Marion Martin

Dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Showgirl" on Broadway and "Hollywood's blonde menace" on film, brassy "B" singer-actress 'Marion Martin' (qv) was a minor predecessor to 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv)'s peroxide bombshell, yet her brazen persona was closer to the seductive leanings of 'Mae West' (qv). Born Marion Suplee on June 7, 1909, she was the daughter of a well-to-do Philadelphia executive of Bethlehem Steel and reared in Main Line society. She attended exclusive schools, including a finishing school in Switzerland, and once intended on becoming a physician. She instead went an entirely different direction.With her knockout looks, a career in entertainment seemed logical. She made her Broadway debut in 1927 with a part in the play "Lombardi, Ltd.," Marion earned a part in the musical revue "George White Scandals" a year later before scoring another bit part in the Kern/Hammerstein musical "Sweet Adeline" starring 'Helen Morgan' (qv). Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, she was forced to find more work, finding employment as a chorine in one of 'Earl Carroll' (qv)'s New York stage revues. 'Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.' (qv) got a gander at the dazzling beauty and signed her to replace 'Gypsy Rose Lee' (qv) in his Follies of 1931 wearing little but "a feather and some beads." She would once be dubbed "the most beautiful blond on Broadway."Marion broke insignificantly but tantalizingly into short films in 1934, appearing in such outings as _She's My Lilly, I'm Her Willie (1934)_ (qv), _Moon Over Manhattan (1935)_ (qv) and as a sexy foil to 'Bert Lahr' (qv) in _Boy, Oh Boy (1936)_ (qv). Adopting the stage name of Marion (or sometimes Marian) Martin, she was signed by Universal in 1938 and quickly received a break in _Sinners in Paradise (1938)_ (qv), a downed-plane-on-a-desert-island adventure which truly emphasized her physical attributes.Quickly pigeonholed as a blowzy, burlesque queen, chorus girl, gun moll or brazen, gold-digger type in light-hearted fare or crime dramas, her foxy feline roles actually belied her off-camera personality as a shy, intelligent and chic lady. Although many of her parts were too often small, sexy, atmospheric bits, she got to play more substantial characters as time went on. She played "Gypsy McCoy" in _His Exciting Night (1938)_ (qv), "Kitty" in _Pirates of the Skies (1939)_ (qv) and "Lola Snow" in _Invitation to Happiness (1939)_ (qv). Other dame roles had similar well-heeled names such as "Rose Allure," "Bubbles," "Pepper," "Daisy Davenport" and "Alice Angel." She played Mmlle. de la Valliere in the opulent period adventure _The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)_ (qv).Marion kept busy throughout the 1940's with flashy major and minor parts in _Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)_ (qv), _Boom Town (1940)_ (qv), _Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)_ (qv), _Lady Scarface (1941)_ (qv), _The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941)_ (qv), _Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942)_ (qv), _Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942)_ (qv), _The Big Street (1942)_ (qv), _They Got Me Covered (1943)_ (qv), _The Woman of the Town (1943)_ (qv), the serial _Mystery of the River Boat (1944)_ (qv), _The Great Mike (1944)_ (qv), _Eadie Was a Lady (1945)_ (qv), _Gangs of the Waterfront (1945)_ (qv), _Deadline for Murder (1946)_ (qv), _Queen of Burlesque (1946)_ (qv), _Angel on My Shoulder (1946)_ (qv), _Lighthouse (1947)_ (qv), _Key to the City (1950)_ (qv) and _Journey Into Light (1951)_ (qv). Marion also played sexy foils to the likes of 'The Marx Brothers' (qv) in _The Big Store (1941)_ (qv) and 'The Three Stooges' (qv) in the short feature _Merry Mavericks (1951)_ (qv). She received her best billing (second) as the primary bombshell opposite 'Harold Peary' (qv) in the comedy adventure _Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)_ (qv).Marion ended her career with the unbilled part of "La Belle La Tour" in the cornball 'Judy Canova' (qv) comedy western _Oklahoma Annie (1952)_ (qv). She found great stability in her marriage to a Singer sewing machine repairman, and donated much of her time to charitable causes and committed to hospital volunteer work. Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Marion died at age 77 of cardiac arrest on August 13, 1985, in Santa Monica, California. She was survived by her husband (they had no children) and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net