Marion Martin
76 movies
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 7, 1908
- Died
- Aug 13, 1985 (age 77)
- Place of birth
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Also known as
- Marion Suplee · Marian Martin
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marion Martin (born Marion Suplee, June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985) was an American movie and stage actress.
Read the full 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 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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Marion Martin: movies and TV shows
Acting (76)
- 1952 Oklahoma Annie
as LaBelle La Tour
- 1951 Journey Into Light
as Diana (as Marian Martin)
- 1951 Merry Mavericks
as Gladys
- 1950 Dakota Lil
as Blonde Singer
- 1950 Key to the City
as Emmy
- 1949 Oh, You Beautiful Doll
as Bar Blonde
- 1949 Come to the Stable
as Rossi's Manicurist (uncredited)
- 1948 Thunder in the Pines
as Pearl (as Marian Martin)
- 1947 Should Husbands Marry?
as Loud Friend's Girlfriend
- 1947 That's My Gal
as Pepper
- 1947 Lighthouse
as JoJo, the Blonde
- 1946 That Brennan Girl
as Marion, Natalie's Girl Friend (as Marian Martin)
- 1946 Nobody Lives Forever
as Lou, Blonde (uncredited)
- 1946 Angel on My Shoulder
as Rosie Morgan Bentley
- 1946 Black Angel
as Millie
- 1946 Queen of Burlesque
as Lola Cassell
- 1946 Deadline for Murder
as Laura Gibson
- 1946 Suspense
as Shooting Gallery Blond (uncredited)
- 1946 Cinderella Jones
as Burlesque Queen
- 1945 Girls of the Big House
as Dixie
- 1945 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
as Miss Milbane
- 1945 On Stage Everybody
as Bubbles (uncredited)
- 1945 Gangs of the Waterfront
as Rita (as Marian Martin)
- 1945 Penthouse Rhythm
as Irma King
- 1945 The Phantom Speaks
as Betty Hanzel
- 1945 Eadie Was a Lady
as Rose Allure
- 1944 The Great Mike
as Kitty Tremaine
- 1944 Mystery of the Riverboat
as Celeste Eltree [Chs. 1-4, 7]
- 1944 The Merry Monahans
as Soubrette
- 1944 Gildersleeve's Ghost
as Terry Vance
- 1944 It Happened Tomorrow
as Nurse (uncredited)
- 1944 Sweethearts of the U.S.A.
as Ghost of Josephine
- 1943 The Woman of the Town
as Daisy Davenport
- 1943 Lady of Burlesque
as Alice Angel
- 1943 They Got Me Covered
as Gloria
- 1942 The McGuerins from Brooklyn
as Myrtle
- 1942 Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
as Diana De Corro
- 1942 The Big Street
as Mimi Venus
- 1942 Tales of Manhattan
as Squirrel
- 1942 Powder Town
as Sue, Blonde Piano Player
- 1942 Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Fifi Russell
- 1942 Wedded Blitz
as Mrs. Errol
- 1942 Fly By Night
as Nurse
- 1941 Weekend for Three
as Mrs. Gloria Weatherby
- 1941 The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Fifi
- 1941 Lady Scarface
as Ruby / Mary Jordan
- 1941 New Wine
as Mitzi
- 1941 Cracked Nuts
as Flashy Blonde in Corridor
- 1941 Love at First Fright
as Liza Hatrack
- 1941 The Big Store
as Peggy Arden
- 1941 The Lady from Cheyenne
as Gertie
- 1941 Blonde Inspiration
as Wanda
- 1941 Tall, Dark and Handsome
as Dawn
- 1940 Ellery Queen, Master Detective
as Cornelia
- 1940 Blondes and Blunders
as Blondie, Jewel Thief
- 1940 Boom Town
as Whitey
- 1940 Untamed
as 2nd Girl in Limousine (uncredited)
- 1940 His Girl Friday
as Evangeline (uncredited)
- 1939 Invisible Stripes
as Blonde (uncredited)
- 1939 The Man in the Iron Mask
as Mlle. de la Valliere
- 1939 Invitation to Happiness
as Lola Snow
- 1939 Sergeant Madden
as Charlotte LePage
- 1939
- 1938 His Exciting Night
as Gypsy McCoy
- 1938 The Storm
as Jane
- 1938 Youth Takes a Fling
as Girl on Beach
- 1938 Sinners in Paradise
as Iris Compton
- 1938 Cupid Takes a Holiday
as Annabelle Postal -1st Prospective Bride
- 1938
- 1936 Boy, Oh Boy
as Miss Glory Hutchinson
- 1935 Richard Himber and His Orchestra
as Singer
- 1935 The Magic of Music
as Blonde guest
- 1935 Moon Over Manhattan
as Dot
- 1934 She's My Lilly, I'm Her Willie
as Miss Brooks
- 1934 Crime Without Passion
as Theatre Cashier (uncredited)
- 1934 Mr. W's Little Game
as The Blonde