Born 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American actress Marion Martin made her film debut in She’s My Lillie, I’m Her Willie and subsequently played minor roles, often as showgirls. 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, Martin 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.
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.
Martin 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, aged 76. Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Marion Martin in the 1930s and 1940s.
