.
Lee Marvin
Born February 19, 1924
Died August 29, 1987
Gruff-voiced hell-raiser. Of all the people featured in this book, the least likely to have a number one hit record would probably be Lee Marvin. Yet on March 7, 1970, he hit the top slot with ‘Wand’rin’ Star’, a song about a man who can’t settle in one place. It stayed at the top for three weeks, as long as the Spice Girls’ ‘Spice Up Your Life’ and ‘Viva Forever’ combined! Born in New York, he joined the US Marines and was invalided out with a Purple Heart having been wounded in the backside. He joined a theatre company and made his way to Broadway, television and, eventually, his first film, You’re In The Navy Now (1951), alongside fellow cinema débutant Charles Bronson. He first grabbed attention in the war film Eight Iron Men (1952) as Mooney and went on to appear in The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953) as Dan Kurth, Gun Fury (1953) as Blinky, The Glory Brigade (1953) as Corporal Bowman and Down Among The Sheltering Palms (1953) as Snively. He carved a niche for himself as a Hollywood hard man throwing boiling coffee in the face of Gloria Grahame in Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat (1953). He was in Seminole (1953) as Sergeant Magruder, The Wild One (1954), Gorilla At Large (1954) as Shaughnessy, The Caine Mutiny (1954) as Meatball, I Died A Thousand Times (1955) as Babe Kossuck, John Sturges’ Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) as Hector David and Raintree County (1957) as Orville ‘Flash’ Perkins. He appeared in the NBC television series M Squad as hard-nosed cop Lieutenant Frank Ballinger from September 20, 1957, unti September 13, 1960. He was often seen on individual television plays before returning to the big screen, doing very little television work afterwards. He began appearing in Westerns such as The Comancheros (1961) as Tully Crow, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) as Liberty Valance and Cat Ballou (1965) as Tim Strawn/Kid Shelleen, which won him an Oscar. He led The Dirty Dozen (1967) as Major John Reisman, became gangster Walker in John Boorman’s violent Point Blank (1967) but returned to the West for Josh Logan’s Paint Your Wagon (1969) as Ben Rumson. Despite being a successful stage show the film was a flop. Nonetheless, it earned Marvin a number one record. Director Logan commented, “Not since Attila the Hun swept across Europe leaving five hundred years of total blackness has there been a man like Lee Marvin.” After that Marvin was a steady actor who never found the right project. His later films included The Iceman Cometh as Hickey, The Klansman as Sheriff Bascomb, Shout At The Devil (1976) as Flynn O’Flynn, The Big Red One (1980) as The Sergeant, Gorky Park (1983) as Jack Osborne and The Delta Force (1986) as Colonel Nick Alexander. He reprised his portrayal of Major John Reisman in the TV movie The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985). Originally, the role of Reisman was due to be played by John Wayne but he made the ultra-patriotic The Green Berets (1968) instead. On February 5, 1952, Marvin married actress Betty Ebeling in the Wee Kirk O’ The Heather, Las Vegas. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Loveable. They had four children: Christopher (b. 1952); Courtenay (b. 1954), Cynthia (b. 1956) and Claudia (b. 1958). They divorced on January 4, 1967. One of the extras on Ship Of Fools (1965) was a 37-24-36, dark-haired, divorced, Roman Catholic singer called Michelle Triola (b. Los Angeles, California, 1933). She and Marvin began an affair. It was to be a fling that made legal history. When they split she sued him in the first ‘palimony’ suit. “I gave Lee the best years of my life,” she claimed while he countered with, “Well, I also gave her the best years of her life.” Explaining the suit, Triola said, “Lee is probably the most pure man I have ever known in my entire life. That’s why I have to sue him.” Without wishing to ascribe any financial motivation to Triola’s action, it should be pointed out that she changed her name legally to Marvin a mere four days before they split. She asked for $3.6 million. On April 18, 1979, the trial ended after 11 weeks and the judge found in favour of Marvin but awarded Triola “an equitable sum of $104,000 to re-educate herself so that she may return from her status as a companion of a motion picture star to a separate, independent, but perhaps more prosaic existence.” However, the award was overturned on appeal and Triola was left without a penny. In 1981 she was convicted of “shoplifting two bras and two sweaters from a Beverly Hills department store.” In the early Eighties she moved in with married comedian Dick Van Dyke and took to calling herself Michelle Van Dyke. On October 18, 1970, Marvin had married Pamela Freeley in Las Vegas. They were still together when he died.
CAUSE: Lee Marvin died in Tucson, Arizona, aged 63, from a heart attack.
FURTHER READING: Marvin: The Story Of Lee Marvin – Donald Zec (London: New English Library, 1979).
The Marx Brothers
Chico
(LEONARD)
Born March 22, 1886
Died October 11, 1961
Groucho
(JULIUS HENRY)
Born October 2, 1890
Died August 19, 1977
Gummo
(MILTON)
Born October 21, 1892
Died April 21, 1977
Harpo
(ADOLPH [ARTHUR])
Born November 23, 1888
Died September 28, 1964
Zeppo
(HERBERT)
Born February 25, 1901
Died November 29, 1979
Comedy family. Born in Yorkville, New York, the sons of Samuel Marx, a Jewish tailor, there were originally six Marx Brothers. Manfred died while still a child. The family resided at 179 East 93rd Street, New York, and soon set off on showbiz careers, joining vaudeville. Groucho was the first to enter the business, followed by Gummo, Harpo, Chico and then Zeppo. By 1914 the four eldest brothers had their own family act. Their names were explained thus by Groucho. “I was the moody one so [I was] called … Groucho. The harp player Adolph – who, after Hitler’s rise to power changed his name to Arthur – would be known as Harpo. [Milton t]he fellow who wore the gumshoes would be known as Gummo. And the one constantly chasing the pretty chicks would be called Chicko. We didn’t think much of the idea at first but it caught on. The ‘k’ in Leonard’s name was accidentally dropped by a typesetter, and it became ‘Chico’.” Gummo left the act to be replaced by brother Herbert, named Zeppo after a chimpanzee. They made their Broadway début in 1924, a year after a journalist criticised Harpo’s voice. He decided to remain mute on stage afterwards. Moving to movies, the Marx Brothers made a number of highly successful film comedies such as The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Duck Soup (1933), A Night At The Opera (1935) and A Day At The Races (1937). When they released A Night In Casablanca (1946), Warner Bros threatened to sue claiming the public would confuse the film with the Bogart epic. Groucho countered by threatening to sue the studio for using the word ‘Brothers’. Away from the screen the brothers had other interests. Chico’s was womanising. In 1910 he married dancer Betty Karp. Their daughter, Maxine, arrived in 1911. They divorced in 1942. His wife once caught him kissing a chorus girl. He protested his innocence with the explanation: “I wasn’t kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth.” On August 22, 1958, in Beverly Hills he married actress Mary DeVithas. Zeppo was granted a US patent for a watch that also checked the wearer’s heartbeat. He married and divorced Marion Benda and adopted two children. In 1959 he married, as her second husband, Barbara Jane Blakeley (b. Bosw
orth, Missouri, October 16, 1930) who, after the December 27, 1972 divorce, subsequently married Frank Sinatra. Harpo married actress Susan Fleming on September 12, 1936, but kept the match a secret until November. They adopted four children: Billy Woollcott, Alexander and twins Minnie and Jimmy. Groucho had a successful television career as host of the quiz show You Bet Your Life. On one edition of the show a female contestant said she had a dozen children. An amazed Groucho asked why. “Because I love my husband,” she replied. “I love my cigar but I take it out once in a while!” came the rejoinder. Groucho married three times. He wed dancer Ruth Johnson in Chicago on February 4, 1920. They had a son Arthur (b. July 21, 1921), who later wrote books about his father, and a daughter Miriam (b. 1927). Separating in December 1941 the couple was divorced in Los Angeles on July 15, 1942. On July 21, 1945, in Los Angeles, he married Catherine Gorcey, the ex-wife of actor Leo Gorcey. Their daughter, Melinda, was born on August 14, 1946, in Los Angeles. On May 15, 1951, they were divorced. On July 17, 1954, he married for the final time to Eden Marie Hartford. That, too, ended in divorce, this time on December 3, 1969. He once met a priest who said to him, “I want to shake your hand and thank you for all the pleasure you’ve brought into the world.” Groucho grasped the proffered hand with the words, “And I want to thank you for all the pleasure you’ve taken out of it.” Asked by Playboy what he would do if he could live his life over again, the immortal Groucho replied, “Try more positions.” Widely regarded as one of the funniest on-screen comedians of them all, writer Sir Kingsley Amis dismissed Groucho as, “The most embarrassingly unfunny comedian I have ever encountered.”
Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries Page 119