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Marilyn Maxwell

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki

Marilyn Maxwell
Marilyn Maxwell 1961.JPG Marilyn Maxwell 1961.JPG
Maxwell in 1961
BornMarvel Marilyn Maxwell
(1921-08-03)August 3, 1921
Clarinda, Iowa, U.S.
💀DiedMarch 20, 1972(1972-03-20) (aged 50)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.March 20, 1972(1972-03-20) (aged 50)
💼 Occupation
Actress, singer
📆 Years active  1942–71
👩 Spouse(s)
  • John Conte
    (m. 1944; divorce 1946)
  • Anders McIntyre
    (m. 1950; divorce 1951)
  • Jerry Davis
    (m. 1954; divorce 1960)
👶 Children1

Marvel Marilyn Maxwell[1] (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and singer.

In a career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s,[2] she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on USO tours with Bob Hope.[3]

Early years

Maxwell was a native of Clarinda, Iowa.[4] During the 1930s, she worked as an usher in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the Rialto Theater, located at 2616 South Calhoun Street.[5]

In Fort Wayne, she attended Central High School. She dropped out of school in her sophomore year to join an Indianapolis band as a singer.[6]

Career

From the trailer for Stand by for Action (1942)

She started her professional entertaining career as a radio singer and a singer on stage with Ted Weems' big band while still a teenager.

She moved to Hollywood after being with the Pasadena Playhouse[7] and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1942 as a contract player.[8][9][10][11] Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM, insisted she change the Marvel part of her real name. She dropped her first name and kept the middle one.[3]

Among the radio programs in which she appeared were Beat the Band,[12] Kraft Music Hall and The Abbott and Costello Show.

She appeared in several Dr. Kildare films with Van Johnson – Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943); Three Men in White (1944); and Between Two Women (1945).[7] Some of her other film roles included Lost in a Harem (1944) with Abbott and Costello; Champion (1949) with Kirk Douglas; The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) with Bob Hope; New York Confidential (1955) with Broderick Crawford; and Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) with Jerry Lewis. She received critical praise for her performance in the musical Summer Holiday (1948).[7] The Christmas song "Silver Bells" made its debut in The Lemon Drop Kid, sung by Maxwell and Hope.[13]

In 1956[14] and 1957[15] Maxwell was a guest singer on the The Jimmy Durante Show. She sang at the Latin Quarter nightclub in New York City and other top nightclubs of the time.[7]

She appeared as the mystery guest of What's My Line? on May 10, 1953. At one point, a blind-folded panelist asked whether or not she was actress Marilyn Monroe.

In 1961, she starred in the television series Bus Stop, but withdrew midway through the season.[7]

Personal life

Maxwell married three times; each ended in divorce. In September 1944, she married actor John Conte; the relationship was dissolved in June 1946. Her second marriage to restaurateur Anders McIntyre lasted just over a year from January 1, 1950[16] until March 23, 1951.[1] Maxwell's six-year marriage to writer and producer Jerry Davis ended in 1960. Her only child, Matthew, was born to Maxwell and Davis in 1956.[17]

Maxwell met and became friends with actor and singer Frank Sinatra when they crossed paths, both of them in separate nationally renowned big bands in the late 1930s. Their friendship continued after Maxwell gave up singing for acting and moved to Hollywood and Sinatra had moved from New Jersey to Beverly Hills in the early 1940s. By 1945, the friendship had progressed into an extra-marital affair. Sinatra's wife, Nancy, saw Maxwell wearing a diamond bracelet she had earlier seen in Sinatra's car which she assumed was for her. Taking this as evidence of Sinatra's infidelity, Nancy ordered Maxwell and her husband Conte to immediately leave the Sinatra family Christmas gala of 1945. Confronted after the party, Sinatra admitted the affair to his wife, but claimed it was only casual. Soon after, Maxwell and Sinatra ended their sexual liaison.[18][19][11]

Trailer for High Barbaree (1947)

From 1950 to 1954, Maxwell had an affair with actor and comedian Bob Hope who was married to singer Dolores (Reade) Hope. Hope and Maxwell's relationship was so open that many in Hollywood referred to her as Mrs. Bob Hope.[citation needed]

During the 1950s, Maxwell became good friends with actor Rock Hudson. After her marriage to Davis ended in 1960, Hudson's agent Henry Willson arranged for Maxwell to become one of several women Hudson publicly "dated" to counter rumors of the actor's homosexuality.[20]

Death

On March 20, 1972, at age fifty, Maxwell was found dead in her home by her fifteen-year-old son, who had arrived home from school. The cause was an apparent heart attack; she had been treated for hypertension and pulmonary disease.[7] Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Jack Benny were honorary pallbearers at her funeral.[21]

Radio appearances

Year Program Episode/source
1944 Kraft Music Hall Resident singer[22][23]
1946 Stars over Hollywood A Woman's Touch[24]
1947 The Abbott and Costello Show Who's On 1st, 17 April 1947
1948 The Jack Benny Show From Cleveland, 20 June 1948
1949 The Martin and Lewis Show episode 10

Filmography

Features

Short subjects

  • Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Goes to Bat (1950) – Herself
  • Brooklyn Goes to Las Vegas (1956) – Herself

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Actress Gets Freedom". The Plain Speaker. Hazleton, Penn. March 23, 1951. p. 12. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  2. ↑ Hyams, Joe (March 1991). Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-15-131469-0. Search this book on
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wilson, Earl (September 28, 1952). "Another Marilyn! Are There Two?". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Actress Marilyn Maxwell Dies". La Crosse Tribune. March 21, 1972. p. 14. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. ↑ Ankenbruck, John (1975). Twentieth Century History of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne: Twentieth Century Historical Fort Wayne, Inc. p. 308. Search this book on
  6. ↑ Harter, Randolph (2015). Legendary Locals of Fort Wayne. Arcadia Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 9781439653067. Search this book on
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Obituaries". Variety. March 22, 1972. p. 79. Retrieved December 10, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ "Ted Weems and his Orchestra". RedHot Jazz.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2010. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ Herzog, Buck (October 15, 1962). "Along Amusement Row". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved November 5, 2010.[dead link]
  10. ↑ "On the Stage". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 21, 1939. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Frank The Voice", James Kaplan published by Anchor Books Nov. 2011.
  12. ↑ "Say Hello to ..." (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. 14 (2): 42. June 1940. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "People in the News-Hope Favors 'Silver Bells'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 14, 1977. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  14. ↑ Vernon, Terry. "TV Tele-Vues." Long Beach Independent, 25 May 1956, 2.
  15. ↑ Downing, Jim. "The Dauntless Viewer." Tulsa Tribune, 21 September 1957, 22.
  16. ↑ "Marilyn Maxwell Seeking Divorce". The Oregon Statesman. Hazelton, Pennsylvania. February 17, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  17. ↑ Hagen, Ray (2015). Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames. McFarland. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-78-648073-9. Search this book on
  18. ↑ Hagen, Ray (2015). Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames. McFarland. p. 123. ISBN 978-0786480739. Search this book on
  19. ↑ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2015). Sinatra: Behind the Legend (e-book ed.). Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1-455-53058-8. Soon he was telling people that he and Marilyn belonged together and that he was going to – again – ask Nancy for a divorce. Search this book on
  20. ↑ John J O'Connor, "The Life, Death and Secrets of Rock Hudson", New York Times, 8 January 1990.
  21. ↑ "Marilyn Maxwell Obituary". Eickemeyer Funeral Chapel. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  22. ↑ "BING magazine". www.bingmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  23. ↑ Giddins, Gary (2018). Bing Crosby Swinging on a Star The War Years 1940-1946. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-316-88792-2. Search this book on
  24. ↑ "Marilyn Maxwell Stars On WHP in "Stars Over Hollywood" Original". Harrisburg Telegraph. November 23, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access

Further reading


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