Marilyn Maxwell
Maxwell in 1961
Born
Marvel 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.
Years active1942–71
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1944; div. 1946)​
    Anders McIntyre
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1950; div. 1951)​
      ​
      ​
      (m. 1954; div. 1960)​
      Children1

      Marvel Marilyn Maxwell[1] (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. 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] Among the radio programs in which she appeared were Beat the Band[12] and The Abbott and Costello Show. 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] 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 popular Christmas song "Silver Bells" made its debut in The Lemon Drop Kid, sung by Maxwell and Hope.[13]

      Maxwell appeared twice as a singer in the second season (1955–1956) of The Jimmy Durante Show. She sang at the Latin Quarter in New York and other top nightclubs of the time.[7]

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

      In 1961 she starred in the TV 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[14] until March 23, 1951.[1] Maxwell's six-year marriage to writer/producer Jerry Davis ended in 1960. Her only child, Matthew, was born to Maxwell and Davis in 1956.[15]

      Maxwell met and became friends with Frank Sinatra when they crossed paths, both of them in separate nationally renowned big bands in the late 1930s. Their friendship continued after Marilyn gave up singing for acting and moved to Hollywood and Frank had moved from New Jersey to Beverly Hills in the early 1940s. By 1945, the friendship had progressed into an extra-marital affair. Frank's then wife Nancy saw Marilyn wearing a diamond bracelet Nancy had earlier seen in Frank's car and assumed was for her. Taking this as evidence of Frank's infidelity, Nancy ordered Marilyn and husband John Conte to immediately leave the Sinatra family Christmas gala of 1945. Confronted after the party by Nancy, Frank admitted to the affair but claimed it was only casual not serious. Soon after, Marilyn and Frank ended their sexual liaison.[16][17][11]

      Trailer for High Barbaree

      From 1950 to 1954, Marilyn had an affair with actor/comedian Bob Hope. Although he was married at the time to singer Dolores Reade Hope, Bob and Marilyn's relationship was so open that many in Hollywood referred to her as Mrs. Bob Hope.[18]

      During the 1950s, Marilyn became good friends with fellow actor Rock Hudson. After her marriage to Jerry Davis ended in 1960 at the arrangement of Hudson's agent Henry Willson, Marilyn became one of several women Hudson publicly "dated" to counter rumors (admitted true by him later in life) of the actor's homosexuality. No real romance between Maxwell and Hudson existed.[19]

      On March 20, 1972, at age 50, Maxwell was found dead in her home by her 15-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.[20]

      Radio appearances

      YearProgramEpisode/source
      1946Stars over HollywoodA Woman's Touch[21]
      1949The Martin and Lewis Showepisode 10

      Filmography

      Features

      Short subjects

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

      References

      1. 1 2 "Actress Gets Freedom". The Plain Speaker. Hazleton, Penn. March 23, 1951. p. 12. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
      2. ↑ Hyams, Joe (March 1991). Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-15-131469-0.
      3. 1 2 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 icon
      5. ↑ Ankenbruck, John (1975). Twentieth Century History of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne: Twentieth Century Historical Fort Wayne, Inc. p. 308.
      6. ↑ Harter, Randolph (2015). Legendary Locals of Fort Wayne. Arcadia Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 9781439653067.
      7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "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.
      9. ↑ Herzog, Buck (October 15, 1962). "Along Amusement Row". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
      10. ↑ "On the Stage". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 21, 1939. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
      11. 1 2 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 February 28, 2015.
      13. ↑ "People in the News-Hope Favors 'Silver Bells'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 14, 1977. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
      14. ↑ "Marilyn Maxwell Seeking Divorce". The Oregon Statesman. Hazelton, Penn. February 17, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved September 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
      15. ↑ Hagen, Ray (2015). Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames. McFarland. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-78-648073-9.
      16. ↑ Hagen, Ray (2015). Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames. McFarland. p. 123. ISBN 978-0786480739.
      17. ↑ 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.
      18. ↑ Lou Lumenick, "Bob Hope Often Cheated During 69 Year Marriage?", NY Post, 31 October 2014.
      19. ↑ John J O'Connor, "The Life, Death and Secrets of Rock Hudson", New York Times, 8 January 1990.
      20. ↑ "Marilyn Maxwell Obituary". Eickemeyer Funeral Chapel. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
      21. ↑ "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 icon

      Further reading

      • Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9.
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