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Marie Windsor (1922-2000)
Marie Windsor

Trafton, October 25, 1971 Written by Ron Bishop, Directed by Bernard McEveety, Guest Cast: Victor French, Sharon Acker, Patti Cohoon, Paul Stevens, Philip Carey, Marie Windsor, Clay Tanner, Bill Catching, Fred Stromson, John Dullaghan, Mike Mazurki, John Lormer, Paul Stevens

She was a star of B-movies and film noir; not such a dubious distinction as many of these films have become classics. She was a blonde bombshell, voluptuous, demure, seductive and sexy. She was most often cast as a broad, a moll, assertive, earthy and domineering but could equally as well handle the role of a more conventional leading lady. She was born Emily Marie Bertelson on December 11, 1922 in Marysvale, Utah, a small farming community where her father worked as a mechanic. As a child her grandmother took her to the movies where she developed a yen for acting. Her parents drove her 30 miles over dirt roads to take acting lessons at age 11. After winning two local beauty pageants as a teen she attended Brigham Young University in Utah where she majored in drama. She then headed to Hollywood to study under Maria Ouspenskaya. One night while working as a cigarette girl at the Mocambo night club on the Sunset Strip she'd begun crying over the inability to pay her rent when producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. spotted her and out of sympathy to her dilemma, offered her an audition for a part in the musical "All-American Co-Ed." After winning the role and playing other bit parts in films she headed for New York where she worked as an actor in radio dramas. She made her Broadway debut in "Follow the Girls" which led to a contract at MGM. Her films included: "All-American Co-Ed" (1941) her film debut; "Smart Alecks" (1942) as Nurse; "Chatterbox" (1943) as Hostess; "Follow the Leader" (1944) as Native Girl in Dream; "Song of the Thin Man" (1947) as Helen Amboy; "Force of Evil" (1948) as Edna Tucker; "The Fighting Kentuckian" (1949) with John Wayne and Oliver Hardy, as Ann Logan; "Outpost in Morocco" (1949) as Cara; "Hellfire" (1949) as Doll Brown; "The Showdown" (1950) as Adelaide; "Frenchie" (1950) as Diane Gorman; "Double Deal" (1950) as Terry Miller; "Dakota Lil" (1950) as Dakota Lil; "Two Dollar Bettor" (1951) as Mary Slate; "Little Big Horn" (1951) as Celia Donlin; "Hurricane Island" (1951) as Jan Bolton; "Outlaw Women" (1952) as Iron Mae McLeod; "The Jungle" (1952) as Princess Mari; "The Sniper" (1952) as Jean Darr; one of her more memorable roles in "Narrow Margin" (1952) as Mrs. Neall; "Trouble Along the Way" (1953) as Anne McCormick; "City That Never Sleeps" (1953) as Lydia Biddel; one of my favorites as a youth "Cat Women of the Moon" (1953) as Helen Salinger, Navigator; "So This is Love" (1953) as Marilyn Montgomery; "The Eddie Cantor Story" (1953) as Cleo Abbott; "Hell's Half Acre" (1954) as Rose; "The Bounty Hunter" (1954) as Alice Williams; "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (1955) as Madame Rontru; "Swamp Woman" (1955) as Josie; "The Killing" (1956) as Sherry Peatty; "The Unholy Wife" (1957) as Gwen; "The Story of Mankind" (1957) as Josephine; "Day of the Bad Man" (1958) as Cora Johnson; "Island Woman" (1958) as Elizabeth; "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" (1962) as Claire Fielding; "Critic's Choice" (1963) with Lucille Ball, as Sally Orr; "Mail Order Bride" (1964) as Hanna aka Carrie Bentell; "Bedtime Story" (1964) as Mrs. Sutton; "Chamber of Horrors" (1966) as Madame Corona; "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971) as Goldie; "Cahill: United States Marshal" (1973) with John Wayne, as Mrs. Hetty Green, one of her better roles; "The Outfit" (1974) as Madge Coyle; "Hearts of the West" (1975) as Woman in Nevada; "Freaky Friday" (1977) as Mrs. Murphy; "Lovely But Deadly" (1981) as Aunt May and "Commando Squad" (1987) as Casey, her last film. On TV she was a regular on the series: "Supercarrier" (1988) as Billie Costello. She also appeared in TV movies including: "Wild Women" (1970); "Manhunter" (1974) and "Salem's Lot" (1979). She guest starred on many series including: "Lassie"; "Cheyenne"; "Maverick"; "Perry Mason"; "Yancy Derringer"; "Rawhide"; "The Rebel"; "Batman"; "Bonanza"; "Gunsmoke"; "Charlie's Angels"; "Simon & Simon" and "Murder, She Wrote." She married bandleader Ted Steele in 1946 but the marriage was annulled. She later married Jack R. Hupp in 1954 with whom she had a son and they remained married to her death. She was active in the Screen Actors Guild and received its Ralph Morgan Award for 25 years of distinguished service. She died on December 10, 2000 of natural causes in Beverly Hills, California at age 80 one day short of her 81st birthday.

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