Marion Martin


Marion Suplee, known professionally as Marion Martin, was an American film and stage actress.

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. Despite her success she was often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl Friday. The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also appeared in dramas such as Boom Town 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.

Personal

She 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, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Partial filmography

  • Crime Without Passion as Theatre Cashier
  • Sinners in Paradise as Iris Compton
  • Personal Secretary as Girl in Office
  • Youth Takes a Fling as Girl on Beach
  • The Storm as Jane, Bar Girl
  • His Exciting Night as Gypsy McCoy
  • Pirates of the Skies as Kitty
  • Sergeant Madden as Charlotte LePage
  • Invitation to Happiness as Lola Snow
  • The Man in the Iron Mask as Mlle. de la Valliere
  • Invisible Stripes as Blonde
  • His Girl Friday as Evangeline
  • Women in War as Starr's Date
  • Untamed as 2nd Girl in Limousine
  • Scatterbrain
  • Boom Town as Whitey
  • Ellery Queen, Master Detective as Cornelia
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome as Dawn
  • Blonde Inspiration as Wanda
  • The Lady from Cheyenne as Gertie
  • The Big Store as Peggy Arden
  • Cracked Nuts as Flashy Blonde in Corridor
  • Lady Scarface as Ruby, aka Mary Jordan
  • New Wine as Mitzi
  • Weekend for Three as Mrs. Weatherby
  • The Mexican Spitfire's Baby as Fifi
  • Harvard, Here I Come! as Oomphie
  • Fly-by-Night as Blond Nurse
  • Call Out the Marines as Pretty Blonde on Tour
  • Mexican Spitfire at Sea as Fifi Russell
  • Powder Town as Sue, Blonde Piano Player
  • Tales of Manhattan as 'Squirrel'
  • The Big Street as Mimi Venus
  • Mexican Spitfire's Elephant as Diana De Corro
  • Star Spangled Rhythm as Wife, Bob Hope Skit
  • The McGuerins from Brooklyn as Myrtle, Marcia's friend
  • They Got Me Covered as Gloria
  • Lady of Burlesque as Alice Angel
  • Swingtime Johnny as Flashy Blonde
  • The Woman of the Town as Daisy Davenport
  • Sweethearts of the U.S.A. as Ghost of Josephine
  • It Happened Tomorrow as Nurse
  • Gildersleeve's Ghost as Terry Vance
  • The Merry Monahans as Soubrette
  • Irish Eyes Are Smiling as Prima Donna
  • Mystery of the River Boat as Celeste Eltree
  • The Great Mike as Kitty Tremaine
  • Eadie Was a Lady as Rose Allure
  • The Phantom Speaks as Betty Hanzel
  • Penthouse Rhythm as Irma King
  • Gangs of the Waterfront as Rita
  • On Stage Everybody as Bubbles
  • Abbott and Costello in Hollywood as Miss Milbane
  • Girls of the Big House as Dixie
  • Cinderella Jones as Burlesque Queen
  • Suspense as Shooting Gallery Blond
  • Deadline for Murder as Laura Gibson
  • Queen of Burlesque as Lola Cassell
  • Black Angel as Millie
  • Angel on My Shoulder as Mrs. Bentley
  • Nobody Lives Forever as Lou, Blonde
  • That Brennan Girl as Marion, Natalie's Girl Friend
  • Lighthouse as JoJo, The Blonde
  • New Orleans as Blonde Cashier
  • That's My Gal as Pepper
  • State of the Union as Blonde Girl
  • Thunder in the Pines as Pearl
  • My Dream Is Yours as Blonde at Club Babita
  • Come to the Stable as Rossi's Manicurist
  • Oh, You Beautiful Doll as Big Blonde
  • Key to the City as Emmy
  • Dakota Lil as Blonde Singer
  • Journey into Light as Diana
  • Oklahoma Annie as La Belle La Tour