Marion Martin

Marion Martin
Marion Suplee (born June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985), known professionally as Marion Martin, was an American film and stage actress.
Biography
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 (1942) 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.
Personal
She was awarded a star at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures. She died of cardiac arrest in 1985 in Los Angeles, California, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Partial filmography
Crime Without Passion (1934) as Theatre Cashier (uncredited)
Sinners in Paradise (1938) as Iris Compton
Personal Secretary (1938) as Girl in Office (uncredited)
Youth Takes a Fling (1938) as Girl on Beach
The Storm (1938) as Jane, Bar Girl
His Exciting Night (1938) as Gypsy McCoy
Pirates of the Skies (1939) as Kitty
Sergeant Madden (1939) as Charlotte LePage
Invitation to Happiness (1939) as Lola Snow
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) as Mlle. de la Valliere
Invisible Stripes (1939) as Blonde (uncredited)
His Girl Friday (1940) as Evangeline (uncredited)
Women in War (1940) as Starr's Date (uncredited)
Untamed (1940) as 2nd Girl in Limousine (uncredited)
Scatterbrain (1940) (uncredited)
Boom Town (1940) as Whitey
Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) as Cornelia
Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) as Dawn
Blonde Inspiration (1941) as Wanda
The Lady from Cheyenne (1941) as Gertie (uncredited)
The Big Store (1941) as Peggy Arden
Cracked Nuts (1941) as Flashy Blonde in Corridor (uncredited)
Lady Scarface (1941) as Ruby, aka Mary Jordan
New Wine (1941) as Mitzi
Weekend for Three (1941) as Mrs. Weatherby
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941) as Fifi
Harvard, Here I Come! (1941) as Oomphie (uncredited)
Fly-by-Night (1942) as Blond Nurse
Call Out the Marines (1942) as Pretty Blonde on Tour (uncredited)
Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942) as Fifi Russell
Powder Town (1942) as Sue, Blonde Piano Player
Tales of Manhattan (1942) as 'Squirrel'
The Big Street (1942) as Mimi Venus
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942) as Diana De Corro
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) as Wife, Bob Hope Skit (uncredited)
The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942) as Myrtle, Marcia's friend
They Got Me Covered (1943) as Gloria
Lady of Burlesque (1943) as Alice Angel
Swingtime Johnny (1943) as Flashy Blonde
The Woman of the Town (1943) as Daisy Davenport
Sweethearts of the U.S.A. (1944) as Ghost of Josephine
It Happened Tomorrow (1944) as Nurse (uncredited)
Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944) as Terry Vance
The Merry Monahans (1944) as Soubrette
Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944) as Prima Donna (uncredited)
Mystery of the River Boat (1944, Serial) as Celeste Eltree
The Great Mike (1944) as Kitty Tremaine
Eadie Was a Lady (1945) as Rose Allure
The Phantom Speaks (1945) as Betty Hanzel
Penthouse Rhythm (1945) as Irma King
Gangs of the Waterfront (1945) as Rita
On Stage Everybody (1945) as Bubbles (uncredited)
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) as Miss Milbane
Girls of the Big House (1945) as Dixie
Cinderella Jones (1946) as Burlesque Queen
Suspense (1946) as Shooting Gallery Blond (uncredited)
Deadline for Murder (1946) as Laura Gibson
Queen of Burlesque (1946) as Lola Cassell
Black Angel (1946) as Millie
Angel on My Shoulder (1946) as Mrs. Bentley
Nobody Lives Forever (1946) as Lou, Blonde (uncredited)
That Brennan Girl (1946) as Marion, Natalie's Girl Friend
Lighthouse (1947) as JoJo, The Blonde
New Orleans (1947) as Blonde Cashier (uncredited)
That's My Gal (1947) as Pepper
State of the Union (1948) as Blonde Girl (uncredited)
Thunder in the Pines (1948) as Pearl
My Dream Is Yours (1949) as Blonde at Club Babita (uncredited)
Come to the Stable (1949) as Rossi's Manicurist (uncredited)
Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949) as Big Blonde (uncredited)
Key to the City (1950) as Emmy
Dakota Lil (1950) as Blonde Singer
Journey Into Light (1951) as Diana
Oklahoma Annie (1952) as La Belle La Tour (uncredited) (final film role)
References
External links
Allmovie biography from the New York Times
1909 births
1985 deaths
American film actresses
American stage actresses
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Actresses from Philadelphia
20th-century American actresses